Songpan County 松潘县

History

The county government dates the first county-level unit here, Jiandi (湔氐县), to 316 BC, after Qin conquered Shu. In 618 the Tang set up Songzhou (松州) and began its walled town; the Battle of Songzhou led to the marriage alliance between the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo (松赞干布) and Princess Wencheng (文成公主). In 1379 the Ming created the Songzhou and Panzhou (潘州) garrisons, later merged as the Songpan garrison, which gave the county its name. It became Songpan County in 1913. For centuries it was a military stronghold and a tea-horse trading hub between the Han lands and the Qiang and Tibetans.

Classical texts from the pre-Qin period to the early Republic placed the source of the Yangtze in the Min Mountains (岷山), following the line "from Minshan the river was led" (岷山导江) in the Tribute of Yu (禹贡). During the Long March, the Shawo (沙窝) and Maoergai (毛儿盖) meetings held in the county fixed the Red Army's strategy of heading north to resist Japan.

Qiang polyphonic singing (羌族多声部) is Songpan's national intangible-heritage item; provincial items include the Hui lantern dance (回族花灯舞), Tibetan thangka painting and Tibetan leatherwork. The county has 19 Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, 10 mosques and one gongbei shrine (拱北), and its gold, known as Zhang gold (漳金), is famous well beyond the county.

What to see

Huanglong (黄龙) is the county's one 5A scenic area, known for travertine shoals and terraced coloured pools below snow peaks. Munigou (牟尼沟), part of the Huanglong world natural heritage area, covers 160 square kilometres between 2,800 and 4,070 metres; it has two parts, Zhaga Waterfall (扎嘎瀑布) and Erdaohai (二道海), with forest, alpine lakes, hot springs, giant travertine falls and coloured pools.

The walls of the old city of Songzhou (松州古城) in Jin'an town (进安镇) are a national key protected site, listed in 2001. The inner city straddles the river and runs up the hillside in the shape of an isosceles triangle, with a barbican and an outer city. The other national protected sites are the Red Army Long March Monument park at Chuanzhusi (川主寺红军长征纪念碑碑园), built in 1989 with its name written by Deng Xiaoping, and the Maoergai and Shawo meeting sites. Huanglong Temple (黄龙寺) and the old wall of Xiaohe (小河古城墙) are provincial sites.

Highlights

• Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area 黄龙风景名胜区: 5A scenic area of travertine shoals and terraced coloured pools.
• Songpan Ancient City 松潘古城: Triangular walled town with a barbican; its walls are a national key protected site listed in 2001.
• Munigou 牟尼沟: Zhaga Waterfall and Erdaohai, with travertine falls and pools, part of the Huanglong world heritage area.
• Red Army Long March Monument park 川主寺红军长征纪念碑碑园: Built at Chuanzhusi in 1989; a national key protected site.