Chengdu people never have to worry about where to go on weekends. All around Chengdu are treasure spots.
Qionglai, which is more than an hour's drive, is full of delicious and fun food, and the key prices are particularly touching.
In winter, Tiantai Mountain, you can stroll in the virgin forest where no one is in the land, watch the gurgling waterfalls, and watch the snow if you are lucky.
Winter in Pingle Ancient Town has a more flavor that the ancient town should have. There is no noise from the crowd in summer. Walking on the stone road of the ancient town, looking for a tea shop by the river, sitting all afternoon, and experiencing the slow time here.
In the cave of Daliang Winery, you can even see with your own eyes the wine-making process of the old masters. It turns out that this is the charm of Qiongjiu.

Tiantai Mountain in winter

Aerial photo of Qionglai Daliang Winery

Aerial photo of Pingle Ancient Town

Chengdu's "Little Penang"-Qionglai Tiehua Lane

Recommended self-driving itineraries

D1 Chengdu--Pingle Ancient Town--Tiehua Lane--Daliang Winery
D2 Daliang Winery-Tiantai Mountain-Chengdu

Surprised Jiaguan Ancient Town along the way

Jiaguan was not originally part of our plan, but we just passed by on the way and thought this place was quite interesting.
I parked my car on the roadside, went in and took a stroll, and found that this was really a good place.
This is what an ancient town should have, and few tourists stop here.

After checking the data, I found that Jiaguan Ancient Town has a history of more than 2300 years. It is one of the three major ancient towns in Qionglai history and the most important station on the Ancient Tea Horse Road.
There are many ancient buildings in the town, including Qin and Han Dynasty post road sites, Han Dynasty smelting iron sites, ancient bridge steles, stone archways, Xiangya Temple, etc... are important historical and cultural towns in western Sichuan.

Now it is still an ancient town that has not been commercialized at all. All the residents live in the town.
Walking on the ancient stone bridge, you can enjoy the scenery of the water town; walking along the ancient street and feel the atmosphere of life in the market; you can also stroll around Shili Tea Mountain, breathe in the fresh air, and experience the fun of picking tea.

In Qionglai, the most common snack is milk soup noodles.

Milk soup noodles are made of fresh pork bones, pig's trotters, brain flowers, fragrant elbows, and local chicken stewed into a soup with a rich aroma and white color as milk, plus cooked noodles and seasoning. They are smooth but not greasy. They are never tired of eating for a long time and are suitable for all ages. They are unique in Qionglai.

Eating milk soup noodles must be served with bowl chicken and kimchi to be a perfect meal.
Bowo chicken has a history of hundreds of years since the Qing Dynasty. It is made of pottery bowls filled with seasonings mainly composed of red oil and sea peppers, and mixed with various seasonings such as boneless chicken slices, duck feet, duck wings, etc., and has the characteristics of crispy skin, tender meat, spicy and delicious.

When checking out, I was shocked by the price list hanging at the door. I repeatedly confirmed with my boss was this the price at this time?
I haven't eaten such cheap noodles in more than 10 years in Chengdu.

When I passed by the stone bridge, I found a basket of these things. I don't know what they were. Does anyone know?

Pingle ancient town

"Pingle" is a place you want to come to whenever you hear its name.
Transportation is also very convenient, only 93 kilometers away from Chengdu, with direct high-speed access.

Pingle Ancient Town is famous for its simple neighborhoods and the original and simple Western Sichuan folk customs.
In the ancient town area, you can enjoy the long-lost ancient charm and tranquility outside the city. Remove the impetuousness of modern civilization, see the mountains, rivers, flowers and plants full of aura, and have the ability to open your mind, forget your worries, indulge in mountains and rivers, and let time go back...

Pingle Ancient Town was called "Pingluo" in ancient times. During the prehistoric Shu King Kaiming's reign, Pingluo's small green basin surrounded by mountains was named after the settlement established by cultivating water and benefiting farmers and developing mulberry trees. According to the records of "Shangshu·Yu Gong", Dayu managed to control the water and "Cai Meng achieved peace and achieved peace and prosperity." The Baimao River that runs through the town is divided into "inner river" and "outer river" by flying sand weir, forming a unique pattern of one river divided into three rivers. Market towns had been formed during the Western Han Dynasty in 150 BC and have a history of more than 2000 years.

