Nanchong 南充Nánchōng

About Nanchong

Nanchong is a populous farming region in the hills of north-eastern Sichuan, threaded by the Jialing River and long known for its silk. Its great draw is Langzhong Ancient City, a grid of grey-tiled courtyard houses, temples and lantern-hung lanes in a loop of the river, laid out on feng shui principles, with the shrine and tomb of the Three Kingdoms general Zhang Fei. Langzhong also makes Baoning vinegar, one of China's four famous vinegars, and has a Qing-era Sufi shrine, the Baba Mosque.

What to eat in Nanchong

• Nanchong rice noodles (南充米粉)
• Chuanbei liangfen jelly (川北凉粉)
• Zhang Fei beef (张飞牛肉)

Featured places in Nanchong

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  Langzhong Ancient City 阆中古城

  Lantern-hung lanes laid out by feng shui in a loop of the Jialing River

  Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: 1–2 days · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

Listed sites in Nanchong

17 sites in Nanchong are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

• Former Residence of Zhu De 朱德故居 5A scenic area · National heritage site
  The birthplace and childhood home of Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Red Army and later one of the ten marshals of the People's Republic, in Linlang village, Ma'an town, Yilong County.
• Shengzhong Lake 升钟湖 4A scenic area · on the map
  A large reservoir among the hills of Nanbu County, created by a dam begun in the 1970s, with a long, branching shoreline of wooded peninsulas and islands.
• Tiangong Yuan 天宫院 4A scenic area · on the map
  A temple in the countryside south-west of Langzhong dedicated to Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng, two Tang-dynasty astrologers revered as masters of feng shui, who according to local legend chose their burial places here.
• Wuliang Pagoda 无量宝塔 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  Nanchong's White Pagoda, a brick pagoda modelled on timber construction, stands on Heming Mountain in Gaoping District, looking across the Jialing River to the city centre.
• Xishan Scenic Area, Nanchong 西山风景区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A chain of wooded hills on the western edge of Nanchong's Shunqing district, laid out as a large park with paths, temples and views over the city.
• Zhouzi Ancient Town, Peng'an 周子古镇 4A scenic area · on the map
  A riverside town on the Jialing in Peng'an County, named in honour of the Song Neo-Confucian thinker Zhou Dunyi, who is said to have taught here; a shrine to him, a former Jiangxi guild hall and an old wharf survive among its lanes.
• Baba Mosque 巴巴寺 National heritage site
  A mosque and Sufi shrine of the Qadiriyya order on Panlong Mountain, just north of Langzhong old town.
• Daxiangshan Giant Buddha, Langzhong 大像山摩崖造像 National heritage site
  A Buddha almost 10 m tall, carved in the Tang dynasty into Daxiang ('Great Image') Mountain across the Jialing River from Langzhong old town, at the site of the Dafo Si (Great Buddha Temple).
• Guanyin Temple Main Hall, Nanbu 观音庵大殿 National heritage site · on the map
  The listed main hall of Guanyin'an, a Buddhist temple in the countryside south of Nanbu county town, is a timber building of the Ming dynasty.
• Lifeng Taoist Temple 醴峰观 National heritage site
  A Taoist temple on Datongluo Mountain in Daping town, western Nanbu County, whose main hall was built in 1307 under the Yuan dynasty and is the oldest building in Sichuan with a dated inscription.
• Qibao Temple 七宝寺 National heritage site · on the map
  A hilltop complex above the Xixi river in western Jialing district, rebuilt as a Buddhist temple in 1518 and turned into the Nanchi Academy in 1742 by a local scholar.
• Wenchang Pavilion of Wulong Temple 五龙庙文昌阁 National heritage site
  The Wenchang Pavilion of the Wulong (Five Dragons) Temple stands at the foot of Wulong Mountain in Helou township, in the countryside north-west of Langzhong; the temple was founded in the Tang and rebuilt under the Yuan.
• Xichong Confucian Temple 西充文庙 National heritage site · on the map
  The former county Confucian temple of Xichong, built for the official cult of Confucius and the local state school, in the county town north-west of Nanchong.
• Yong'an Temple Main Hall, Nanbu 永安庙大殿 National heritage site · on the map
  A small timber hall standing in fields in north-western Nanbu County, the one old building left of a temple founded in the Tang that later became the ancestral temple of the local Du family.
• Yong'an Temple, Langzhong 永安寺 National heritage site
  A rural temple in the hills east of Langzhong, founded in the Tang, whose main hall was built in 1333 under the Yuan and is one of Sichuan's rare Yuan-era timber buildings.
• Yujishan Giant Buddha 禹迹山大佛 National heritage site · on the map
  A Tang-dynasty standing Buddha about 17.5 m tall, carved almost entirely in the round from the rock of Yuji Mountain at Beiyuan, in eastern Nanbu County, and described as the largest round-carved standing stone Buddha in China.
• Yutai Mountain Stone Pagoda 玉台山石塔 National heritage site
  A Tang-dynasty stone pagoda on Yutai Mountain just north of Langzhong, also known as the Tengwang Pavilion pagoda after the pavilion built on the hill by the Tang prince Li Yuanying, Prince of Teng.

On the map

Open Nanchong on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)