Shuimo Ancient Town 水磨古镇

About Shuimo Ancient Town

The town sits on the Shouxi River, a tributary of the Min River, bordering Dujiangyan to the east, backing onto the World Heritage site of Mount Qingcheng to the south, adjoining the Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve to the west and the earthquake epicentre of Yingxiu to the north; it covers 88.44 square kilometres, has an average annual temperature of 15.2C and vegetation coverage of 82.36%, and is described by the county government as the southern gateway from Aba prefecture into the Chengdu plain. Wenchuan County's own 2008 government work report dates the '5.12' catastrophe that struck that year; an earthquake the People's Daily's 2018 retrospective describes as ten years earlier left no undamaged houses, roads or public facilities in the town and affected nearly 20,000 people, and before it Shuimo had been a high-energy-consumption industrial zone. Foshan completed its paired reconstruction assistance ahead of schedule within two years; once the town's new positioning was settled it closed 63 small enterprises that were high in energy consumption, high in pollution and low in returns, and concentrated instead on ecological, tourism and cultural industries; Shuimo was given an award by UN-Habitat for best practice in post-disaster reconstruction, and by 2018 had become a national AAAAA-grade scenic area.

The rebuilt old town is divided into three named zones, Chanshou Old Street, Shouxi Lake and Qiangcheng (Qiang town); Economic Daily describes it as the leading town of Wenchuan earthquake post-disaster reconstruction. Building the Qiangcheng project took 100 days of construction after five months of detailed design work on the area's appearance. Present-day named sights include Xiqianghui, Qiangcheng, Chunfeng Pavilion, Wannian Stage and Shouxi Lake. The county profile places Xiqianghui, Qiangcheng and Chanshou Old Street within Laoren village at the town centre, together with Shuimo Middle School, Bayi Primary School and Wenchuan County's second kindergarten. More than 300 shops line Chanshou Old Street, and at its end a cultural plaza centres on the Wannian Stage, beside a retaining wall inscribed with the characters for 'boundless love' and the carved Shuimo Post-Disaster Reconstruction Memorial Stele. A 2018 feature describes the town as the most populous in Aba prefecture and the one receiving the most visitors, with annual tourism revenue of more than 600 million yuan.

What to look for

• Chanshou Old Street, lined with more than 300 shops, and the cultural plaza at its end centred on the Wannian Stage.
• The Shuimo Post-Disaster Reconstruction Memorial Stele, carved beside a wall inscribed 'boundless love' at the old street's plaza.
• Qiangcheng (Qiang town), the reconstruction zone built in 100 days of construction after five months of design work.
• Xiqianghui and Chunfeng Pavilion, both named among the town's present-day sights.
• Shouxi Lake, one of the three named zones of the rebuilt old town.

Location & getting there

Getting to Shuimo Ancient Town

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

• Search for 水磨古镇 with 阿坝藏族羌族自治州 and 汶川县.