There is an “abandoned” ancient city deep in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi. It used to be prosperous for more than 2,200 years, but now it is only lonely

This is Xiao Yu’s travel diary, stop and go, and watch Shaanxi with me.

Today, the area around the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains, which is sparsely populated, is still an economically backward area. So when I took a green train and crossed the high mountains of the Qinling Mountains to the junction of the three provinces of Shaan, Gansu and Sichuan, I realized that there was an ancient city that had been prosperous for thousands of years. It is the ancient city of Fengzhou. Before the “May Day” holiday, I went for a slow trip to Qinling. Departing from Xi’an, take a green leather train along the Baocheng Railway all the way south to Fengxian, Baoji. The Baocheng Railway is a traffic artery connecting the Great Northwest and the Great Southwest, and it is also the first electrified railway in my country. The section from Baoji Station to Fengxian Station is the most difficult and dangerous section of the entire Baocheng Railway. Along the way, it passes through the Qinling tunnel group and the scenery is amazing. It also makes me sigh the vastness of the Qinling Mountains and the hardships of the Baocheng Railway project. Arrive at the previous station in Fengxian, passing by the “Fengzhou” station. A friend who has been to Fengxian told me that Fengzhou is the old county seat of Fengxian, and it was also an ancient city with a long history. But now it is “downgraded” into a village, and not many people know it. So when we returned, we deliberately came to the ancient city of Fengzhou, looking for the imprint of time in this “abandoned” thousand-year-old city… The history of the ancient city of Fengzhou can be traced back to the establishment of the “Gudao County” in the early Qin Dynasty. In 1951, the county government moved from Fengzhou to Shuangshipu Town. Despite military disputes and dynasties, Fengzhou has always been the seat of the state, county, and county. Historically, it has governed the Guangyuan area of ​​Sichuan and southeastern Gansu, and has been the political, economic, and cultural center of the region for more than 2,200 years. After the relocation of the county seat in 1951, this thousand-year-old city declined to its lowest point in history-becoming an administrative village in Fengzhou Town. The location of the ancient city of Fengzhou can be described as “by the mountain and by the water”. The first picture in the article was taken by me standing in the scenic spot of Xiaocai Temple opposite the ancient city of Fengzhou. From a high place, you can clearly see that this thousand-year-old city is surrounded by the peaks of the Qinling Mountains, and the Jialing River flows slowly from the side…Houses lined up to the north of the Qinling Phoenix Ridge, and several sections of Fengzhou’s soil can be seen on the west. Ruins of the city wall. Today, the Provincial Highway 212 and the Baocheng Railway “sandwich” Fengzhou between the north and the south; in ancient times, this was the place where Baoxie Road, Lianyun Road and the old road leading to Sichuan and Tianshui in Gansu must pass. In the depths of the Qinling Mountains, the thousand-year-old city that connects Shaan, Gansu and Sichuan seems to be blocked from traffic. According to the “Fengxian County Chronicles”, after the opening of the plank road across the Qinling Mountains, merchants from north to south gathered here, and more and more inns and restaurants in Fengzhou City. In the early years of the Republic of China, Fengzhou City had more than ten large business houses, silver shops, and silver shops, more than ten grocery and cloth shops, and oil shops, hotels, and dye shops. Business was booming. Dongguan was particularly prosperous, and the north-south travels were particularly prosperous. The merchants live here, and inns and inns are often full.” So, what is left in Fengzhou today? From the county seat of Fengxian County, take the bus No. 6 and get off at Xiaocai Temple Station, and you can see that the cliffs of the majestic Douji Mountain are “inlaid” with many splendid Buddhist temples. The former Fengzhou ancient city is directly opposite to Xiaocai Temple. We randomly found an alley and walked into it. At the end of the alley is the Qinling Phoenix Ridge, and the back is the Qinling Douji Mountain. Looking up, I really feel that this is an ancient city hidden in the arms of the Qinling Mountains. Although Fengzhou is now downgraded to a village, its scale is much larger than I thought. The overall layout of the village is like a chessboard with many lanes. We walked around as we wanted, and we also encountered many old houses from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The architectural style of residential buildings in Fengzhou is different from that of southern Shaanxi, but somewhat similar to the style of Guanzhong courtyard. However, due to land reform and other reasons, although many old houses can be seen as a courtyard layout, they are no longer owned by one household, but are divided into several households. And there are more old houses, some of them have become dilapidated houses, and some of them are empty and seem to be deserted. We went around Fengzhou Village in a big circle. There were no traces of the county government, Guangfo Temple, casino, smoking house, brothel, etc., which were recorded in history. Only beside the Fengzhou Memorial Hall on the east side of the village, we saw the complex The built Chenghuang Temple and Confucian Temple. You need to buy tickets to enter these two buildings. After a glance at the brand new exterior walls, we left. Follow the village to the north, and you can walk to the Guangcheng Railway. This is the highest part of the village, and originally there were ruins of the city wall. Probably because of the construction of the Guangcheng Railway, the ruins of the ancient city wall disappeared. According to the “Fengxian County Chronicles”, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the amount of silver spent on urban construction in Fengzhou alone was 16,668 taels. The original city wall of Fengzhou City had a perimeter of four li, two feet and five feet high, and one foot and five feet wide. There were 848 brick stacks and three towers in the east, west and north. Now we can only see the ruins of the former city wall on the west side of the village. Those lonely loess walls are probably proof that the ancient city of Fengzhou was once brilliant… For a long period of time in history, the ancient city of Fengzhou was the economic and cultural center of the upper reaches of the Jialing River at the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains. . Nowadays, if it were not for the reminder of the signs beside Provincial Highway 212, few people would know that there is such a prosperous ancient city in the depths of the Qinling Mountains… It is said that Fengxian is already preparing to build the “Fengzhou Ancient City” and hope to make it Build a 5A scenic spot. I don’t know what it will look like when it’s goodbye? If you want to learn more about popular and fun tourist destinations, you are welcome to pay attention to “Xiaoyu’s Travel Diary”. Discover more beautiful worlds with Xiaoyu!