There is a Longquanyi in Chengdu

When it comes to sightseeing in Chengdu, Longquanyi District is a name that cannot be avoided.

Longquan Mountain lies on its east side, with half of the green mountain entering the city, and peaks and ridges intertwined with flat plains.

If you climb the mountain from here and look out, you can see the green mountains and the sea of ​​clouds nearby.

Warm and humid air currents rise up the mountain, forming a rolling cloud waterfall in Longquan Mountain | Photographer @嘉楠

In the distance, the snow-capped mountains of western Sichuan can be seen.

Please watch in horizontal mode. Longquanyi overlooks the mountains of western Sichuan. In the hazy world of clouds and mist, the scattered Chengdu skyline and the towering snow-capped mountains in the distance are clearly visible and spread out layer by layer. In 2021, you can see snow-capped mountains in Chengdu about 70 times | Photographer @张翔升

In this space where the mountain and the city face each other: there are lakes dotted in the lush forests and birds dancing; there are bustling traffic and lights from thousands of homes among the towering buildings.

Watching the lights of Chengdu from Longquan Mountain (Longquanyi District) | Photographer @嘉楠

But these are not all there is to Longquanyi.

Longquanyi is very “new”.

The district was only planned to be built in 1960, but in just a few decades it was built from scratch, with rapid industrial economic development, and is an important economic engine for Chengdu.

In the list of “Top 100 Industrial Districts in China” released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Longquanyi has been on the list for five consecutive years, ranking first among all listed districts in Sichuan Province.

List of Sichuan Province on the list of "Top 100 Industrial Regions in China" from 2017 to 2021 | Map by @Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute

Longquanyi is also very "old".

From the Han Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, for more than two thousand years, it has been an important post station leading from the Chengdu Plain to southeastern Sichuan, with an endless flow of carriages, horses and letters.

Longquanyi District is named after the post station. The explanation of "post station" in the modern Chinese dictionary even uses Longquanyi as an example.

The word "Yi" has become a special symbol of Longquanyi District.

The explanation of "yi" in the modern Chinese dictionary takes Longquanyi as an example | Map by @ Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute

Longquanyi is so multifaceted, and when you really walk into it, you will find that it is a "legend" of the post road between mountains and rivers.

01

The post road out of the mountains

Tens of millions of years ago, the western Sichuan Basin was undergoing drastic changes.

Longmen Mountain and Longquan Mountain gradually rose during tectonic movements, while the land between them sank as a whole to form a basin.

Longquan Mountain and Longmen Mountain rise from the east and west | Map by Song Nan/Planet Research Institute

Rivers such as the Minjiang River and Tuojiang River originating from the Longmen Mountains and its northwestern plateau rushed in with silt, continuously filling this fertile land and forming today's Chengdu Plain, which is "a city sandwiched between two mountains".

The Minjiang River rushes out of Longmen Mountain before flowing into the Zipingpu Reservoir. The Zipingpu Reservoir is located upstream of Dujiangyan and is the largest reservoir in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River | Photographer @唐潮

After the plain was formed, many rivers gradually gathered and merged into the Minjiang River and Tuojiang River, and continued to flow eastward, crossing mountains and ridges from the southern and northern sections of the Longquan Mountains, and finally flowing into the Yangtze River.

Today's Longquanyi is located between these two major water systems.

Its northwest part is located on the eastern edge of the Chengdu Plain, while its southeast part enters the middle section of the Longquan Mountains. The area occupied by mountains and hills in the district is close to 43% of the total area of ​​the district, which can be described as "half green mountains and half city".

Longquanyi District topography and location diagram | Map by @Song Nan/Planet Research Institute

The long and narrow Longquan Mountains lie in the east of the Chengdu Plain, stretching more than 200 kilometers from north to south, naturally separating the western Sichuan plain from the central Sichuan hills.

In the Tang Dynasty, this mountain was called "Fendong Mountain", which highlighted its significance as a boundary.

However, due to its low altitude, this mountain range is more like a lush green corridor than a barrier. It does not cruelly block Chengdu’s connection with the outside world, but gently draws a dividing line, bringing more possibilities to this land.

Please watch horizontally, Chengdu Plain and Longquan Mountain are connected | Photographer @赵靖影

This "possibility" is the "Shu-Ba Avenue".

Although the Chengdu Plain is surrounded by mountains, this fertile land has been rich in resources and has developed agriculture since ancient times. It has always been the economic and cultural center of the Sichuan Basin.

Chengdu's Thousand Miles of Fertile Fields | Photographer @行影不离

Trade exchanges gave rise to the connectivity of land transportation.

