Longshan

The ancient town of Liye, where more than 30,000 Qin bamboo slips — a “Qin dynasty archive” — were unearthed, alongside the Tujia villages of Rebala, the “sky grassland” of Bamian Mountain and the karst caves of the Wulong Mountain Grand Canyon.

Longshan County lies at the northern tip of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan Province, deep in the Wuling Mountains where Hunan, Hubei and Chongqing meet. The You River flows past the south of the county, and it is one of the core areas of Tujia settlement. This destination splits into two parts. In the south, Liye Town is home to the Liye Ancient City site, where more than 30,000 Qin bamboo slips were unearthed in 2002; the Qin Slips Museum, the old streets of Liye and the You River scenery complement each other, while Bamian Mountain to the west, at about 1,200 m, is known as the “sky grassland of the south.” In the center, the Rebala Tujia villages in Miaoertan Town preserve clusters of stilt houses and covered “wind and rain” bridges, with regular demonstrations of intangible heritage such as the hand-waving dance and the dongdongkui flute. In the north are the cave clusters of the Wulong Mountain Grand Canyon, Huoyan Cave, the Luota Stone Forest, Taiping Mountain next to the county town and the revolutionary site of Ciyantang. The climate is subtropical mountain monsoon; Apr–May (spring scenery) and Sep–Nov (crisp autumn weather) are best, while in summer Bamian Mountain and the canyons are cool and ideal for escaping the heat. Getting there: Longshan North Station on the Qianjiang–Zhangjiajie–Changde railway has high-speed service; Liye is about 70 km from the county town and can also be reached from Xiushan and Youyang in Chongqing. Allow 3 days: one for Liye Ancient City and the Qin Slips Museum, one for Bamian Mountain or Rebala, and one for the Wulong Mountain Grand Canyon and Taiping Mountain.

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