Travel Guide to Qu Yuan's Hometown

The Qu Yuan Hometown Cultural Tourism Area, located east of Zigui County, stands face to face with the Three Gorges Dam, providing one of the best views to admire the dam and view the high gorge and flat lake. With the construction of the Three Gorges Project, Zigui County will relocate the ground cultural relics below the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir area to the Fenghuang Mountain Qu Yuan Hometown Cultural Tourism Area located in the eastern part of the county for centralized protection. It is mainly composed of 24 ground cultural relics, including Quyuan Temple, folk houses, temples, ancient wells, ancient bridges, and memorial archway before the Qing Dynasty. It is the largest ground cultural relics reconstruction project in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.

1. Qu Yuan Temple

Qu Yuan Temple, also known as Qinglie Gong Temple, was built to commemorate Qu Yuan. The Qu Yuan Temple includes buildings such as a mountain gate, a main hall, and left and right side halls. The mountain gate is a four pillar, three story stele archway, 14 meters high, with the four characters "Qinglie Gong Ci" inscribed on the center and "Guzhong" and "Liufang" inscribed on both sides. The main hall is a steel plate concrete structure with a Ming and Qing style, featuring green tiles and flying eaves. Towering above the Chongtai, it exudes a magnificent and majestic aura. The tomb of Qu Yuan behind the main hall is a tomb of clothing and headwear built by people. The New Qu Yuan Temple is located on Fenghuang Mountain in Zigui, Yichang, and echoes the Three Gorges Dam from afar.

2. Memorial archway

It is a double eaved wooden structure building with four columns, three rooms, and three floors. It is covered with glazed tiles and has a height of about 7 meters, a width of 5.2 meters, and an elevation of 116 meters. It is exquisite in production, reasonable in construction, simple and lively in structure. It is a memorial archway building in the Qing Dynasty. It is a masterpiece of the organic combination of folk architectural technology and architectural technology. It is also a rare wooden memorial archway in Hubei. On the left side of the memorial archway are two stone tablets inscribed with "the hometown of Qu Yuan, the doctor of Chu" and "the hometown of Wang Qiang, the emperor Zhaojun of Han".

3. Bronze Statue of Qu Yuan

The overall height is 6.42 meters, with a height of 3.92 meters and a total weight of 3 tons. With his head slightly lowered, his eyebrows tightly furrowed, his body slightly tilted forward, he moved his right foot, lifted his left hand, and his sleeves fluttered with wind, showing Qu Yuan's passionate patriotism and loyalty to the people, as well as his noble and noble spirit.

4. Xianglu Ping

Legend has it that more than two thousand years ago, on this mountain plain, there lived a family named Boyong. One day, Lady Boyong was about to give birth when auspicious clouds suddenly appeared in the sky accompanied by the sound of silk and bamboo. Boyong was very surprised and immediately set up a incense burner outside the door to burn incense and worship. At this moment, the sound of a baby croaking came from the room, and a strange fragrance also wafted in. Because this child had strange signs at birth, Boyong liked him very much and gave him the name Qu Yuan. Because Qu Yuan had a strange fragrance when he was born, this small flat is also called Xianglu Ping.

5. Zhaomian Well

On the slope of Fuhu Mountain opposite Xiangluping, there is an ancient well that is said to have been dug by Qu Yuan. Because the rock is particularly hard, it took a long time to dig a small pit. But he remained undaunted and finally moved the mountain god. The mountain god gifted him an iron pickaxe, and he dug for another seventy-nine days until he finally dug this well. After the well was completed, it remained clear throughout the four seasons and was easy to discern.

6. Reading hole

The Reading Cave is located halfway up the deep valley of Xianggu River and is said to be the place where Qu Yuan studied. At the entrance of the cave, the three characters "Reading Cave" carved during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty had already peeled off, and a new monument has been erected. Legend has it that when Qu Yuan was studying in the cave, he had stone tables, chairs, and stools. It is widely rumored among the villagers that when passing by the cave at night, if there is a loud sound of reading inside the cave.

