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The ancient city of Qianzhou is small and exquisite. Its stone city wall winds and loops for 1,980 meters and is 5 meters high. The Wanrong River flows through the city. On the ancient street along the river, the bluestone slabs polished smooth by the feet of pedestrians through the ages are inlaid naturally yet ingeniously. Along the street stand stilted houses, the distinctive dwellings of the Miao people, full of strong ethnic style.
One ancient town's advertising slogan is: 'For you, this ancient town has waited a thousand years.' But Qianzhou City, located in the urban area of Jishou, the capital of Xiangxi, has waited more than 4,200 years. Today's Qianzhou City presents a new look with the new tourism layout of 'one city, one garden, one workshop,' while what remains unchanged is the antiquity and profundity accumulated over thousands of years. Strolling through it, what you see, hear, and feel can let you truly experience 'Greater Xiangxi' once.
There is a folk saying: 'The city of Qianzhou, the soldiers of Fenghuang.' Since ancient times, Qianzhou has been the twin city on the Southern Great Wall as famous as Fenghuang Ancient City. It has a ten-li basin, two rivers encircling a sandbar, and three land routes stretching across, shaped like the Qian trigram. Inside the city there is a ten-li ancient street, in the middle of the city a ten-li river channel, and outside the city a ten-li border wall. It was an important commercial port and dock during the Qin and Han periods and an important military command center on the Southern Great Wall defense line during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Inside the ancient city is Hujia Pond, known for its 'small bridge, flowing water, and households,' covering 2,800 square meters. The 'Anlan Well' in the pond is the source of the pond's water. The families living around the pond have Ming and Qing ancient buildings that are still well preserved, with white walls, dark tiles, and upturned eaves and ridge corners, uniquely styled. In summer, when frogs leap and cicadas sing, the lotuses in the pond bloom in competition, and strolling by the pond is pleasant and leisurely.
Inside the ancient city is the unmatched Three-Gate Opening in the history of Chinese ancient architecture, composed of the South Gate of the ancient city, Tongji Gate, and the Moon City (also called the Ear City). It is a landmark building integrating transportation, defense, water access, and fire prevention, and an important military defense facility of the cold-weapon era.
There are also many precious cultural relic buildings here, including the North Gate built during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty; Qianzhou Confucian Temple, built during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty and one of the best-preserved Confucian temples in Hunan Province; and so on.
Greater Xiangxi is a land of outstanding people and spiritual vitality, and Qianzhou Ancient City has produced many talents. During the Guangxu reign, Yang Yuebin, governor-general of Shaanxi and Gansu, disregarded his advanced age and recruited soldiers in his hometown to fight the French in Fujian and Taiwan; Luo Rongguang, Tianjin garrison commander, led troops against the Eight-Nation Alliance, defended Dagu Fort, and died in the line of duty; Zhang Yizun, one of the four great contemporary Chinese painters of horses, and a group of ethnic talents too numerous to list. The former residences of Luo Rongguang and Yang Yuebin are also hidden here.
In addition, inside the city there is also the old site of the National No. 8 Middle School, where during the War of Resistance Against Japan, then-Premier of the State Council Zhu Rongji, his wife Lao An, and other people of insight studied, as well as ancient dwellings where historian Jian Bozan, children's literature writer Zhang Tianyi, and General He Jiesheng, daughter of Marshal He Long, once stayed. Their existence lets us feel a rich humanistic atmosphere.
Besides the weighty lingering style of the ancient city, the scenery of the Wanrong River, praised as 'in the north there is the Songhua River, in the south there is the Wanrong River,' adds even more charm to the ancient city. Strolling in the ancient lanes, by the stepping stones and the Wanrong River, among city towers and walls, one will be deeply touched by a transcendent tranquility.
After touring the ancient city, let us focus on the Xiangxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Park. Xiangxi Prefecture is a treasure house of intangible cultural heritage. To date, the prefecture has more than 3,200 intangible cultural heritage items of various kinds, of which 24 are included in the national protection list. The Baigong Workshop in Qianzhou Ancient City is a grand garden that displays Xiangxi's intangible cultural heritage in a concentrated way. Among the masters settled there are Ye Shuiyun, an outstanding Chinese Tujia brocade inheritor; Shi Shunmin, the Miao drum king of Xiangxi, China; Zhang Guangming, a national-level inheritor of Tujia Hand-waving Dance; Peng Lin, a Xiangxi collage arts and crafts master; and 17 in total. Here we can see the craft masters demonstrate their skills on site. The Baigong Workshop can also be seen as a silhouette of the real life of the people of Xiangxi.