In the third year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (970 AD), Huojing County was established in Pingluo for more than 200 years. After the Yuan Dynasty, it belonged to Zhili Prefecture in Qiongzhou. Pingluo Township was established in the 29 th year of the Republic of China (1940 AD). This name was used after the founding of New China. In 1950, towns and townships were separated. In April 1983, the township was withdrawn and established. It was called Pingluo Town, which implemented the town-managed-village system. In March 1993, it was renamed Pingle Town. In September 2004, Qionglai City implemented zoning adjustment, abolished the establishment of Xiaba Township adjacent to Pingle, and merged the original administrative area of Xiaba Township into Pingle Town, collectively known as Pingle Town.

Pingle has become the "first town of the Ancient Tea Horse Road and the first station on the Southern Silk Road" since ancient times. In today's Pingle, we can still see the footprints of history-nine ancient times: ancient streets, ancient temples, ancient bridges, ancient trees, ancient weirs, ancient squares, ancient roads, ancient customs, and ancient songs.

Pingle Ancient Town retains ancient houses from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Most of the houses on both sides of the ancient street are wooden structures with one floor and one bottom. The lower floor is generally used as paving and the upper floor is used as living rooms, reflecting the strong Western Sichuan style.

Ancient Bridge in Ancient Town
Leshan Bridge was built in the first year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty and was funded by villagers such as Zhou Tongxuan and Zhang Dabin. Seven years of quarrying took ten years to complete the quarrying. The bridge is divided into seven holes and is peach-shaped. It has a total length of 120 meters, a height of 16.6 meters and a width of 10 meters. It is the largest existing ancient stone arch bridge in Sichuan.

Ancient Street:
Pingle Town has a long history. It was once the seat of Huojing County. It was an important land and land artery and business port in ancient times, forming a residential architectural style and neighborhood style that are different from other ancient towns in western Sichuan. As an important material distribution center and land and water terminal in western Sichuan, in order to facilitate the loading, unloading and trading of goods, it is built along the river to facilitate the loading, unloading and trading of goods. Its pattern is fishbone. The 33 streets are of different lengths and have certain lengths, and most of the street junctions are docks. In order to facilitate buying, selling and home, the buildings along the street are all houses and shops. They are generally two-story, with wooden bucket structures and blue tiles and wooden eaves, with staggered heights. There are 235,400 square meters of buildings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and 22 streets that maintain the style of ancient streets in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Their scale and unity of style rank first in Western Shu.

On the ancient street, you can also taste the most authentic Sichuan famous snacks.

Qionglai's three famous snacks, Naisang Noodles, Bobo Chicken, and Maoxuewang, can be found in any street in the ancient town.

This place is a favorite place for Chengdu people to play in the water in summer, but it is a little quieter in winter.

A food street in the ancient town is full of various Qionglai delicacies on both sides.

Tiehua Lane

Many people may not know that there is also such an Internet celebrity alley in Qionglai.
This alley is called "Iron Flower Lane". The street is covered with graffiti, which suddenly reminds me of the "Penang" I have been to.

I have to mention that this was once the place where the richest man in the country "struggled".

In the history of Qionglai and even the whole country, there are rich and colorful strokes.

There is 1 main lane in Tiehua Lane, 570 meters long; 12 branch lanes, 1290 meters long;
With a total length of 1860 meters, it is surrounded by four streets: Tianqing Street, Qixing Street, Huayuan Lane, and Nanhuan Road. This used to be a Datian Dam. Because the ground is covered with a lot of solidified slag left in iron-making, it is called Iron Shout Dam by Qionglai people. I don't know when, but people changed the name of iron shit into iron flower.

These slag and iron dung (iron flowers) are no small matter. They have a history of more than 2000 years. They are related to Zhuo Wenjun's father Zhuo Wangsun and record a period of glory in Qionglai's history.

