[2025 Wuxi County Attraction] Travel Guide for Ningchang Ancient Town (Updated May)

Wuxi is a small city at the northern end of Chongqing and can be called a real-life "Shangri-La." Here, the mountains are lush, the streams gurgle, and the clouds and mist linger, making it as beautiful as a fairyland. As the last county in Chongqing to have roads, Wuxi retains its simple natural and cultural landscape. 🚶Explore Shengui Gorge Natural Wonders: Shengui Gorge is Wuxi's calling card. It is 10 km long and is known for its "majestic mountains, beautiful waters, dangerous gorges, and unique caves." Entering by boat is like entering a time tunnel. The peaks on both sides of the river seem to have been cut by knives and axes, and stalactites of various shapes are dotted on the cliffs. The legendary divine turtle appears and disappears from time to time, adding a bit of spirituality. Going deep, you can only see a ray of sky when you look up, which is shocking. Nearby Attractions: Ningchang Ancient Town, adjacent to Shengui Gorge, was once an important town for salt production in ancient times. Stepping on the bluestone streets, the Ming and Qing buildings on both sides stand quietly, and the prosperity of salt transportation seems to be in front of you. The ancient altar next to the ancient town has mottled stone steps, and you can still feel the solemnity of the sacrifices in those years. 🌁In Search of Yintiao Ridge Original Nature: Yintiao Ridge, the top of Chongqing, is a paradise for nature lovers. It is more than 2,400m above sea level and is home to forests, plants, and animals. In summer, it is full of flowers and is cool and pleasant. In winter, it is covered with white snow and silver. Walking through it, you can feel the original nature at your fingertips. It is a pure land for washing the soul. Food Recommendations: The firewood chicken in Ningchang Ancient Town is worth a try. Free-range chickens are slaughtered and cooked on the spot. The firewood is used for cooking, and the chicken is firm, juicy, and full of aroma. It is delicious with the sauerkraut tofu pudding unique to Ningchang. 🚶Travel Guide Self-driving: Depart from Chongqing and take the G65 Baomao Expressway and G50 Huyu Expressway to Wuxi, which takes about 5–6 hours. You can take a simple rest at the service area along the way. It is recommended to bring enough water and food. Public Transportation: There are buses directly to Wuxi from Chongqing Sigongli Long-distance Bus Station. The whole journey takes about 5–6 hours, and the ticket price is about CNY 80. The starting price of taxis in Wuxi County is CNY 5, which basically covers the main attractions. 📌Tips: Time: Spring and summer are better. Everything recovers, the streams are abundant, the canyon is covered with green, and the wildflowers are blooming. Equipment Guide: Hiking shoes, quick-drying clothes, sun protection clothing, and a headlamp are essential. Local Specialties: Wuxi potato cakes are a must-try snack. The potato mash is filled with bacon and green onions, and the aroma is overflowing. Wuxi honey tangerines are full of moisture, sweet, and sour. Wuxi is a place that can make people forget the hustle and bustle and return to nature. Here, every step is an adventure, and every glance is picturesque. Come and start your Wuxi trip!

Ningchang Ancient Town has a history of more than 5,000 years, of which more than 4,000 years have been spent on salt production. It is precisely because of such a long history of salt production that Ningchang Ancient Town is also known as my country's ancient salt capital, which is absolutely well-deserved. The long-term active salt-making economy has nurtured the ancient town's profound salt culture. Due to its significant historical and cultural value, "Ningchang Ancient Town" was named a famous historical and cultural town in China, and there are many cultural relics protection units in the town. However, since the late 1990s, "Ningchang Ancient Town" has gradually declined, with houses left vacant and population lost. In the past ten years, the decay of the ancient town has been accelerating. The biggest reason why Ningchang Ancient Town has been facing the dilemma of decay in recent years is that it has lost the industrial support to maintain its vitality and popularity, and has fallen into a vicious cycle of industrial hollowing out, population loss, town decline and decaying houses. In the past, the large-scale traditional salt-making industry made the "Ningchang Ancient Town" prosperous, but faced with competition from the modern salt-making industry, Ningchang's traditional salt-making method was inefficient, costly, and had no market competitiveness. Without the industry, it would be impossible to retain the population. A large number of the original 2,000-plus residents of the ancient town have left, and now there are only a few hundred people left. The ancient town has become quiet and even dilapidated. Searching for the rise and fall of "Ningchang Ancient Town", it changed from a salt-making town to an abandoned mountain village. It prospered for thousands of years relying on salt spring resources and salt-making industry, but eventually fell into complete decline... "Ningchang Ancient Town", which has stood for more than 5,000 years, has quietly watched its changes over the years. Nowadays, you can only come here to see the stilt houses and walk on the bluestone roads. Although it is dilapidated, it is still a paradise. 📍Detailed address: Self-driving navigation Ningchang Ancient Town