The post roads starting from Chengdu extended in all directions: to the north, you could go to Beijing from Shaanxi, or turn to the south of the Yangtze River from Hanzhong; to the west, you could go to Tibet through Qiong and Ya'an; to the south, you could go to Yunnan and Guizhou; and to the east, you could go over Longquan Mountain from Longquanyi to Chongqing, and take a boat down by water from Chaotianyi to eastern Sichuan and the south of the Yangtze River.

A diagram of the post roads around Chengdu Prefecture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Going east, you can cross Longquan Mountain to Chongqing to avoid the inconvenience of the upper Yangtze River during the dry season | Map by @Song Nan/Planet Research Institute

The Shu Road by land winds through the mountains, passing through many high mountains and deep gorges, with stone steps and pavilions along the way. The mountainous sections are difficult to travel by car and horse, and transportation is mostly carried out by manpower.

The poem "The Road to Shu is Difficult" expresses the difficulties and sighs of traveling.

The Jinniu Gorge Plank Road at Jianmen Pass | Photographer @The Forgetful Travel World

The Shu-Ba Highway in Longquan Mountain, connecting Chengdu in Shu County and Chongqing in Ba State, was opened as early as the Han Dynasty.

Longquanyi at the foot of the mountain is the first stop on this ancient road heading east out of Chengdu.

In the Tang and Song dynasties, this place was named Lingchi County because of a clear spring named "Lingchi". The county was abolished in the Yuan Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Longquan Town because of the abundant water flow of Longkou Well not far from the original county site.

At that time, Chongqing's commerce was booming, and the Chengdu-Chongqing channel became more important. The Ming Dynasty government set up a post station here, as well as a patrol inspection office to protect the safety of merchants and travelers.

Ancient Post Road from Chengdu to Chongqing | Map by @Song Nan/Planet Research Institute

This is where the name Longquanyi originated.

This ancient post road across Longquan Mountain is 1,080 miles long. Although the mountain is not high, the road is rugged and difficult to travel. There is a folk saying: "This mountain is really a mountain, it is hundreds of feet high, and the road is only as wide as a palm. Not only is it difficult for people to walk, but it is also difficult for monkeys to climb."

The ancient Longquanyi Road that remains today is from the famous Sichuan opera "Spring Flowers Walking in the Snow" | Photographer @嘉楠

Even though the journey is so difficult, this ordinary bluestone road has witnessed the hustle and bustle of countless carriages and horses throughout the ages.

Commercial exchanges were carried out through this post road, and civilization was also introduced through the post road.

02

Civilization from the Post Road

Some civilizations followed rivers, some followed roads.

2,300 years ago, Qin conquered Bashu and then carried out large-scale immigration. The wealthy, nobles and craftsmen of Qin and the six kingdoms entered the Sichuan Basin along the various channels connecting Bashu with the outside world.

The 34 Qin tombs excavated in Longquanyi in 1992 allow us to get a glimpse of the scene when Qin immigrants and Bashu people lived together in this place.

The unearthed cultural relics from the Qin Tomb on the North Trunk Road of Longquanyi show obvious Qin and Bashu characteristics | Photographer @胡眠眠, Map @杨宁/Planet Research Institute

At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a war between Shu and Ba, and the Chengdu-Chongqing road in Longquan Mountain was cut off. Yuwen Tai, the founder of the Northern Zhou regime, sent troops to attack Shu and opened up the Zizhong area, and the ancient road was restored.

After his death, his subordinates built statues and erected monuments in Longquan Mountain, beside the ancient post road, detailing the achievements of their former master during his lifetime.

This is the precious Northern Zhou Wenwang Stele. The Six Garrisons Uprising and the pacification of Bashu, that turbulent era, is slowly unfolded in the inscription like a scroll.

Rubbings of the Northern Zhou Wenwang Stele | Image source @Xinghanzhai Wang Yinghui

This was also a beginning. Since then, many statues and inscriptions have been built next to the King Wen Monument in successive dynasties.

From the "Three Religions Dojo Stele" of the Tang Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty Jinshi Poetry Stele, to the large characters "摇青崇翠" of the Qing Dynasty, the travelers coming and going on the post road left their marks on the bluestone, which became the historical evidence of the prosperity of this passage in the past.

The "Yao Qing Song Cui" inscription on the Tianluo Stone in Longquan Mountain | Photographer @佐小虹

The scholars, nobles and princes of Shu left more traces. Among them were Zhao Tingyin, the King of Song in the Later Shu, Gao Keming, the royal painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, and even the Shu kings of the Ming Dynasty who were the richest in the world.

