Touring from Chengdu, China

Trevor Smith on 25 June 2017
Scenic Touring from Chengdu

The Dujiangyan scenic spot was around two hours from the Centre of Chengdu so over two days we stayed at a Hotel in the Qingcheng Mountain area called Qing Yuan Hotel - a five star hotel with plenty to occupy ourselves. A short walk from this hotel was a Spa resort with hot springs and spa treatments available.

The Dujiangyan Dam, around 45km north of Chengdu, is an ancient technological wonder of the country. More than 2000 years ago, Li Bing (250-200BC), as a local governor of the Shu State, designed this water control and irrigation dam and organized thousands of local people to complete the project to check the Mingjiang River, a tributary of the River Yantze.

For many years the river, flooded the Chengdu agricultural area and local farmers suffered a lot from the water disaster. Due to the success of the project, the dam automatically diverts the Mingjiang River and channels it into irrigation canals. For many years the dam has continued to make the most of the water conservancy works. I found this amazing experience to see how water can be controlled by flow of water down various channels rather than have a fixed built dam.

Mount Qingcheng was too short for me and I could have spent a couple of days here exploring the two different mountain areas rather than just the one mountain area - please be advised that the "climb" was on uneven steps and around 3500 steps up and then the same down. Parts of this was completed also by a motorised tram, a lake crossing by a Chinese boat and also a cable car. This would not be easy for some with limited walking difficulties although I was pleased with myself with this climb, a climb that I could not have done a couple of years ago, so proved to be a fantastic personal achievement following the past three years recovery from my car crash in the UK.

Mount Qingcheng is around 65km west of Chengdu, Qingchengshan Mountain is one of the ancient cradles of Daoism. The mountain has numerous Daoist temples and sites along the paths to its peak. The area is green all year round and is known for its secluded tranquility. About halfway up the mountain sits Tianshi Cave (Tianshi Dong) the temple and school of Zhang Daolin, a famous Daoist master who taught here and contributed greatly to spreading Daoism in China.

Mt. Qingcheng is located at the Dujiangyan scenery spot of Chengdu, Sichuan province. Surrounded by countless peaks and densely covered by ancient trees whose branches reaching the sky, the mountain was named "Mt. Qingcheng" (Green Town in Chinese). The anterior mountain is famous for its beautiful scenery and numerous cultural and historic sites; while the posterior mountain is noted for its paradisiacal scenery, primitive and brilliant, gorgeous and mysterious.

Anren Ancient Town was a day trip from our base in Chengdu: Anren Ancient Town in Dayi County has a long history, established under the Jiannan Daoqiong Prefecture. Anren Ancient Town is a famous historical and cultural town, one of top six tourist attractions of the province. There are many Provincial Key Cultural Relic Protection Units in the town, such as Liu’s Manor. The quaint streets and houses in the town make it a famous spot for ancient picture shooting.