Huanglongxi Ancient Town

Huanglongxi Ancient Town lies at 70 Huangjin Road in Shuangliu District, on the banks of the Luxi River south of central Chengdu, with settlement history traditionally traced back over 1,700 years to the Jin dynasty (3rd-4th century CE). The town developed as a river-trade hub through the Ming and Qing dynasties, when boats carried goods along the Luxi and Jinjiang river system connecting the Chengdu plain to wider Sichuan trade routes, and much of its surviving streetscape, including Huangjin Old Street, dates from that Ming-Qing commercial period. The old town preserves six historic lanes lined with wood-and-tile shopfronts, courtyard houses, and several temples, most notably Zhenjiang Temple and Gulan Temple, both active places of worship with Qing-era halls. A distinguishing feature is the town's stand of ancient trees, including banyan and ginkgo specimens estimated at over 1,000 years old, some large enough that their root systems have grown around and through nearby buildings and riverbank stonework. Because of its well-preserved riverside townscape, Huanglongxi has been used as a filming location for numerous Chinese period films and television dramas since the 1990s, which has reinforced its identity as a heritage tourism site alongside its ongoing role as a working town. Preservation efforts by the Shuangliu district government since the 1990s have focused on maintaining the wood-frame shopfronts and riverside embankments rather than replacing them with modern reconstructions, though souvenir and food vendors have increasingly filled the ground-floor spaces of the old buildings.