Ancient Towns in Chengdu

　　Ancient towns serve to remind Chinese of their past heritage and preserve history and culture. Around the modern city of Chengdu in western China, there are plenty of ancient towns, including Huanglongxi Town, an ancient port with thousands of years of history; Luodai Town, the most famous Hakka town in the west; Anren Town; as well as Xilai Town, Pingle Town, and Jiezi Town. Black tiles, blue stones, screen walls, opera performance stages, assembly halls, and especially the ancient folk style of life seen everywhere in these towns, present a totally different characteristic from that of towns in the south or of cities in Shaanxi Province.

　　Ⅰ. Huanglongxi Town -- A prosperous port of thousands of years

　　Two-thousand years ago, the river in Huanglongxi Town was called the "Chi River." It's surrounded by fields, villages and rolling mountains on one bank, and a town on the other.

　　According to the historic records, Huanglongxi was once the capital of ancient kingdoms. In 316 B.C., the local regime was defeated by the Dukedom of Chin and the town became the last military beachhead where the last king died. During the period of the Three Kingdoms (208-220 A.D.), the town was the place for raising horses and camping. The original meaning of Huanglongxi derived from the fact that it grew into a rural commercial bazaar from the Song Dynasty till the Ming and Qing dynasties (1644-1911 A.D.).

　　There are seven streets in the town: Zheng St., Xin St., Heng St., Shanghe St., Xiahe St., Bei St. and Xiangzi St. They are built by the river and extend thousands of meters. Lines of projecting houses embody the "Railing Culture" admired by ancient Sichuan residents. Wooden-block residential houses by the streets were mostly built during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

　　Like other ancient towns, the old temples among residential houses are a blessing to the residents. They include the Zhenjiang Temple, Chaoyin Temple and Gulong Temple from north to south. In the west are the Tianhou Palace and King Da Yu Palace, which are migrant places of Hakka for worshiping ancestors and meeting. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the population in Sichuan decreased dramatically because of wars. Encouraged by the principle of "migrating to Sichuan from Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces" of the Qing government, a large number of people in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces started to move into Sichuan constantly. Undoubtedly, Hakka migrants contributed a lot to the boom of Huanglongxi.

　　To this day, the ancient temples are preserved quite well and are very busy. The village seems frozen in time.