14 Days in Nanchong

About 130 kilometres and two hours north, the Jialing wraps three sides of the 1.78-square-kilometre Ming-Qing grid; Zhang Fei held the town seven years before his murder in 221, his tomb inside the Huanhou shrine.

1. nanchong langzhong ancient city
2. nanchong zhangfei temple

The Qing exam hall's wooden desks, the Huaguang Tower over the bend, and Luo Xiahong's Taichu calendar of 104 BC that fixed the lunar new year's first month.

1. nanchong langzhong gongyuan
2. nanchong langzhong huaguang tower

Jinping hill across the river gives the rooftop panorama of the old grid; the evening goes back into the lanes for lamp-lit walls and vinegar shops.

1. nanchong langzhong jinping hill

South again: at Qingju the river ties its 359-degree knot — the neck under 400 metres — and the temple terraces of Lingyun hill, in the same Gaoping district, round the afternoon.

1. nanchong jialing first bend
2. nanchong lingyun mountain

Northeast for a factual memorial visit, some 2 hours of road: Zhu De was born in Yilong in 1886, and the courtyard dwellings under the Linlang hillside make up the area that entered the national 5A list in 2016.

1. nanchong zhude former residence

An hour out, the farmstead of Zhang Lan — born 1872, chairman of the China Democratic League until his death in 1955 — plain rooms facing mulberry fields.

1. nanchong zhanglan former residence

East to Peng'an, an hour away: the old wharf of Zhouzi looks across at the isle meadows of Jiangxin, and from about April the herds swim out to graze — the celebrated hundred-cattle crossing — swimming home at dusk.

1. nanchong zhouzi old town

The Nanbu reservoir holds over 1.3 billion cubic metres and runs its international fishing contest each September; the shoreline walk takes a full day.

1. nanchong shengzhong lake

Terraces above the city and the old silk workshops of a place long called the Silk City of the west — chuanbei liangfen for lunch at the source.

1. nanchong xishan scenic area

An honestly declared neighbouring-city day, about 1.5 hours away: a factual visit to the home village where Deng Xiaoping was born in 1904 — farmhouse, exhibition halls, tree-lined estate — with the evening back in Nanchong.

1. nanchong guangan day

An honestly declared long day, near three hours each way into Xuanhan county: the gorge country of the Ba mountains, cliff walkways and river pools — overnight in Xuanhan keeps it honest.

1. nanchong bashan canyon day

A second walk on the gorge boards before the heat, then the drive back to Nanchong by evening.

1. nanchong bashan canyon day

A last lookout over the river loop, silk offcuts and vinegar packed, and a farewell bowl of chuanbei liangfen.

1. nanchong xishan scenic area

One last bend-side walk on the way to the station — the river that wrapped Langzhong and looped at Qingju heads the same way your train does.

1. nanchong jialing first bend