🏯 Taiping Ancient Town

“The First Ancient Town of Southern Sichuan; a Living History Book on the Chishui River”
— A millennium-old water-and-land hub that prospered through salt, flourished through liquor, and gained renown through the Red Army

📍 Basic Information

• Location: Northwestern Gulin County, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province—situated on the east bank of the middle reaches of the Chishui River, bordering Bijie City, Guizhou Province
• Administrative Affiliation: Taiping Town, Gulin County, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province (the core historic area is the Taiping Ancient Town Historic and Cultural Block)
• Conservation Status:
  • ⚜️ National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit (2013: the entire Taiping Ancient Town Architectural Complex was inscribed in the seventh batch of national-level protected sites)
  • 🌐 Famous Historic and Cultural Town of China (2005: jointly designated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage)
  • 🏛️ National 4A-Level Tourist Attraction (officially awarded in 2020)

📜 Historical Evolution: Salt Route • Liquor Homeland • Red Capital

Taiping Ancient Town originated as a settlement of the ancient Bo people during the pre-Qin period, developed along the Yelang Ancient Road in the Han Dynasty, and reached its zenith as a pivotal hub for Sichuan salt transportation into Guizhou during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its historical trajectory remains clearly traceable:

• Tang and Song Dynasties: Part of the Luzhou frontier administrative region; served as a vital ferry crossing and commercial post along the Chishui River, known then as “Luo Hong Chang”;
• Mid-Ming Dynasty: Renamed “Taiping Du” (“Taiping Ferry”) following the boom in salt transport along the Chishui River—signifying smooth salt shipments and safe passage for merchants;
• Qing Dynasty Peak: One of the four principal Sichuan salt entry ports into Guizhou (alongside Erlangtan, Maotai, and Tucheng), handling over 10,000 tons of salt annually; the town’s layout solidified into the famed configuration of “nine gullies, eighteen alleys, seven temples, eight shrines, and three wharves”;
• 1935: During the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army’s Four Crossings of the Chishui River campaign, the Red Army executed both the Second and Fourth Crossings here. Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and other leaders of the Central Column stationed themselves in the town, leaving behind invaluable revolutionary relics—including the Red Army Garrison Site, the Red Army General Headquarters (Xiehe Dye House), and the Red Army Slogan Wall;
• Modern Era: Leveraging the Chishui River’s pristine water and time-honored craftsmanship, the town evolved into the core origin of Langjiu, retaining dozens of distillery ruins dating from the Qing Dynasty to the present day.

🏯 Architectural Remains: Temporal and Spatial Layers of a Mountain Settlement

Built organically along the mountainside and beside the river, the ancient town preserves approximately 300 buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties through the Republican era, typified by timber-frame construction with interlocking columns, grey roof tiles, horse-head gables, and stone-paved streets:

Core Architectural Complexes

• Wanshou Palace (Jiangxi Guild Hall): Built in 1789 (54th year of the Qianlong reign), it retains its opera stage, main hall, and side chambers; its caisson ceiling features polychrome paintings reflecting Jiangxi regional style of the Qing Dynasty—among the best-preserved out-of-province guild halls in southern Sichuan;
• Yu Wang Palace (Huguang Guild Hall): Reconstructed during the Jiaqing reign; its gatehouse bears an exquisitely carved stone relief depicting “Yu the Great Taming the Floods,” testifying to Huguang immigrant culture;
• Rongshengtong Salt Trading House: A grand residence of a prominent Qing-dynasty salt merchant, laid out as a three-courtyard siheyuan; its central courtyard steps are embedded with a “Salt Transport Chronicle Stele” dated 1843 (23rd year of the Daoguang reign);
• Xiehe Dye House: The Red Army General Headquarters in 1935; a two-story brick-and-timber structure whose second-floor window frames still bear the original ink inscription “Down with Imperialism,” written by Red Army soldiers;
• Red Army Ferry Site: An ancient dock on the east bank of the Chishui River, featuring stone steps and mooring bollards built during the Qing Dynasty; adjacent stands the “Monument to the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army’s Four Crossings of the Chishui River at Taiping Ferry,” inscribed by Zhang Aiping.

Street and Alley Layout

• The main street, “Changzheng Street” (formerly “Shangchang Street”), stretches approximately 1.2 kilometers and is paved entirely with red conglomerate stone slabs; centuries of cart wheels and horse hooves have worn grooves up to 15 centimeters deep into the stones;
• Side alleys such as “Boatmen’s Street” and “Salt Merchants’ Street” still display fragments of Qing-dynasty shop signboards;
• With an elevation difference of up to 80 meters across the site, the town seamlessly integrates levels via 17 staircases, 6 overhead corridor bridges, and 3 covered rain-and-wind bridges, showcasing exceptional mountain-area architectural ingenuity.