7. Corn Three Hills

Coming down from the reading cave and up the Xianggu River, to the front of Wangzhai Mountain, I saw a newly restored Qu Yuan Temple located on the hillside. There are two streams of "longan" under the temple, and the spring water is constantly flowing throughout the year. There are three paddy fields near this spring, which are said to have been cultivated by Qu Yuan and are known as the "Three Corn Hills".

8. Qu Yuan's Tomb

The tomb of Qu Yuan was rebuilt in the seventh year of the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang reign. In 1976, it was relocated to Xiangjiaping in the old county town of Zigui during the construction of the Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project. Due to the construction of the Three Gorges Project, the cultural relics department of Hubei Province has decided to rebuild it on Fenghuang Mountain to restore its historical original appearance.

9. Xiajiang Ancient Residence

The ancient dwellings of Xiajiang were originally located in Xintan. When a ground cultural relic relocation and reconstruction protection point was established in the cultural tourism area of Qu Yuan's hometown, more than 10 of the Three Gorges Qingtan ancient dwellings were relocated, rebuilt, and reconstructed according to the principle of original restoration.

10. Quzi Bridge

A precision stone arch bridge is constructed, with a length of 11 meters, a height of 6 meters, a width of 3 meters, and a clear span of 5 meters. The bridge deck is horizontally paved with different specifications of strip stones, with floor tie-beam on both sides, and railings and watchposts on it. All of them are destroyed, but only watchposts at two ends remain. The arch is a single hole semi-circular arch, and the face of the bond is one bond and one fold. The width and width of the stone on the face of the bond vary, but the masonry method is regular.

11. Jiangdu Bridge

Jiangdu Bridge is built of granite, with a single arch and a stone plaque inscribed with the words "Jiangdu Bridge" on the arch. The stone bridge is about 7 meters long, nearly 3 meters wide, nearly 4 meters high, and has a clear span of nearly 4 meters. The bridge noodle stones vary in size, with a smooth surface and staggered masonry on the mountain rocks, and are an integral part of Jiangdu Temple.

Ticket: 90 yuan

1. Free ticket policy

Children under 1.2 meters tall are free of charge; Elderly people over 70 years old who hold valid identification are free of charge; Military officers holding officer certificates are exempt from admission; Disabled persons holding disability certificates are free of charge;

2. Preferential policies

Students can buy student tickets with their student ID cards; Elderly people aged 60 to 69 can purchase senior citizen tickets with valid identification;

3. Opening hours 8:30-17:00

1. Three Gorges Airport ->Scenic Area

Take the airport shuttle bus to the terminal Qingjiang Building at the airport for a ticket of 20 yuan/person, then walk a few steps to Haitong Station and buy a shuttle bus from Zigui Maoping for a ticket of 18 yuan/person. The journey takes about two hours. Please arrange your own travel time to avoid delays.

2. Yichang East Railway Station ->Scenic Area

There are direct buses and tourist routes to Zigui (Maoping) from Yichang Passenger Transport Center Station on the right side of Yichang East Railway Station. They depart in a mobile manner and can be reached at the entrance of the scenic area by walking or taking a taxi after arriving at Zigui County.

3. Yichang Bus Station ->Scenic Area

You can take the shuttle bus from Yichang Bus Station to Zigui, and take the bus from Zigui to Xiangjiaping within the county town. The ticket price is 4 yuan per person

4. Tourist Line

Take the tourist line bound for Zigui (Maoping) from Yichang Bus Terminal Station, which departs in a mobile manner. After arriving at Zigui Bus Terminal, walk about 1.3 kilometers or take a taxi to reach the scenic area.

5. Local transportation

Take bus 101, 102, or 9 to Haitong Station, then transfer to a bus bound for Maoping. After arriving at Maoping, take a taxi to Fenghuang Mountain and walk about 1 kilometer to reach Qu Yuan's hometown.

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