Among them, the underground palace of the Mausoleum of King Xi of Ming Shu is extremely magnificent and is praised by the archaeological community as "the most exquisite underground palace among ancient Chinese tombs."

The exquisite underground palace of the Ming Shu Xi King's Mausoleum | Photographer @嘉楠

There are not only passers-by but also new residents coming and going from Longquanyi. They come from the ancient road and inject new cultural genes into Longquanyi.

The wars in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties caused a massive population decline in Sichuan, leaving fields barren and uninhabited for thousands of miles. The population of Longquanyi was almost non-existent in the early Qing dynasty.

"At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the war was so severe that the land became a wilderness with only 14 indigenous households."

The Qing government then encouraged immigrants from other provinces to move to Sichuan.

Chengdu, the "Land of Abundance", was naturally the first choice for relocation. Longquanyi, located at a key transportation hub, attracted immigrants from Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Henan, Shaanxi and other places.

The proportion of immigrants from different places of origin in Chengdu during the Qing Dynasty. The above quote is from the Annals of Jianyang County in the Republic of China . Map by @杨宁/Planet Research Institute

Some of the immigrants were Hakkas from Guangdong and Jiangxi, who reclaimed wasteland, rebuilt clans, and built guild halls, preserving their hometown customs and styles in a unique way.

In Luodai Town, Longquanyi District, immigrants successively built two Hakka Guild Halls, Guangdong and Jiangxi, as well as the Huguang Guild Hall. Hakka people who had just arrived in a foreign land used the guild halls to keep in touch with their fellow countrymen and express their homesickness.

Huguang Guild Hall in Luodai Ancient Town | Photographer @蒋小翼

For two or three hundred years, they have insisted on speaking Hakka and celebrating Hakka festivals.

The Hakka Water Dragon Festival continues to this day. The newly built earthen building in the distance is a manifestation of the Hakka culture from Fujian | Photographer @蒋人可

The Hakka culture has since taken root in Longquanyi.

With their hard-working hands, they established their family businesses and passed on civilization in the barren land.

Today, Hakka people still account for more than 85% of the population of Luodai Town, making Longquanyi Luodai Town the "No. 1 Hakka Town in Western China".

Hakka immigrants settled here and formed Luodai Ancient Town | Photographer @蒋小翼

Religion also came along with the extension of the post roads.

Along the direction of the ancient road, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, religious and cultural sites such as Shijing Temple, Randeng Temple, Changsong Temple, Yuanbao Cliff Sculptures, Taohua Temple, etc. are successively spread out.

Some of them are now only ruins, while others are still thriving, but the traces they left behind have been deeply embedded in Longquanyi itself.

Shijing Temple is built on the mountain, surrounded by dense forests and very quiet. It is an important Tibetan Buddhist temple in western Sichuan | Photographer @金士廉

The hustle and bustle of carriages and horses on the Longquanyi Ancient Road continued until the Republic of China.

The scene is so prosperous and bustling with carriages and horses loaded with goods from afar, peddlers carrying loads on their shoulders and backs, messengers riding on flying horses, pedestrians with dusty faces, and inns and taverns along the way providing tea and meals!

When the governor of Jianzhou in the Qing Dynasty visited Longquanyi, he could not help but sigh:

The food in the wild restaurant is delicious, and the boy is asked to cook it with mountain spring water.

Civilization extended from the post roads, and because of the extension of the post roads, it would spread to wider places, change the mountains and rivers, and create homes.

03

Civilization changes mountains and rivers

Even though it is located in the Chengdu Plain, a "thousand-mile fertile land", Longquanyi's water resources are not particularly outstanding.

Longquan Mountain has an anticline structure with rock layers arching upward, which is not conducive to water storage. This is the primary disadvantage of Longquanyi due to water shortage.

More importantly, the tributaries of the Minjiang River and Tuojiang River have little water flow and lack natural water sources. The ancient Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, which was crisscrossed with waterways, has not benefited this place either. This is Longquanyi’s second disadvantage.

In the early days, Longquanyi was short of water, and wooden keel waterwheels were mostly used to pump water for irrigation. When pumping water, two strong laborers were required to lean on the waterwheel frame with their arms and keep pedaling with their feet. The waterwheel faucet drove the wheel intestines, wheels, and water eight immortals to rotate continuously, which could lead the water in the pond to a higher place. | Photographer @金士廉

Due to the combination of these two disadvantages, the county magistrate in the Song Dynasty had no choice but to write a poem to pray for rain, praying for rain from heaven.

"Jinli is a town east of the city, and there are sixteen villages on the plateau. The river cannot reach it, and rain falls frequently."

Since the water source cannot be guaranteed, let's create one.

