Peach Blossom Land 桃花源

About Peach Blossom Land

Religious building on the site is documented from the Tang dynasty, when a priest named Huang Dongyuan practised at the Taoyuan temple. A Five Hundred Immortals Pavilion was raised by imperial order in the Song Chunhua period, Taochuan Palace followed in the Zhenghe period under the granted name Taochuan Wanshou Gong, and a Wudang travelling palace was added to its north in the Southern Song. All of it burned at the end of the Yuan. Ming rebuilding produced the Sanqing and Longhu halls, the Bafang Pavilion that is today's Fangzhu Pavilion, the Lingxian zhi fu that became the Jupu enclosure, the Dashi Ge and the Yuxian Bridge at the mouth of the Qinren cave, but most of these were lost again by the end of the Ming.

By the Xianfeng reign of the Qing only the Fangzhu Pavilion still stood. The Dashi Ge area was repaired in 1894 and the hall itself rebuilt in 1914 under the new name Taohua Guan. The Hunan provincial government listed the site for protection on 24 January 1959, a relics management office was set up in 1964, and a long campaign between 1979 and 1988 restored the Qionglin Bridge, Niefeng Pavilion, Jixian Shrine, Yuxian Bridge, Qinren ancient cave, Huoran Pavilion and Shuiyuan Pavilion while adding the Tanyue Pavilion, Yanzhi Hall, Jiazhi stele pavilion, stele corridor, Qianqiu Pond, Jupu and Gaoju Pavilion. The wider area became a national forest park in 2002 and a national key scenic and historic area in 2004, and the architecture group was made a national key cultural relics protection unit in 2006.

What to look for

• Fangzhu Pavilion, built in the Ming as the Bafang Pavilion and the only structure here still standing by the Xianfeng reign
• Taohua Guan, the former Dashi Ge, repaired in 1894 and rebuilt under its present name in 1914
• Yuxian Bridge and the Qinren ancient cave, both restored in the 1979 to 1988 campaign
• The Taohuayuan memorial archway, 16.8 m high and 26.8 m wide, which serves as the main marker of the national scenic area
• The Jiazhi stele pavilion and stele corridor, and the Jupu enclosure on the site of the Ming Lingxian zhi fu

Location & getting there

Getting to Peach Blossom Land

Identify the main visitor approach and any separately managed houses, museums or performances. Ask before entering residential spaces or photographing residents.

• Search for 桃花源 with 常德市 and 桃源县.