| Ningchang Ancient Town. ◾️ Ningchang Ancient Town is located about 10 kilometers from Wuxi County. This is a thousand-year-old town, known as the ancient salt capital. It is a town with a salty flavor, born because of salt, prospered because of salt, and declined because of salt. ◾️ Ningchang Ancient Town has a history of salt production for more than 4000 years. "During the Yu and Xia periods, the Wuguo prospered due to the salt industry," and Ningchang Ancient Town in Wuxi County became one of the top ten early salt production sites in China. It is the birthplace and cradle of ancient human civilization in the Three Gorges area, known as the world's "ancient salt capital" and the "ancestor" of the world's handicraft workshops. ◾️ Ningchang Ancient Town is located on one side of the Daning River. People built houses along the narrow area, forming a long street of 7 li, commonly known as "Seven Li Half Street." Most of the buildings in the town are bamboo and wood structures, with an ancient charm. Most of them are built along the river, supported by slanted wooden piles, and these suspended houses are called stilted buildings. The Daning River passes under the stilted buildings, dividing the ancient town into two. There are three suspension bridges on the river, connecting the ancient town with the road on the opposite side. ◾️ The salt production of Ningchang Ancient Town once accounted for 20% of Sichuan's salt production. During the Kangxi to Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty, Ningchang Town had 336 salt furnaces, reaching its peak period. At its peak, Ningchang Town accommodated 20,000 people. The salt boiling pots operated day and night, and the salt transport boats occupied the river, presenting a prosperous scene. Nowadays, Ningchang Ancient Town has less than a dozen households, and the prosperity has faded, leaving it desolate and bleak. Wandering through the ancient town, you can travel through a thousand years of time and feel the faded glory. ◾️ Travel Tips: Opening hours: Open all year round Ticket information: Free Transportation information: It is recommended to drive by yourself and navigate directly to Ningchang Ancient Town. Accommodation: Currently, there is no accommodation (including hotels, homestays, and guesthouses) in Ningchang Ancient Town. It is recommended to stay in Wuxi County. Small suggestion: It is best to bring drinking water when visiting the ancient town, as there are no supermarkets or small shops in the ancient town.

Numerous deep trails connect the households of the ancient town in series, and the rock mass is full of traces of mottled years; the walls are filled with vicissitudes of past events, and the past breeze becomes a past and memories. Sit and watch the Ning Factory today, and think about the endless glory of the year. What kind of tragic and desolation is this. However, today's Ningchang people are in this tragic, creating a new history and writing new legends. This small town is deeply rooted in the deep mountain gorge on the back of the river. The quaint old house is built with mountains and waters. It is full of poetry and paintings. The slings built on the river seem dangerous and in fact strong. Surrounded by the mist of the morning, the Houxi River passes through the slings downstairs, and it is quite a wonderful place in the south of the Yangtze River.

The mountains are surrounded by quaint houses, and the sun shines through the quiet and elegant Ning factory. Day after day, year after year, the ancient town has been harmoniously integrated with the surrounding environment and has become an indispensable component of this land. Today's salt springs continue to flow out of salt water as usual. However, the old buddy who used to be here now has no idea where he is, leaving a memory of his past. Pedestrians crossing the river, running through the cable bridge across the river, to the quiet ancient town and winding streets. With the goods collected from afar, return to the beautiful home with full load.

It is hard to imagine how a historic town with a long history may be as dazzling as it is, but so low-key and restrained, which is the charm of this romantic town. Whenever you come here, you can return to your home and quietly enjoy the time away from you. Adhering to the name of the millennium salt capital, it is like a hidden paradise. When you mention Ning Factory, you have to say the salt industry here. People's impressions, the salt industry is in the Ning factory, like the bells in the Hanshan Temple, the Egret in the Cisse Mountain, is the feeling of the Wuba people lingering from the urine. This small town with a history of four thousand years of salt has the reputation of "the ancient salt of Wuxian, the ancient salt capital". Some people say that this is the earliest salt capital in the world, the originator of the hand workshop, the literati said that this is regardless of the present day. The thick nostalgia. Located in the Shandong section of the bus, the ancient town of Ningchang, which is bordered by the three provinces of Shaanxi and Hubei, is an early salt-making land in the history of China and the birthplace of the Ba-Chu culture. The slowly flowing rivers of the Houxi River are filled with the ancient towns passing by. The ancient buildings in the town are mostly stone-wood structures, and several blue-stone paths that turn around and turn each other in series. This is a big town in the north of Wuxi County. It is not far from the county. It is somewhat sorrowful to say that in order to avoid the world, it is not necessarily found here to find historical traces. However, compared to the bustling city, it is already elegant and elegant. Going here is not a problem anyway, but the car is in the mountains, accompanied by water, but it is still very exciting and period