According to historical records, the Zhuo family of Zhao was an iron-smelting family. Qin destroyed the six countries, and Zhuo Wenjun's grandfather moved to Linqiong, Shu Prefecture. In addition to rich iron ore resources, Linqiong area is rich. It is guarded at the gate of the Southern Silk Road and has a very advantageous geographical location. In the early Han Dynasty, Zhuo Wangsun recruited poor people with cheap food to mine iron ore, smelt pig iron, and cast iron tools for the production and life of the Shu people and the southwestern ethnic minorities. He also exported it to Yunnan, Guizhou, and South Asia and West Asia via the ancient Shu Road (Nansi Road). He became rich with iron, had thousands of servants, and became the richest man in the country. Since the Western Han Dynasty, the government established iron officials in Linqiong, and the ancient city of Linqiong became the "five major iron cities" of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

According to modern archaeological confirmation, it is very likely that the current area around Tiehua Lane is one of Zhuo Wangsun's large-scale iron-smelting bases. Those iron feces or iron flowers are the slag left over from iron-making at that time. Archaeological reports say that the iron slag has an area of 500000 square meters and is 30 centimeters thick. This is equivalent to the size of 70 football fields.

For thousands of years, the scenery of Tiehua Lane and the name of Tiehua Lane have conveyed more than 2,000 years of historical events, making Linqiong Ancient City famous in ancient and modern times. As a historical site of Zhuo Wangsun's iron-smelting, Tiehua Lane is an important cultural geographical coordinate displaying the ancient Linqiong Han culture and industrial grand occasion. It witnesses the prosperity of ancient Linqiong, is an important part of Wenjun culture, and is a key area of material and cultural heritage of the cultural city.

In addition to inheriting Qionglai's culture, the current Tiehua Lane has now become a famous food street in Qionglai.

Although it is already an Internet celebrity, the prices here are still very friendly to the people.

Qionglai has a long history of wine culture and has been known as the "Wine Country" since ancient times.
When you come to Qionglai, how can you not go to the wine village to experience its wine culture?
Therefore, we chose this winery for our accommodation in Qionglai this time.

"Daliang Winery" is a tourist village with the theme of wine culture and leisure experience. It not only reproduces the history of the winemakers, but also goes to Daliang Shaofang to personally experience the entire process of winemaking with the winemaker in accordance with a century-old method. You can also hold a can of self-brewed white wine and store it in the cave. After three years and five years, open the can and drink to experience the unique charm of "Tibetan Old Liquor".

The hotel at Daliang Winery is also unique
Every room is like a wine barrel, and then there is a vegetable field in the yard where various vegetables are grown.

We stayed in a standard room this time and the room was very large.

There is also wine ready in the room, but there is an extra charge.

Classic plays related to the wine industry of wine makers are regularly performed on the "Daliang Old Theater" in the Wine Culture Square, which fully interprets the profoundness of wine culture.

Walking into the winery, you feel like traveling through, especially when you see the big tripod in the middle of the square, it feels like returning to the Li-Warring States Period.

In addition to where we live, Daliang Winery also has several specialty B & Bs, with different styles.

The name of this family is "Xinshu".
The decorations inside are all made of old objects purchased.

Every item tells a historical story.

The wine hidden in the winery's cave is very spectacular. The appearance may not seem like much, but you will find a "unique cave" when you walk in.

Everything inside is filled with neat rows of wine hidden in holes.

Some of them have been kept for a long time, and the color of the jar cannot be seen clearly.

In the workshop of Daliang Winery, you can also see with your own eyes workers brewing kaoliang wine on site.

This is how kaoliang wine came out.

The Nine Dynasties Guild Hall is set against the background of five thousand years of Chinese history and has 13 private rooms, including the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Han, Tang, Qing, etc.

Each dynasty presents the history and culture of that era. In the Han Dynasty private room, you can travel to the Han Dynasty, and maids dressed in Han costumes will cook and warm wine for you. Guests knelt on futon, drank and drank tea on the table, and experienced the etiquette and eating style of the Han Dynasty.

In the Yuan Dynasty private room, it is like arriving in the tent of a Khan, where Mongolian girls present corbors and roast sheep for you; in the Qing Dynasty private room, the Qing Dynasty style and gird dress, coupled with the classical music of the dynasty, it is really a beautiful time travel.

Tiantai mountain

After staying at Daliang Winery for one night, we went directly to Tiantai Mountain the next day.
From Daliang Winery to Tiantai Mountain, it is only more than 50 kilometers away, and you can reach it without taking the highway.
This time is also the off-season in Tiantai Mountain, and tickets are also very cheap, only 29 people per person.
Then you don't need to take a sightseeing bus in the scenic area. You can also drive directly into the scenic area by yourself, but you only need to charge a parking fee of 20 yuan.

