10 Days in Zigong

Start downtown at the Salt History Museum inside the Xiqin Guild Hall, built by Shaanxi merchants between 1736 and 1752, with its carved stone and timber stage; the small Wangye Temple on the Fuxi riverbank rounds out the salt-port afternoon.

1. zigong salt history museum
2. zigong wangye temple

The Shenhai well, drilled in 1835, still draws salt from more than a kilometer down — 1,001.42 m by the official mark — with its rope-and-bamboo gear and wooden derrick intact. In the afternoon, Old Saltworks 1957 turns a decommissioned salt factory into galleries, a market hall and night lighting.

1. zigong shenhai well
2. zigong laoyanchang 1957

Opened in 1987 over the Dashanpu quarry, the dinosaur museum displays bones where they lay in rock from excavations begun in the 1970s — often counted among the world's three great dinosaur museums. Pair it with the riverside greenway on the way back into town.

1. zigong dinosaur museum

The Lantern Museum beside Lantern Park records a festival craft whose modern city calendar runs back to the 1960s; in spring-festival season the whole park becomes the lantern fair. Downtown, the dark-wood Huanhou Shrine honors general Zhang Fei with Qing-era carvings.

1. zigong lantern museum
2. zigong huanhou shrine

Downstream on the Fuxi River, Xianshi's flagstone lanes, river-god pavilion and guild courtyards once served the salt boats that made Zigong rich. Stay past dusk for the lanterns along the wharf, then head back into the city.

1. zigong xianshi ancient town

Northeast of downtown, some 18 km out, the walled hilltop stockade begun in 1853 and finished in 1859 keeps gate towers, ancestral halls and orchards inside a full circuit of stone wall; pear blossom fills the lanes in early spring. A slow half-day loop from the city.

1. zigong sanduo stockade

West about 40 km to Rongxian county town, where a seated Buddha about 36.7 m tall is carved directly into the cliff above the old streets — among the largest ancient stone Buddhas in the country. The climb through the temple terraces takes a couple of hours.

1. zigong rongxian giant buddha

East to Fushun, whose Confucius temple was founded in 1044 and keeps prized timber carvings among the best preserved in Sichuan. Lunch is the county's signature — silken douhua tofu with a rice bowl and a tray of dipping sauces.

1. zigong fushun confucius temple

A side day west into neighboring Leshan, about 1.5 hours by road — the Great Buddha, 71 m tall, was carved into the river cliff between 713 and 803 and watches the confluence below. Return to Zigong by evening, or overnight in Leshan.

1. leshan giant buddha

South into neighboring Yibin, the Shunan Bamboo Sea spreads some 120 sq km of bamboo ridges with walkways and viewpoint terraces; from the groves it is about a two-hour drive back to Zigong for the evening HSR home.

1. yibin shunan bamboo sea