The construction of Dongfeng Canal was put on the agenda since then. It started to be built in the 1950s, diverting water from the Minjiang River eastward to Longquanyi, irrigating more than 220,000 mu of cultivated land.

Dongfeng Canal, the above poem comes from the "Poem of Praying for Rain on the Holy Mother Mountain" written by Pan Dong, the magistrate of Lingchi County in the Song Dynasty, after he went to Luodai to pray for rain | Photographer @ Jiang Xiaoyi

The rolling waters of the Minjiang River have changed Longquanyi. The water flows in from the main Dongfeng Canal, and then flows through the branch canals, ditches, agricultural canals, and small canals. Thus, a dense irrigation network with a total length of more than 1,400 kilometers has been woven.

Schematic diagram of the water system in Longquanyi District | Map by @Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute

In addition to inter-basin water transfer, Longquanyi has also built many reservoirs to ensure its own water storage. 18 reservoirs including Baigong Weir, Baoshi Lake, and Longquan Lake are like pearl chains, embellishing both sides of Longquan Mountain.

Baigongyan | Photographer@雪域秀罗

With water sources, people continue to work hard to develop agriculture.

There is not much arable land in Longquanyi District, and low mountains, shallow hills and plains are intertwined. In this case, we should turn disadvantages into advantages.

Since the 1990s, Longquanyi has fully developed the widely distributed non-arable land in the territory, planting fruit trees in the highlands and growing grain and fruit in parallel in the lowlands.

The rice fields at the foot of Longquan Mountain were lush and golden. People finally had the conditions to grow rice on a large scale, rather than sticking to dryland crops such as wheat and corn. By 1974, the per-acre rice yield in Longquanyi had increased by nearly 40% compared to the early days of liberation.

In 2000, to celebrate the rice harvest, the Liu family of Baosheng Village in Luodai performed a dragon dance in the paddy fields . Image source: Longquanyi District Archives

Longquan Mountain is covered with fruit trees. Peaches, pears, apples, citrus, loquats and other fruits bloom and bear fruit here. Longquanyi has become a famous "hometown of peaches", and the "Big Five Star" loquats produced here have also won the silver medal at the World Horticultural Exposition.

Peaches and loquats from Longquan Mountain | Photographer @Longquanyi District Publicity Department @Wang Tian

The forest vegetation is also gradually recovering. In 2003, Longquanyi listed the greening of the west slope of Longquan Mountain as one of the top ten infrastructure projects in the district.

Over the years, continuous afforestation and returning farmland to forests have improved the ecological environment of Longquan Mountain little by little. The forest coverage rate of the entire area has increased from 35% in 1999 to 42.06% today.

Longquanyi, which is "half green mountain and half city", has finally reappeared.

Please watch it in horizontal mode, Longquanyi is half green mountain and half city | Photographer @嘉楠

Today, Longquanyi has dark green mountains and misty green water.

Birds are dancing and perching on the branches by the lake.

Qinglong Lake, Baigong Weir and Dong'an Lake have become bird watching resorts. In Qinglong Lake alone, there are 224 species of wild birds, including three Baer's Pochards, which are listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union.

Birds in Longquanyi: Red-billed blue magpies and mandarin ducks. The Longquan Mountains are an important passage for migratory birds. Migratory birds from Siberia and northern China enter the Sichuan Basin after passing through the Qinling Mountains in autumn, and then go south along the Longquan Mountains to Southeast Asia and even Australia | Photographer @嘉楠

In the mountains and forests, there are exotic flowers and famous trees growing quietly.

More than 500 species of plants, including the fragrant fruit tree, long-spurred beautiful crown orchid, Emei peach-leaf coral, green pod leaf, and tassel tree, have taken root and sprouted in the dense forest of Longquan Mountain. The scene of "swaying green and towering green" inscribed on Longquan Mountain in ancient times has reappeared a hundred years later.

In the sunrise, looking at the distant Gongga Snow Mountain from Longquanyi | Photographer @嘉楠

Civilization changes the mountains and rivers, but the ancient post station continues to move forward, bursting with even more powerful vitality.

04

Ancient Posthouse is booming

The Shuba Ancient Road, which has gone through a long time, is no longer the only external connection channel of Longquanyi.

Starting from the old Chengdu-Chongqing Highway and Chengdu-Chongqing Railway, people have continued to build a road network connecting to the outside world. Highways, railways, expressways, and subways form a road skeleton that connects the north, south, east, and west.

Chengdu East-West City Axis Opens to Traffic | Photographer @嘉楠

The geographical location close to the city and the mountains and the convenient transportation network also make Longquanyi a fertile ground for nurturing industry.

