This ancient town in China straddles three provinces, with almost no commercialization, and everyone who has visited says they want to go back!

 

On the vast map of China, there are 42 places where one can "step into three provinces." Due to the special nature of the provincial borders, these places are either military strongholds, commercial hubs, or historical landmarks.

Today, I want to recommend an ancient town located at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces. It lies in the southwestern corner of Shaanxi and is famous for the saying, "One foot steps into three provinces, the rooster's crow wakes three provinces." This place is Qingmukou.

The first time I heard of Qingmukou was from the TV drama A Generation of Heroes, starring Sun Honglei. Later, I learned that the show was adapted from Ye Guangling’s novel Qingmukou.

Qingmukou is nestled between mountains and rivers, remote and sparsely populated. Before the Republic of China era, it was known for its political chaos and banditry. The bandit leader Wei Futang took advantage of Qingmukou's unique geographical location to establish his own power, bringing prosperity to the town for a time. Today, traces of foreign trade houses, merchants, tea houses, and hotels can still be found.

A hundred years later, the characters in the story have become legends, but the ancient town, which has endured through the ages, remains a secluded "paradise."

In this paradise, mountains linger with mist, clear streams flow, and the town exudes an ancient charm. The ancient town features dark gray tiles and white walls, with ancestral halls and temples lined up in an orderly fashion.

Especially in the early morning when the fog is thick, standing on high ground and looking down, the mountains are distant, the forest dense, and the town appears to be faintly hidden—so captivating, like a traditional Chinese ink painting.

When the fog dissipates, the true face of the ancient town is revealed. It is divided by a river (Jinxihe River) into two halves, connected by a bridge (Feifeng Bridge).

If you wish to view the whole of Qingmukou, you can climb to the top of the Huilong Pavilion.

The old street of Huilongchang brings together all the ancient sites of Qingmukou. Though only about 800 meters long, it boasts more than 260 ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, telling the story of the town's former prosperity.

The so-called attractions in Qingmukou are all closely related to Wei Futang.

Rongshengchang Department Store was the property of Wei Futang's elder brother. It once sold foreign goods and was the place where the people of Qingmukou first encountered the outside world. Today, it has long lost its former glory and has become a quiet place for reflecting on time.

Rongshengkui Dry Warehouse once belonged to Wei Futang's second brother. It was a famous entertainment venue, where cigarette traders came to enjoy themselves. Its unique boat-shaped structure has been preserved, and as you walk through it, you can still catch glimpses of its former splendor.

There were also opium dens, places where people once indulged in smoke and leisure, contributing to Qingmukou’s short-lived prosperity.

On the southern hillside of the ancient town stands Furen Middle School, which was built by Wei Futang. It educated generations of local students, providing them with an education that included English—an unimaginable feat in the mountainous areas plagued by banditry during the Republic of China era.

Then there's Feifeng Bridge, originally known as Fengyu Bridge, a wooden covered bridge built with Wei Futang's funding.

Not far from the old street, the grand building (Wei family residence) is where Wei Futang lived. Entering the Wei family residence is like opening a secret history of the rise and fall of a family during a turbulent era.

To sum up, the story of Qingmukou is essentially the story of Wei Futang. If you're interested in the tale of this man who was a scholar, a hero, and a bandit, it’s worth taking a trip to Qingmukou.