Among the 26 Historic Landmarks of Huixian County, the most unusual must be the Site known as Du Fu's Thatched Hut. This site is technically located in Cheng County but easily reachable by Taxi or Car from Huixian. The name of this place refers to one of the many famous Poems from the hand of Du Fu, a Tang Dynasty Era (618 AD - 907 AD) Poet who's works have been recognized throughout the centuries as among the highpoints of Literature (and Poetry) of the Time. The Poem in case was written at sometime during the so-dubbed Chengdu Period of Du Fu's Life, falling in the years 759 AD to 765 AD, and goes as follows :
漫兴
熟知茅斋绝低小
江上燕子故来频
衔泥点污琴书内
更接飞虫打著人
I know well that my thatched hut is very low and small,
Because of that, the swallows on the river often come.
The bits of mud they bring in their mouths get into my zither and books,
And while they are catching flying insects, they often bump into me.
The name of the Site suggesting it as THE Site of the modest Home of Du Fu is however completely false. As recorded, in the year 759 AD Du Fu was forced to move and ended up as a refugee citizen living on the outskirts of the City of Chengdu. It is there, on the banks of the Flower Washing Creek (HuanHua Xi), not the banks of the Jialing River at ChengXian in Huixian County, where the Great Poet spent parts of his Life and wrote no less than 240 of his acclaimed poems.
To visit the real Thatched Hut (the original of which was naturally destroyed centuries ago) head to the western outskirts of Chengdu, Capital of Sichuan Province, to visit not the meager thatched Hut of the real Life Poet but a lavish and quite idyllic 24-acre (97,000 m2) park and museum in honour of the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu, adjacent to the Huanhua Xi, (Flower Rinsing Creek). In 1961, the Chinese government established Du Fu Cao Tang at Chengdu as a National Heritage site.
Head to the site of the Chengxian Du Fu Thatched Hut Site to find a Memorial Site in honor of the Poet Du Fu, recently created to try and boost the Tourism Industry in the Area.
As a last Item on a possible travel itenerary for the Hui County may be mentioned of the unusual beauties of the Nation and in fact the Globe, as the mountain forest and slopes in the vicinity of Mayanhe Town in Hui County are the worlds only place where a botanists treasure, a rare species of plant can be found. The new species, only recently identified has been dubbed Campanula Gansuensis.
A Full listing of Huixian City Landmarks, Monuments, Hotspots and other sites of importance in alphabetical order. Search through the list to find your Full Report and Photo-Virtual Tour of each monument or landmark within the Town.
The First and Most Impressive landmark, and by now, Monument of Huixian County is no doubt the Rushu Plank Road. The Rushu Plank Road, as its name suggests is an ancient Hanging Bridge made of planks and hung suspended on iron chains across a Gorge nearby.
Not much information can be found on its history, however, at the very least it was in existence during the Era of the Song Dynasty (960 AD to 1279 AD) and possibly as early as the Three Kingdoms Period (221 AD- 265 AD), albeit then with ropes instead of Iron Chains, as technology had not advanced to that level at the Time.
The Suspension bridge in Hui County is a surviving part of a larger network of small pathways and many suspension bridges that first came into being during the Song Dynasty Era and exentended throughout the Yangtze River Gorges Area to the South.
During the Time of the Song Dynasty, the five main rivers as well as the Grand Canal served as the main highways and thoroughfares of the Nation. During the monsoon season however, when the rivers often overflowed their banks and grew to wild to navigate, all transport and travel over the river waters was halted, and the Region was factually cut-off from the outside world and there were only sparse communications possible.
During the Song Dynasty Era, as one of the Great Imperial projects of that Time, the problem was solved once and for all by creating a back-up system of small mountain roads and hanging bridges to keep goods, people and information flowing in the Regions.
The nature of the roads created were peculiar and specific to the hard and steep granite type rocks of the region as they were cliff paths following along the steep faces of river Gorges.
These Cliff Path were built by cutting holes into the cliff face and driving wooden beams into the holes. Planks were then laid on the beams to form a path for people to walk on. The square holes were several inches wide and usually tens inches high above the river and from one to two feet deep. There was an interval of several feet between the holes. Pavilions were built at places where the cliff was less steep so that travelers might rest there.
Although the cliff paths were by no means an invention of the Song, as they had been in use at least since the founding Ch'In Dynasty of China, however the Song expanded their use and connected various regions together in one large continously maintained network, which had roads throughout Hubei, Sichuan, Gansu and (South) Shaanxi Province.
The network constructed by the Song lasted throughout a Millenium and was still available in the 1930's during the Long March of Mao's Guerilla Army, and it was in part along these roads that the guerilla's had manage to escape their enemies.
Not many of the ancient roads and hanging bridges survive today, but another example can be found in Sichuan, along the Yangtze River near the mouth of the "Thatched Hut River", a local tributary river named after a poem of the Tang Dynasty Era poet Du Fu.
Here the pathway had a length of 50 to 60 kilometers, running along the river bank all the way to Zhuangyuandui opposite Daxi in Wushan County, a distance of ten kilometers. From that location the section in Wu Gorge linked the bank opposite Wushan County seat with Qinglianxi on the border of Chongqing City and Hubei Province, a distance of about thirty kilometers. Not many parts of these types of ancient roads have survived through time. In most places, only holes can be seen cut into the rock-face along the river banks. There are however still some exceptions. The Suspension Bridge in Hui County is one such exeption.
In the far Past, this ancient bridge was a vital Passage on a trading route leading from Sichuan to the Customs Point at the City of BaoJi to the North-West in Shaanxi Province. Among the commodoties carried along the road, Tea's as well from Sichuan and Gansu Province, to be traded in the large Cities and ofcourse the thirsty city of Chang'An (Xi'An).
Although the pathway and bridge were replaced by more modern roads a long time ago (now represented by National Road No. 316), the bridge remained functional and frequently used by local travelers until at least the 1950's. It was eagerly used by the communist guerilla army (2nd Front Army) during its passing through the region during the Long March in 1935 AD. Only recently its use has been near abandonned and the site turned into what can be called a Tourist destination.
Head to the Small Town of Huixian to visit its only Landmark of esthetic and cultural interest, the local Mosque. The Mosque is located adjacent the City Hall along the Main Road in town National Route 316.