FAW Toyota, FAW Volkswagen, Zhongjia Volvo and other auto companies have successively built factories. In 2021, Longquanyi's vehicle production exceeded 1 million units, accounting for more than 85% of Sichuan's automobile production. Longquanyi has become a veritable "Auto City".

This is not all. This ancient post station is moving forward and continues to maintain a state of "re-entrepreneurship".

From Zhongxinhang, Harbin Institute of Technology Robot Science and Technology Industrial Park to Tiandizhifang, a group of new energy, robot and innovative unicorns have flocked in, accumulating momentum for the future development of Longquanyi.

Automobile factory in Longquanyi District. The brilliant industrial achievements have written a new name card for Longquanyi as "Chengdu-Chongqing Manufacturing Highland". | Photographer @嘉楠

Longquanyi’s pace of change has not stopped.

In 2018, Chengdu won the right to host the 31st World University Games.

The main stadium of the Universiade has been completed beside the rippling Dong'an Lake. This new Chengdu landmark welcomes the changes of the new century with its sci-fi appearance.

Universiade Main Stadium | Photographer @嘉楠

In the rising new city of Dong'an, the theater, art center, Dong'an Academy, stadium, lakes, canals and bays in the park, and a series of greenways together constitute the new landscape and cultural landscape of Longquanyi.

Please watch horizontally, the rising Dong'an New City | Photographer @嘉楠

That’s still not all.

In 2017, Chengdu's new round of urban planning re-edited the original urban space. Longquan Mountain, which is known as "one mountain connecting two wings", is no longer a barrier to the east, but is positioned as an important link between the east and the west.

This mountain range, which stretches 90 kilometers from north to south and 10-12 kilometers from east to west in Chengdu, will reappear as a "world-class urban green heart."

A forest park system that connects points and surfaces into a network is being built, including walking trails, gardens, villages, observation decks, and ancient post station landscapes.

Longquanshan Forest Park | Photographer @Jia Nan

Longquanyi, surrounded by mountains and water, has become an important part of Chengdu's park city, providing Chengdu people with a spiritual habitat close to the city.

Citizens are enjoying leisure activities along the greenway beside Qinglong Lake | Photographer @嘉楠

All year round, there are peach blossoms in full bloom and clouds all over the mountains, winding greenways to enjoy the coolness of the mountains, fragrant fruits to welcome the sweetness of autumn, and white forests to listen to the silent falling of snow.

Longquanyi peach blossoms are in full bloom, and the mountains are covered with rosy clouds | Photographer @嘉楠

Longquanyi is a road that goes from desolate to prosperous, and from ancient to new.

During the long years along the way, it has crossed mountains and rivers to connect with the outside world, it has diverted water and built canals to create water-saving Toyotas, it has reclaimed farmland and planted trees to restore green mountains, and its actions have interpreted a legend of the post road between mountains and rivers .

Today the ancient road is still there and a new city is rising.

Perhaps the only thing that remains unchanged over time is this endless creation and progress passed down from generation to generation.

Please watch in horizontal mode, the brightly lit night view of Longquanyi | Photographer @YX1OO

- This article was created by the team -

Written by | Xiang Bu Xiang

Editor |

Picture | Stop Water

Map | Song Nan, Chen Zhihao

Design | Yang Ning

Proofreading | Shanyuelou, A Shao, Chen Zhihao, 7556 meters

Cover Photographer: Jianan

Expert Review

Hu Kaiquan, associate researcher at Longquanyi District Archives

【References】

[1] Huang Feng, editor-in-chief; Longquanyi District Local Chronicles Compilation Committee. Chengdu Longquanyi District Chronicles [M]. Chengdu: Chengdu Publishing House. 1995.

[2] Chengdu Longquanyi District Local Chronicles Compilation Committee. Chengdu Longquanyi District Chronicles 1989-2005[M]. Beijing: Fangzhi Publishing House. 2013.

[3]Compiled by the Party History Research Office of the CPC Chengdu Longquanyi District Committee. Ancient and Modern Longquanyi[M]. Chengdu: Chengdu Times Publishing House. 2016.

[4]Compiled by the Literature and History Group of the Cultural and Historical Study Committee of the Chengdu Longquanyi District Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Selected Literature and History Materials of Longquanyi, Volume 2[M]. 1995.

[5] Lan Yong. The rise and fall of the Dongdalu Basin and the “Dongdalu Economic Belt” in Sichuan[J]. Historical Geography Research, 2021, 41(04): 1-17+153.

[6] Zuo Yufei. A study on clan culture as seen in Han genealogies in some areas of Sichuan from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China [D]. Sichuan Normal University, 2011.

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