Fubao Ancient Town: 800-meter-long Huilong Street, concealing the untouched old times of southern Sichuan
The rain stopped as soon as I stepped onto the bluestone slabs of Huilong Street. An old woman in a blue cloth shirt squatted in front of a stilted house, sweeping away the puddles with a bamboo broom. In the shadows of the wooden buildings, water droplets fell from the carved window frames, hitting the moss in the cracks of the stones, the splashing beads reflecting half of the roof tiles—a gray tile with a bat pattern, identical to the brick carvings from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.
🏮 Stilted houses grow along the mountain ridge
From an aerial perspective, the ancient town resembles a coiled dragon. Huilong Street winds from the foot of the mountain to the top, the 800-meter road making seven turns. The wooden houses on both sides are half-built on the rocks, half-suspended below the slope. The bluestone slabs supporting the pillars have been worn smooth by centuries of footsteps. Rainwater accumulates in the depressions of one slab, perfectly framing the upturned corner of the opposite firewall, like a painting inlaid on the ground.
The "Zhang Family Courtyard" on Zhongjie Street still bears traces of the salt merchants' past. The three-courtyard complex is tucked away deep in the alley. Water lilies thrive in the earthen vats of the courtyard, and the second-floor corner tower offers a panoramic view of half the street. Uncle Zhang, a descendant of the shopkeeper, is wiping the carved wooden windows with a cloth: "The 'Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, and Scholar' inscription on this window was carved by craftsmen from Zigong back then. Look at this fisherman's straw raincoat; every blade of grass is of varying thickness."
🌧 After the rain, the bluestone slabs gleam.
The street below after the rain becomes a mirror. Porters in rubber boots wade through puddles, their bamboo baskets casting shadows that overlap with the reflections of the stilted houses, blurring the lines between building and water. A shop's wooden door creaks open, and the white-haired shopkeeper brings out a bamboo winnowing basket. Inside, the Hejiang lychees are a vibrant red, water droplets clinging to their peels like agate freshly dredged from the Caohe River.
Huilong Street was shrouded in mist at dawn. The teahouses on the upper street lit up first, the bubbling of copper kettles mingling with the chatter of customers. Schoolchildren in uniforms ran by with their backpacks, their footsteps thumping on the wooden floorboards, startling pigeons from under the eaves—they fluttered past the firewalls, their wings kicking up dew that landed on a street sign dated "Republic of China Year 23."
🍖 A century-old aroma simmered on the stove
The aroma of Yaoba red-broth mutton wafted down the street. Aunt Li's iron pot sat on the wood-fired stove, the red broth bubbling with chunks of mutton. She ladled a spoonful of her secret-recipe fermented bean paste into a bowl, the steam blurring the old photographs on the wall: "This recipe was passed down from my great-grandmother. Back then, salt merchants relied on this soup to warm themselves while traveling. It needs to simmer for three hours to get that glossy red broth."
Hejiang lychees are best enjoyed with well water. In Uncle Zhang's courtyard, there's an old well. Deep grooves carved into the well curb by rope marks are etched into it. He picks "Fei Zi Xiao" berries from the branches, soaks them in the well water to chill, and when he eats them, he bites through the thin skin, letting the sweet juice mix with the cool well water, sliding down his throat like swallowing a mouthful of summer in southern Sichuan.
Practical Guide
· Transportation: 4 hours by car from Chengdu (Rongzun Expressway, then Hexu Road, navigate to "Fubao Ancient Town Visitor Center," free parking); 1.5 hours by car from Luzhou (take Gangcheng Avenue).
· Cost: No entrance fee! Red soup mutton is 35 yuan/bowl, Hejiang lychees are seasonal (around 15 yuan/jin from June to August), tea at teahouses is 5 yuan/cup.
· Must-Do List 1. Reflection Photography: After the rain, find a section of stone path with deep puddles in Zhongjie, take low-angle photos of the stilted buildings' reflections, letting the shadows of the porters' bamboo baskets overlap with the building's shadow.
2. Treasure Hunt with Tiles: Search for tiles with different patterns along the street—bat pattern (representing fortune), lotus pattern (representing purity), and ruyi pattern (representing smoothness). Collecting all three completes the "Ancient Town Pass."
3. Listening to the Rain at Night: Stay at the only guesthouse in the ancient town, "Huilong Inn" (120 yuan/night). The wooden windows face the street, and listening to the pitter-patter of the stone slabs on a rainy night is like the ancient town telling its stories.
- Hidden Bonus: Every Wednesday is market day, and the market is full of local produce. You can buy homemade dried bamboo shoots and cured meat from local farmers, which are 30% cheaper than in the county town.
As I left, Uncle Zhang was packing lychees into a bamboo basket. The puddles on the bluestone road were still wet, reflecting my departing figure, overlapping with the hoofprints of salt merchants from a hundred years ago. It turns out that the best ancient towns don't require entrance fees—they hide the passage of time in the pillars of stilted houses, in the pot of red mutton soup, and on the bamboo poles in the courtyard after the rain, waiting for everyone willing to walk slowly to gently uncover them. In the ancient towns you've visited, which bluestone slab or wooden door left the most unforgettable impression? Share your thoughts in the comments!