Lukong Ancient Town

Lukong Ancient Town is located in the east of Rongchang County of Chongqing, covering an area of 24 square kilometers. It is a famous historical and cultural ancient town of Chongqing.

Legend of Lukong Ancient Town

As for the origin of Lukong Ancient Town's name, there is a beautiful legend. It is said that there is a monk named Zeng Ao in Ming Dynasty. One day, he came to this area. He noticed that the sceneries across the river was quite pleasant and auspicious, suitable for cultivating the body and also the mind. So he was determined to build a temple here. He found six stone holes beside the slopes which seemed interlinked with water in the river. Driven by the curiosity, he decided to test whether they were connected with the river. He poured some chaffs into the stone holes. Later, the chaffs really emerged in the river. As a result, the river was called Liukong (Six stone holes) River. Later, it was named Lukong River. Therefore, the town obtained its name as Lukong Ancient town.

Old Buildings of Lukong Ancient Town

Wanling Temple, Ancestral Hall of Zhao Family, Quadrangle Courtyard of Zhao family, the former residence of Liu Naifu-a revolutionary martyr and other old buildings are kept in good condition in the Lukong Ancient Town. All of these buildings are in wood structure. Roofs of them are always in the style of saddle roofs, suspension roofs and gabbled roofs covered with blue tiles. Their beam frames are always in the structure of post and lintel construction or the column and tie construction. The columns are mostly round with diameters ranging from 35 cm to 45 cm. Exquisite and quaint basso-relievo themed on flowers, birds, figures, animals, clouds and so on are engraved on the beams and columns.

Laixi River in Lukong Ancient Town

Laixi River is the river which gave birth to the local cultivations. Luxurious bamboos grow on both sides of the river. Boating on the Laixi River, you can find some caves on the cliffs of both sides. These are the cliff-tombs of East Han Dynasty which are called Manzi Caves. The lush bamboos together with the cliff-tombs groups of East Han Dynasty form the unique historical landscape of Laixi River in Lukong Ancient Town.

There is a Chaoyang Cave on the cliff in the lower reaches of Laixi River. It was once the cliff-tomb and later was changed into grottoes. The cliff is 30 meters long and 4.9 meters high. There are 3 grottoes of Ming Dynasty with 36 statues in them.

Bridges in Lukong Ancient Town

There are many bridges in Lukong Ancient Town. More than a dozen of bridges can be found only in the Laixi River reach. Some of them are level-bridges while others are arch-bridges. Whenever the sun sets, a beautiful view of "bridges, water and homes" forms a traditional and classical Chinese landscape painting.