Atlas of China
Dazhou 达州Dázhōu
A quarter of China's surviving Han stone gates, amid the Daba foothills
About Dazhou
Dazhou is a transport hub and natural-gas city in north-eastern Sichuan, in the hills below the Daba Mountains. Qu County keeps seven stone que, the carved pillar-gates that stood before Eastern Han and Jin tombs, about a quarter of all that survive in China. In the mountains to the north lie the Bashan Grand Canyon in Xuanhan and the sheer cliffs of Batai Mountain near Wanyuan, while closer to the city Zhenfo Mountain gathers Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian halls on one hillside.
What to eat in Dazhou
- Dengying beef (灯影牛肉)
- Dongliu sweet fermented rice (东柳醪糟)
Listed sites in Dazhou
15 sites in Dazhou are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.
- Bashan Grand Canyon 巴山大峡谷 4A scenic area · on the map
The Bashan Grand Canyon scenic area covers river gorges, cliffs and forested mountains in the Daba range of north-eastern Xuanhan county, around the Tujia ethnic township of Dukou. - Batai Mountain 八台山 4A scenic area · on the map
Batai Mountain, south-east of Wanyuan city in the Daba range, is a national geopark of isolated peaks and sheer cliffs, known for sunrise views, seas of cloud and 'Buddha's light' halos. - Congren Valley 賨人谷 4A scenic area · on the map
Congren Valley is a 41 km² karst landscape of gorges, caves, springs, waterfalls and forest in the hills east of Qu County town, protected as a national forest park and provincial geopark. - Jinshan Scenic Area 金山 4A scenic area · on the map
Jinshan is a wooded hill in Pu'an town, a few kilometres west of Kaijiang county town, centred on Jinshan Temple, a Buddhist monastery. - Shenjianyuan (Zhang Aiping Former Residence) 神剑园 4A scenic area · on the map
Shenjianyuan, in Luojiang town north-east of Dazhou city, is built around the childhood home of Zhang Aiping (1910–2003), a Red Army veteran who later directed China's early nuclear tests and served as defence minister. - Wanyuan Red Army Park 万源红军公园 4A scenic area · on the map
On Tuoshan hill above Wanyuan city, this memorial park commemorates the 1934 Defence of Wanyuan, when the Red Fourth Front Army held the area against Sichuan warlord forces. - Wenfeng Mountain, Qu County 文峰山 4A scenic area · on the map
An open hillside park in Qu County town themed on local history and Confucian scholarship. - Wufeng Mountain 五峰山 4A scenic area · on the map
Wufeng Mountain in eastern Dazhu county is a national forest park; its ridges, between 600 and 1,080 m, are covered by a bamboo forest of many species that stretches for tens of kilometres. - Wumei Mountain, Dachuan 乌梅山 4A scenic area · on the map
A 17.75 km² rural area around Baijie, south of Dazhou, centred on orchards of mume trees grown for wumei, the smoked dried fruit, which blossom in January–February and ripen in May–June. - Yanglie Water Village, Xuanhan 洋烈水乡 4A scenic area · on the map
An open rural leisure area of about 6.8 km² along the Zhou River near Xuanhan, developed since 2013. - Zhenfo Mountain Temples 真佛山 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
Zhenfo Mountain, in Fushan town about 35 km from Dazhou city, is topped by a Qing-dynasty complex of temples, among them Dehua Temple and the Jade Emperor and Tianzi halls, where Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist worship share one hillside. - Han Que of Qu County 渠县汉阙 National heritage site · on the map
Qu County has six sites with seven stone que, the pillar-gates that stood before tombs of the Eastern Han to Western Jin, carved in stone to imitate timber buildings; they amount to about a quarter of all surviving Han que in China. - Kaijiang Memorial Arches 开江牌坊 National heritage site · on the map
Two Qing-dynasty stone memorial arches in Kaijiang county honour widows for chastity and filial devotion: the Tao Arch at the entrance to Renshi town, raised for the wife and concubine of the official Zhang Jiufeng, and the Hu Family Arch near Gantang town. - Lenin Street Stone Arches and Red Army Slogans 列宁街石牌坊 National heritage site
Four Qing-dynasty memorial arches, built between 1817 and 1901 to honour virtuous widows, stand along the old street of Shiqiao town in Dachuan District; their tiers of eaves are carved with dragons and phoenixes, scenes such as the Eight Immortals and the Peach Garden Oath, and some 480 human figures. - Qu County Confucian Temple 渠县文庙 National heritage site · on the map
Qu County's Confucian temple is a Qing-dynasty complex of three courtyards on a hillside above the Qu River, built in stages between 1663 and 1821 and fronted by a carved stone Lingxing Gate of 1794.
On the map
Open Dazhou on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.
Open Dazhou on the map