Baidicheng-Qutang Gorge 白帝城·瞿塘峡

About Baidicheng-Qutang Gorge

Baidicheng was originally called Ziyang Cheng. In the late Western Han, Gongsun Shu built a fortress on the defensible site, proclaimed himself Baidi (White Emperor) in 25 CE and renamed it Baidicheng; a temple to him went up on the hill in 36 CE, and in 1533 its dedication was changed to Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Tang- and Song-dynasty writers including Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi visited, lived or served as officials here and left poems, which is why the site is also called the poetry city. After the Three Gorges Dam impoundment raised the water level to 175 metres, Baidicheng became an island within the reservoir. The scenic area opened to visitors in 1978, among the first in the country to do so, and covers about 4.7 square kilometres.

Qutang Gorge runs 8 kilometres below Baidicheng; the operator's own page describes it as the shortest, narrowest and most dangerous of the Three Gorges. On the north-bank Chijia Mountain within the gorge stand the Laoguanmiao culture site, the Daxi culture site and the Wushan Ape-Man site, together with the Laoguanmiao signal tower, Chijia Tower, an old gun emplacement, an old plank road and the hanging coffins of Fengxiang Gorge; on the south-bank Baiyan Mountain stand the remains of the old Mengliang Ladder plank road, cliff inscriptions, Rhino-Gazing-at-the-Moon Peak and Ape-Man Peak. At the gorge's west mouth stands Kuimen, also called Qutangguan, a historic pass between the Ba-Shu and Jing-Chu regions and the scene depicted on the reverse of the fifth-series 10-yuan renminbi note.

What to look for

• The hilltop site of Baidicheng itself, refounded by Gongsun Shu in 25 CE and later home to a temple dedicated to Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang from 1533.
• Kuimen, the gorge-mouth pass at the west end of Qutang Gorge, depicted on the reverse of the fifth-series 10-yuan renminbi note.
• The Laoguanmiao culture site, the Daxi culture site and the Wushan Ape-Man site on Chijia Mountain, the north-bank side of Qutang Gorge.
• Chijia Tower, the old gun emplacement, the old plank road and the hanging coffins of Fengxiang Gorge, also on the north bank.
• The remains of the old Mengliang Ladder plank road and the cliff inscriptions on Baiyan Mountain, the south-bank side of the gorge.

Location & getting there

Getting to Baidicheng-Qutang Gorge

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 白帝城·瞿塘峡 with 重庆市 and 奉节县.