THE panda-themed green train Y982/1 departing from Chengdu Railway Station and heading toward Kaili in Guizhou Province at 8:21 p.m. Sept. 11 is the first special train traveling through Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing. In September and October, this special train departed from Chengdu every Friday, carrying 500 passengers to recall the days of green trains in Southwest China.

This is a tourist train operated by Sichuan Southwest Railway International Travel Service Co. Tourists could rest on the train at night and join day tours organized by the travel agency in the daytime.

Qingyan Ancient Town

If you exit the train in Guiyang and drive for around 40 minutes, you will reach Qingyan. This ancient town, together with Zhenyuan Ancient Town, Bing’an Ancient Town and Longli Ancient Town, is one of the four biggest ancient towns in Guizhou.

As an ancient town, covering an area of 741 acres, Qingyan Ancient Town was originally built in 1378. Walking into the town may give you an illusion of traveling back in time to the streets of 600 years ago. The gray flagstone walkways, the black bricks, the special eaves, the long laneways, the old memorial archways, all were baptized by time but still remain their original look.

Although small in size, Qingyan Ancient Town has a well-planned architectural style, hundreds of sites of relics, and an influential local culture. Due to the local geology, the town was built completely of stone. Visitors can see spectacular city walls built right on the cliffs with vast rocks, which divided Qingyan into inner and outer towns.

Moutai liquor culture city

Located inside the Moutai Distillery in Renhuai City, Moutai Chinese Liquor Culture City covers an area of more than 30,000 square meters. It has six exhibition halls for the Han (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279), Yuan (1279-1368), Ming (1368-1644), and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and one for modern times.

The culture city is home to more than 5,000 plaques, paintings and works of cultural relics, which systematically introduce the development process of the Chinese liquor industry in the past dynasties and the allusions related to politics, economy, culture and folk customs in Chinese history.

It condenses the brilliance and essence of China’s 5,000 years of liquor culture, and reflects the development course of Moutai liquor. It’s currently the biggest liquor culture city in the world.

Youyang Taohuayuan

Located in the mountainous area of Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, in Chongqing, Taohuayuan, which means peach flower garden in Chinese, is a national 5A scenic area. Many people believe that it’s the prototype of the “heaven on earth” mentioned by the great poet Tao Yuanming who lived during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420).

The scenic area is 300 kilometers from downtown Chongqing and spans over an area of 50 square kilometers. It consists of eight famous attractions, including the Hidden Peach Garden, Taigu Grotto, Youzhou Ancient Town, Peach Garden Forest Park, Taohuayuan Plaza, Peach Garden Town, Eryou Mountain Themed Park and the Peach Garden Theater.

This area is a tiankeng (a large sinkhole) in the karst landform, linked to the outside world through caves. When tourists reach here and see the suddenly open area with charming views, they are surprised by the heavenly beauty of the place.

According to native people, the Taigu Groto started to form 300 million years ago. It’s currently the oldest karst cave in China.

Ayi River Scenic Area

The Ayi River Scenic Area is a gathering place of the Miao and Tujia ethnic groups. Originally named Changxi River, the Ayi River is located in Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County in Southwest China’s Chongqing.

Abounding with mountains, streams, trees, fountains and canyons, the Ayi River Scenic Area has integrated its natural beauty with folk culture to develop tourism industries. In 2008, it was rated as one of the “top 10 favorite tourist sites in Chongqing” and one of the “top 10 tourist routes.”

Here, you can take a river ride on the bamboo raft, explore the stalactite cave, raft down the rapidly-flowing river, hike along the 300-meter-deep gorge, or pay a visit to the local village featuring ethnic customs.

(Chen Xiaochun)