Qingmuchuan Ancient Town

Wei Futang, the real-life model for the novel Qingmuchuan and the TV drama Yidai Xiaoxiong, built this castle-like mansion blending Chinese and Western styles.

Winding eight hundred metres along the Jinxi River like a land boat, Huilongchang Street lines up old trading houses, teahouses and opium dens under grey tiles and wooden pillars.

Deep in the mountains where Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan meet, Wei Futang founded this tuition-free school, whose Western-style hall and red-brick classrooms survive intact.

In this storied water town a single step can touch three provinces, and the Feifeng Bridge spans the Jinxi River on a key pass of the old Qin-Shu road.

Strategically situated at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces, Qingmuchuan developed into the historic Huilongchang trading street along the Jinxi River during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

During the Republican era, local leader Wei Futang constructed the fortified Wei Family Manor and founded Furen Middle School in 1942, establishing a rare pioneer of tuition-free modern rural education in the remote frontier.