The Essence of Ancient Mountains and Rivers Architecture Tour

Today, let's climb a "living heartbeat of the Ming Dynasty border"—Jianshui Chaoyang Tower! 📍Located at the East Gate of the ancient city of Jianshui County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, it was first built in the 22nd year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1389), 28 years earlier than Beijing's Tiananmen. It is one of the oldest and best-preserved three-eave, five-bay wooden city towers in China. It does not rely on perilous terrain but guards southern Yunnan with majestic grandeur: the 24.5-meter-high tower stands proudly on a 7-meter-high bluestone city platform, with a double-eaved Xieshan roof covered in glazed yellow tiles, and copper bells hanging at the four corners that chime clearly like a chime when the wind blows. From the tower, looking afar—northward, the majestic ridges of Liangshan extend; southward, the smoke from the vast purple pottery workshops rises gently; westward, the eaves of the thousand-year-old Confucian Temple appear and disappear; eastward, the winding green waves of the Lu River paint a picturesque scene. The most stunning moments are at dawn and dusk: in the morning mist, Chaoyang Tower floats like a giant ship amid the blue mountain shadows; at sunset, the evening glow bathes the entire tower in warm gold, the silhouette of the flying eaves and dougong brackets reflects in the moat, swaying together with the black-awning boats rowing in the water and the indigo cloth drying on the shore—the whole city seems like a slowly unfolding "Qingming Riverside Scene in Southern Yunnan." Itinerary: 1-day Chaoyang Tower · Border Dawn and Dusk Memories | Climb the tower + Rubbings + Purple Pottery Handcraft + Lu River Night Mooring Total Budget: 395 RMB (strictly controlled under 400 RMB) Transportation | ¥0 ✅ Walkable within Jianshui Ancient City | Take bus No. 6 from the high-speed rail station to "Chaoyang Tower Station" ¥2 | But recommended to walk 10 minutes from Lin'an Inn to save transportation costs ✅ Tickets | ¥15 ✅ Chaoyang Tower admission ticket ¥15 (includes professional audio guide with Ming Dynasty border guard stories) Highlights | Be a border rubbing artist! ✅ Morning climb to view the city (7:30–9:00): Beat the tourists to the tower, enjoy the morning light over the Liangshan sea of clouds and moat reflections, and hear the drum sounds of the Hongwu-era border guards from the audio guide 🥁 ✅ Midday rubbings (10:30–12:00): At the "Ancient Architecture Heritage Workshop" in front of the tower, use rice paper and pine soot ink to make rubbings of the Ming Dynasty city bricks inscriptions (the bricks are engraved with "Made in the 22nd year of Hongwu," personally capturing 600 years of craftsmanship) ✅ Afternoon handcraft (14:00–16:00): Walk 5 minutes to "Xiaoguifang Purple Pottery Workshop," experience wheel throwing and carving/filling (master craftsman teaches carving the characters "Chaoyang" by hand), take home a plain small cup (fired and mailed later) ✅ Lu River night mooring (18:00–19:00): Ride a black-awning boat on the Lu River, watch the sunset gild the flying eaves of Chaoyang Tower, listen to the boatwoman sing a "Jianshui folk tune," and receive a freshly baked glutinous rice and red bean roll Meals | ¥380 Lunch: "Old Restaurant under Chaoyang Tower"—Steamed Pot Chicken + Grass Sprout Rice Noodles + Jianshui Grilled Tofu ¥68 Afternoon tea (included) | Additional purchases: Glutinous Rice Red Bean Roll ¥12 | Purple Pottery Experience Fee ¥80 | Rubbing Set (includes rice paper/ink/rubbing bag/binding book) ¥35 | Jianshui Sour Pomegranate Juice ¥10 | Grass Sprout Dry Mixed Noodles ¥16 | Grilled Tofu à la carte ¥12 | Black-awning Boat Ticket ¥30 | Jianshui Folk Tune Recording USB ¥18 | Purple Pottery Small Cup Firing and Mailing Fee ¥25 | Glutinous Rice Wine Dumplings ¥14 ✅ Total Expense Breakdown: Ticket ¥15 + Meals ¥380 = ¥395 (Remaining ¥5 can be exchanged for a Chaoyang Tower tile rubbing postcard) ✅ Must-choose time: Enter right at 7:30 AM opening | Soft light | Few people and quiet | Great for empty shots | Avoid tour group peak after 10 AM Essentials: Soft-soled cloth shoes (wooden stairs are steep and slippery), plain cotton-linen clothes (quiet needed for rubbings), notebook (to record border oral history), cash (some old stalls only accept cash) Hidden gem: Bring excerpts from "Jianshui County Chronicles · Construction Records" to compare and read the Qing Dynasty restoration inscription on the west corridor pillar of Chaoyang Tower—among the names is "French engineer Jean Dupont, supervised in the 23rd year of Guangxu," witnessing the border's history of openness. When the copper bells gently ring in the morning breeze, I suddenly hear— Six hundred years of drum beats, horse hooves, kiln fires, and laughter, steadily beating in the heart of this border tower through every mortise and tenon joint.