3 Days in Nanchong

Langzhong sits about 130 kilometres and 2 hours north, the Jialing wrapping three sides of a 1.78-square-kilometre grid of Ming and Qing streets; Zhang Fei held the town for 7 years before his murder in 221, and his tomb lies inside the Huanhou shrine.

1. nanchong langzhong ancient city
2. nanchong zhangfei temple

The Qing examination hall still rows its wooden desks, the Huaguang Tower watches the river bend, and the town remembers Luo Xiahong, the Han astronomer whose Taichu calendar of 104 BC fixed the new year's first month — the reason Langzhong calls itself the home of Chinese New Year.

1. nanchong langzhong gongyuan
2. nanchong langzhong huaguang tower

The river draws a 359-degree loop at Qingju — the neck between the two banks is barely 400 metres — then the West Hill terraces close the trip before the evening train; on the way in, the city's silk workshops recall a place long called the Silk City.

1. nanchong jialing first bend
2. nanchong xishan scenic area