Pingle Ancient Town

Spanning the Baimo River, this Tongzhi-era stone arch bridge funded by local gentry ranks among the largest in western Sichuan, with old banyans shading its ends.

A ferry crossing for two thousand years, Pingle's riverfront now offers bamboo rafting and teahouses filled with bamboo chairs in a relaxed, unhurried spirit.

Deep in a vast bamboo valley, Lugou preserves Ming-Qing water-powered mills and soaking pools once used to make paper by hand from bamboo fiber.

Thirteen ancient banyans encircle the water town, while cliffs on Mount Jinhua bear Tang and Song rock carvings and the remains of Tiangong Temple.

Part of Pingle Ancient Town's history: Cai Lun Inventing Paper. Eastern Han eunuch and director of the imperial workshops who in 105 presented paper made from bark, hemp, rags and old nets, later known as Marquis Cai's paper

Part of Pingle Ancient Town's history: Cai Lun Inventing Paper. Eastern Han emperor who came to the throne at ten, broke the Dou clan's hold on power with the eunuch Zheng Zhong, and reigned while Ban Chao held the Western Regions

Pingle stood on the South Silk Road route west of Chengdu and preserves a post-road site associated with the Qin–Han period.

Cai Lun Inventing Paper

Cai Lun refined papermaking with bark, hemp waste, rags, and old nets, making sheets more practical to produce and use.

Using bamboo as a principal material, Pingle's traditional papermaking flourished from the Song through the Qing and is now a Chengdu municipal intangible-heritage project.