Introduction to Longtan Ancient Town, National AAAA Scenic Area

     National AAAA Scenic Area—Longtan Acient Town is located in the southeast of Youyang County of Chongqing. Covering an area of 3.2 square kilometers, the Scenic Area includes Longtan Ancient Town, a famous national-level historical and cultural town; Martyr Zhao Shiyan's Former Residence, an iconic tourism spot of red-tourism and nearly 30 key cultural relic protection sites. This place is a perfect combination of cultural and natural landscape, distinctive folk customs and diverse cultures.
     The Ancient Town has over 2,200 years of history, and was once the home of assistant of county magistrate, inspectors, assistant to prefecture governor and assistant to county governor. During the Anti-Japanese War, a great number of merchants flocked to Longtan, which made it a hub of commodity market and as prosperous as Nanjing at that time. It is the birthplace of Zhao Shiyan, Wang Boshan, Zhao Juntao, Liu Ren, Wang Jianhong and many other celebrities. Besides, many well-known writers have some works to describe this Ancient Town, such as Shen Congwen and Ding Ling. For instance, Tian Han, once composed a seven-character quatrain. It goes like this: Pagoda stands alone on a hill in Youyang; like a giant boulder fastened to the sky; Longtan is also known for its rich reserve of carps; I am looking forward to fishing there.
     This Ancient Town is renowned for its bridges, alleys, houses over rivers, significant coverage of trees, palaces built on the head of dragon veil, Bagua Well and pavilions set up above Jiuqiao Stream. Now, 1.4 square kilometers of ancient buildings with the styles of Ming and Qing Dynasty are kept intact. The stones laid in Shiban Street are still as brilliant and bright as jade. The Ancient Town boasts over 150 Diaojiao buildings of Tujia Nationality, more than 280 quadrangle courtyards, and 500-plus old-style residential buildings. These buildings are designed with cornices and boast artistic appearance. Many shops can be found along the two sides of the streets in the Ancient Town and all the alleys and streets are connected with each other. Meanwhile, the Ancient Town also has rows upon rows of fireproof walls.
It has profound culture, unique folk customs, long-standing tradition as well as distinctive cuisine culture. For example, duck dance parade of Baluo Village, disjointed traditional dragon dance, Hanchu Opera, storytelling in tea house, festive lantern, hands-waving dance, Tujia folk song, home-made spicy tea, steamed rice cake and spring sacrificial meat.