🏺 Cultural Relics and Intangible Heritage: Flowing Cultural DNA

💡 Special Note: Twelve distillery ruins dating from the Qing Dynasty to the Republican era remain within the ancient town. Among them, the underground cellar complex at the Yongshengxiang Distillery has been carbon-dated to the mid-Qianlong reign (mid-18th century), making it one of the oldest verifiable liquor production sites extant in the Chishui River basin.

🌟 Cultural Significance: A Confluence of Three Historical Dimensions

• Living Fossil of Salt Transport Civilization: One of the rare ancient towns nationwide preserving the complete chain of salt transport heritage—including administrative offices (former Salt Affairs Bureau), storage facilities (Salt Warehouse Alley), transportation infrastructure (docks, porter trails), and consumption venues (salt trading houses, salt markets);
• High Ground of Red Culture: As the only key crossing point entrusted with two crossings during the Four Crossings of the Chishui River campaign, Taiping Ferry is hailed by historians as the “heart of the Four Crossings of the Chishui River.” Its density and integrity of revolutionary relics rank among the highest nationwide for comparable sites;
• Cradle of Liquor Culture in the Upper Yangtze Region: Serving as the western anchor of the “Golden Triangle of Chinese Soy-Sauce-Flavored Baijiu,” the town embodies the full evolution—from Qing-dynasty salt merchants’ home-brewed “Shaochun Liquor” to today’s industrialized Langjiu production—and stands as the spiritual birthplace of soy-sauce-flavored baijiu culture.

🧭 Practical Travel Information

🚆 Transportation

• High-Speed Rail: Take the Chengdu–Guiyang High-Speed Railway to Yibin West Station or Bijie Station, then transfer to a dedicated tourist bus (approx. 2 hours);
• Self-Drive: G76 Xiamen–Chengdu Expressway → Gulin Exit → Provincial Highway S309 → Taiping Town (approx. 280 km total; approx. 4.5 hours from Chengdu);
• Within the Town: Motor vehicles prohibited; electric shuttle buses available (between the Visitor Center and the Red Army Ferry).

🕒 Opening Hours

• Open year-round, daily 08:00–17:30 (last entry at 17:00)
• Free admission (ID card required for reservation via the “Luzhou Culture & Tourism” WeChat official account)

🏨 Accommodation & Dining

• Themed Guesthouses: Over 20 establishments—including “Salt Transport Homestead” and “Red Army Hostel”—many converted from Qing-dynasty residences, preserving original timber frameworks and courtyards;
• Must-Try Local Delicacies: Gulin Spicy Chicken, river-water tofu, braised cured pork trotters with Chishui River fish, and hand-made sweet potato noodles;
• Souvenirs: Traditionally brewed “Taiping Ferry” series soy-sauce-flavored baijiu, Miao ethnic batik textiles, and Chishui River stones.

📸 Recommended Half-Day Itinerary

graph LR  
A[Visitor Center · Four Crossings of the Chishui River Memorial Hall] --> B[Changzheng Street Stone-Paved Road · Salt Transport Stele Forest]  
B --> C[Wanshou Palace · Jiangxi Guild Hall]  
C --> D[Xiehe Dye House · Former Red Army General Headquarters]  
D --> E[Red Army Ferry · Monument Plaza]  
E --> F[Boatmen’s Street · Yongshengxiang Distillery Ruins]  
F --> G[Viewpoint · Panoramic Vista of the Chishui River and Ancient Town]  

🌙 Night Tour Tip: A themed light-and-sound show titled “Salt Transport • Red Legacy • Liquor Aroma” runs every Friday and Saturday evening (19:30–20:30), projecting narratives of the town’s three-layered history onto historic building façades.

📚 Academic References (Authoritative Sources)

• Ancient Towns of China: Sichuan Volume (China Urban Planning Society, 2018)
• History of the Four Crossings of the Chishui River Campaign (PLA Publishing House, 2015)
• The Ancient Sichuan Salt Routes and Socioeconomic Transformation in Southwest China (Sichuan University Press, 2020)
• Conservation Plan for the Taiping Ancient Town Architectural Complex (2021–2035) (State Administration of Cultural Heritage)

✨ Friendly Reminder: As a living heritage site, residents continue to inhabit the ancient town across generations. Please respect local customs, walk and speak quietly, refrain from touching cultural relics, and join us in safeguarding this millennia-old memory etched into mountain and river.