There are very few tourists coming to Tiantai Mountain in the off-season. Many attractions and shops along the way are almost empty. When we were driving halfway up the mountain, we saw a very unique shaped stone. We got off the bus and found that it was also a viewing platform. The stone was "inverted boot stone".
The inverted boot stone rises from the ground 200 meters and is more than 20 meters wide. It stands tall and points straight into the blue sky. It looks like an inverted boot.
Legend has it that the barefoot immortal went to the peach festival of the Queen Mother and lost his boots here after being drunk.

After about 30 minutes 'drive, we arrived at the terminal station of Tiantai Mountain-Zhengtiantai.
This is also a large parking lot. If you take a sightseeing bus, you will also get off here.
You need to walk all the way back.

There are many farmhouses still open here on the main rooftop, and you can accommodate and eat.
And in this winter season, the price is also very touching.
When we were passing by, we happened to meet them roasting chicken, which was also ordered by the guests. After visiting the attractions inside, we could eat it when we came out.

Leiyin Temple is the first scenic spot on Zhengtiantai. It is a very simple temple.
"Since ancient times, there have been many monks in famous mountains, and most of the scenery belongs to the monks."
Leiyin Temple was originally a Taoist temple in the Han Dynasty, but gradually changed into a Buddhist temple after the Tang Dynasty.
It was destroyed by war at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Today, we can still recall the grand occasion of that year from the relics.

During the epidemic, temples are not open to the public, so they can only be photographed outside.
You can see from the stone lion at the door that the temple has a long history.

A long corridor outside the temple is called Monk Street.
You can imagine the glorious scene here when Buddhism was prevalent.

On both sides of Monk Street, it is the season to watch fireflies in summer.
Because it is close to the river and the air quality is very good, it has become a favorite habitat for fireflies.

High-altitude plank road in the virgin forest

Can you imagine what it's like to be high in the forest?
This project, which used to be very popular in Australia, can now be realized in Tiantai Mountain.

The end of November is the camellia season. When you go to Tiantai Mountain at this time, you can often see blooming camellia on the roadside.

When you see the waterfall, it means that you have reached the core attraction of Tiantai Mountain-Shibali Xiangcao Gully.

It is almost impossible to take a picture here in summer without anyone.
Coming here in winter is the feeling of booking a venue.

If you want to enter Shabili Xiangcao Gully, there is only one way to enter by taking this bamboo raft. (Bamboo raft 20/person, round trip)

Because there are no tourists in winter, the boaters will not always wait for us here.
The boatman said that you would ring a few bells here when you came back, and then he would come back to pick us up.
This is not bad enough to experience the most primitive communication method.

Shibalili Xiangcao Gully is a long and narrow ravine. Because the herbs here are dense and most of them are immersed in water in slices, it has the reputation of Vanilla Valley.

At the same time, the ditch is also the most popular place to play in the water in Tiantai Mountain in summer.
In summer, you can experience eighteen kinds of water sports such as water swings, wooden boats, dragon arch cars, water ladders, and waterfall climbing.

However, it is recommended not to play in the water in winter. It is really too cold to fall.

Bailong River flowing in Shibalili Xiangcao Gully originates from a virgin forest at an altitude of more than 1800 meters. It is a tributary of the Jinlong River and flows into the Jinlong River on the "Shangtiantai" terrace.

Butterfly Beach, the widest river beach on Tiantai Mountain, is formed from this.
Every summer and autumn, there are always a large number of butterflies flying up and down around tourists on the Butterfly Beach, lingering forever. This also constitutes a wonderful sight before entering the ditch.

The waterfall on Tiantai Mountain is also the most beautiful scenery. It's just that the water flow is not large in winter, but it's really beautiful in summer.

This is the legendary water swing.

On the return journey, there were even fewer people in the scenic area.
The lake is so quiet, with blue sky and white clouds reflected in the water.

The pink camellia also bloomed.
It's really beautiful.

Does Qionglai in the off-season have a unique flavor?
Especially when the sun is better, whether it is on the river stone bridge in the ancient town or in the virgin forest of Tiantai Mountain, you can hear the gurgling water.
We can find the kind of free life we aspire to. When we are tired of urban life, we might as well drive out and visit these treasure places around Chengdu.