Songpan Ancient Town

Chinese Name: 松潘古城 (Song Pan Gu Cheng)
Location: Songpan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Group Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province
Ticket: Free
Estimated tour time: 2 hours
Recommended time to visit: All year round
Nearby attractions: Mounigou Valley Scenic Area, Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic Spot, Huanglong Scenic Area, Chuanzhu Temple, etc.

Songpan Ancient Town, also called Songzhou Ancient Town, is located in Jin'an Town, Songpan county. It has been the trade center of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces since ancient times. At present, it is a must pass for Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, prairie and other important scenic spots. Songpan is inhabited by Tibetans, Qiang and Hui people, each have maintained their own folk customs and traditions.

Founded in the Hongwu period (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty, it was not only a military fortress in northwest Sichuan since ancient times, but also an important post station of "tea-horse exchanging" for Tibetan, Qiang, Hui, and Han people with a long history.

Songpan Ancient Town is divided into an inner city and an outer city with gates connecting these 2 cities. The walls are all built with black bricks and is up to 12 meters thick, which may be the thickest one in China. The black bricks are 50 cm long and 12 cm thick, and each brick weighed 30 kg. The mortar was made of glutinous rice, lime and tung oil, so the wall was extremely solid. With a height of 10 meters, a width of 30 meters and a length of 6200 meters, it can be regarded as one of the prime ancient wall sites in China. The top of the 3 gates in the east, south and north are in the shape of a half moon, and there are all kinds of unique relievos carved on the gate sill. In addition, there are two mosques remained in the city, which can be visited from 5 a.m. every day, but the main hall is not allowed to enter.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the ruler of the Tubo kingdom, Songtsan Gambo (Songtsen Gampo), sent envoys to Chang'an (Xi’an) to propose marriage. The envoys passed by Songzhou and were detained by local officials. Songtsan Gambo was furious and invaded with 200,000 soldiers. After the battle of Chuanzhusi (Chuanzhu Temple川主寺), the army of Tang had a big victory. 

After Songtsan Gambo returned to Tibet, he sent gold for marriage and reconciliation. In the year of 641, Princess Wen-Cheng was sent to Tibet by Emperor Taizong (598-649) and was accompanied by a group of people which included guardians, servants, doctors, artists, farmers, craftsmen and monks. She taught Tibetan people to farm their land. Besides, the Mahayana Buddhism spread to Tibet due to this intermarriage and thangka painting became a traditional artwork of Tibetans. The world-famous Potala Palace was built for the Tang princess by King Songtsan Gambo. There is a stone statue of Princess Wen-cheng and King Songtsan Gambo in front of the arch gate of Songpan Ancient Town.