Songpan Ancient City
Known in ancient times as Songzhou—established as a prefecture in the Tang Dynasty with city walls built in the Ming—it has long been a key hub of the tea-horse trade in northwestern Sichuan and a strategic stronghold; the story of Princess Wencheng's journey to Tibet is tied to Songzhou
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- Open all day
- Ticket
- Ancient city Free (small ticket for the city wall)
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
Known in ancient times as Songzhou—established as a prefecture in the Tang Dynasty with city walls built in the Ming—it has long been a key hub of the tea-horse trade in northwestern Sichuan and a strategic stronghold; the story of Princess Wencheng's journey to Tibet is tied to Songzhou. The ancient walls wind along the Minshan ridges, and the barbetten (wengcheng) gates are well preserved; inside the city, Hui, Han, Tibetan, and Qiang street markets coexist, with mosques, temples, and drum towers facing one another along the same streets—a living sample of multi-ethnic life at the gateway to the plateau.
Getting there: self-drive from Chuanzhusi (approx. 17 km)
Photos
More in Jiuzhaigou
- Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic Area
A Y-shaped valley in the southern Minshan Mountains, made up of Shuzheng Valley, Rize Valley and Zechawa Valley; named after the nine Tibetan villages inside, it was inscribed as a World Natural Heritage Site together with Huanglong in 1992
- Shuzheng Valley
The first valley of Jiuzhaigou, running from the valley entrance to Nuorilang Waterfall: the Shuzheng Lakes are twenty to thirty lakes big and small linked in tiers, trees grow thickly on the travertine dikes, and water mills and prayer-wheel houses stand along the stream — a living display of Tibetan water-mill culture within a natural landscape
- Rize Valley
The essence of the whole valley: Five Flower Lake shows peacock-feather-like iridescent colors thanks to the spectral differences of lakebed travertine, algae and sunken wood, and is called "the essence of Jiuzhaigou"
- Zechawa Valley
The longest and highest-altitude valley in Jiuzhaigou: Long Lake at its end is Jiuzhaigou's largest lake, fed by snowmelt with no outlet — "never full, never dry" — and revered by Tibetans as a holy lake
- Zharu Temple
The largest and only Tibetan Bon religion monastery in Jiuzhaigou, sitting beneath Baojing Rock (Treasure Mirror Rock) at the mouth of Zharu Valley; said to date from the Ming Dynasty, it has been the faith center of the valley's nine Tibetan villages through the ages
- Tibetan Villages (Shuzheng Village and others)
Villages of the indigenous Tibetans inside Jiuzhaigou — the park's name, 'Valley of Nine Villages,' comes from the nine villages in the valley