Langzhong: a taste of traditional China

Nestled by the Jialing River, Langzhong is a relaxed small city in Sichuan Province, about 300 kilometres east of the province’s capital, Chengdu. With beautiful traditional architecture, towers, temples, an ancient examination hall where candidates for government jobs were tested on their knowledge of Confucian texts, swooping tiled roof lines, and narrow streets, there is an intact link with its 2,300 year old history.

The old part of the city is pedestrianised, and is especially appealing on a summer night as people enjoy the cooler air, promenading, exercising, relaxing on stools, playing cards, the young ones enjoying soccer and other games, always in the half light of old buildings, with glimpses of enticing courtyards and exotic wares for sale.

An evening stroll in old Langzhong

Many courtyards are invitingly open. Stay in a courtyard guesthouse to enhance the sense of history, stroll through the multiple courtyards of a wealthy merchant’s home from the Tang Dynasty, visit the memorial courtyard home where Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai stayed during the Long March in 1935 as leaders of the Red Army, later destined to be leaders of China after the revolution in 1949.

This is my contribution to Tiffin’s A-Z Guidebook, this month starting with the letter L.