Guang'an

The eastern Sichuan city that is home to Deng Xiaoping's hometown: the 5A hometown site, the stone forest and Tianchi Lake on Huaying Mountain, Baozhen Fortress in Wusheng and Yankou Ancient Town form a route of revolutionary history and natural scenery.

Guang'an lies in eastern Sichuan, at the western foot of Huaying Mountain between the Qu and Jialing rivers, bordering Chongqing to the east. It administers Guang'an and Qianfeng districts, the city of Huaying, and Yuechi, Wusheng and Linshui counties. It is Deng Xiaoping's hometown and the hub of revolutionary-heritage tourism in eastern Sichuan. The climate is humid subtropical monsoon, and Mar–May and Sep–Nov are the best times to visit; summers in the city are muggy, so head up Huaying Mountain to cool off, and in winter the summit occasionally sees rime and snow. The sights fall into three areas. First, the 5A Deng Xiaoping Hometown site in Xiexing Town, Guang'an District, including his former residence, exhibition hall, memorial hall and the Hanlin Courtyard; in the city there's also the Song-dynasty White Pagoda on the Qu River, Siyuan Square, and the Ba People's Stone City on Shenlong Hill in the southern suburbs. Second, Huaying City to the east: Huaying Mountain's Baoding summit, stone forest, Tianchi Lake and Tianyi Valley can fill a whole day — this is where the story of the Huaying Mountain guerrillas in the novel Red Crag took place. Third, Wusheng County to the southwest: Yankou Ancient Town on the Jialing River is lively at night, and Baozhen Fortress is a well-preserved Republican-era fortified compound of eastern Sichuan, where the film Let the Bullets Fly was shot. Getting there: the Lanzhou–Chongqing and Xiangyang–Chongqing railways pass through Guang'an — about 1 hour by bullet train from Chongqing North and about 2.5 hours from Chengdu East. From the city it's about 12 km to the hometown site, about 40 km to Huaying Mountain and about 60 km to Wusheng; since sights are spread out, self-driving or hiring a car is recommended. Allow 2 days: one for the hometown site plus the city, one for Huaying Mountain; add half a day for Baozhen Fortress and Yankou Ancient Town in Wusheng. The hometown site is free but requires advance booking, and it's crowded on holidays. Local foods include Yuechi rice noodles, Wusheng zhazha fish and Guang'an salted eggs.

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