In Chongqing, there is an ancient town settles down here, witnessing changes for more than a thousand years. The outdoor stage there is doing a sweet dream about sights there with a thousand year’s history. Meanwhile, the flagstone walkway in the ancient town stretches into the distance, greeted by rain and slush. This is Zouma Ancient Town – an ancient town to walk through history.
The history of Zouma Ancient Town can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (25 – 220 A.D.), but began to flourish by the middle of the Ming Dynasty (1460 – 1552 A.D.). Located in the riverside, Zouma Ancient Town has an elegant tone that is as good as those ancient towns of Jiangnan.
According to Baxian Zhi (a book on the history of Chongqing), on the way to Chengdu, there is an important station, located at the junction of Zouma Gang (hillock) and Bishan, with 80 li (1 li = 500 meters) to the west land road of Chongqing. Zouma Gang is also known as Zouma Town. Since the ancient town was built on a hill, which looks like a galloping horse, it has been called Zouma Gang by locals during ancient times.
Zouma is an important station on the road connecting Chengdu and Chongqing, with a continuous flow of business and transport. Nowadays, it is the country's historical and cultural town. Also, there are the remaining ancient post road sites, ancient streets, blacksmith shops, old tea houses, Ming and Qing architecture opera houses, and Ciyun Temple ruins still in the Zouma Ancient Town. Different from some other ancient towns, Zouma Ancient Town is not that commercial, therefore, keeping quiet as original as possible.
Here, you can immerse yourself into the quiet world, a place hidden in the metropolis, by counting the annual rings of the slate, listening to a song of the horses, looking for a memory of the ancient town, or playing a sword on the stage of the Guanwu Temple. Moreover, Zouma Ancient Town is an excellent place to enjoy peach blossom in spring.