Pianyan Ancient Town

A Brief Introduction to Pianyan Ancient Town

Pianyan Ancient Town is located in the center of Jindaoxia Town of Beibei District and in the southwest of Huaying Mountain. It is high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The average elevation is about 520 meters with an acme of 942.9 meters. In Chinese, "pianyan" means a steep rock. The ancient town obtained its name because of the steep rock in its north.

Buildings in Pianyan Ancient Town

Pianyan Ancient Town is located at the junction of Linshui, Hechuan and Jiangbei areas and has been quite prosperous since the Kingxi years of Qing Dynasty. It has a history of more than 300 years, but the buildings in the ancient town are still in good condition. The old streets were paved along the Heishuitan River with well-spaced wooden houses beside the roads and stone bridges and clear water flowing. Wumiao Temple (a temple enshring and worshiping Guan Yu-a senior general of Shu Kingdom during the three kingdoms period), Yuwang Temple, Xilou (a stage platform), teahouses and so on are distributed on both sides on the quaint streets. All the buildings in the Pianyan Ancient Town were constructed on the base of stones with the framework of wooden beams, thus the buildings are moisture-proof. The wooden railings, davits and beams of the buildings are all engraved with elegant but not too colorful patterns, simple and natural.

Mysterious Folk Custom of Pianyan Ancient Town

During the traditional Spring Festival, there is an old folk custom quite popular in the Pianyan Ancient Town. That is the custom of receiving deities. People in the Pianyan Ancient Town always begin to receive the deities in the midnight. Local people believe that after offering a sacrifice to the Kitchen God, all the deities will go back to the heavenly palace and will not pay attention to the matters of the mortal world until the eve of lunar New Year. So at the midnight of the eve of lunar New Year, people in Pianyan Ancient Town will receive the deities.