Heshun Ancient Town in Tengchong

Tengchong's Heshun Ancient Town, located 3 kilometers southwest of Tengchong city in Yunnan Province, is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese. Historical records show that Heshun was originally called 'Yang Wen Tun', and because a small river flowed through the town, it began to be called 'He Shun Xiang' during the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty. Later, it was renamed 'Heshun Xiang', implying harmony and smoothness. The ancestors of Heshun, during the Hongwu period of the Ming dynasty, were ordered to cultivate and garrison the border from places such as Sichuan, Nanjing, and Huguang. They have thrived here for six hundred years. For over six hundred years, the Central Plains culture, Western culture, Nanzhao culture, and frontier culture have blended and collided here, forming a unique culture of overseas Chinese and the culture of the horse caravan. Heshun Ancient Town is surrounded by volcanoes on all sides, with one volcano in each of the southeast, northwest directions, and a horseshoe-shaped basin in the middle. The highest elevation within the town is 2091 meters, and the lowest is 1490 meters. Heshun Ancient Town is built along the mountains and water, stretching for miles, with settlements including temples, Taoist temples, ancestral halls, and numerous alleys. Wan Lou Zi is named for the curved construction of the buildings along the winding alleys, and the locals vividly call it Wan Lou Zi. It is not only a residential building but also the generational name of the Li family from the famous merchant Yong Mao He. Wan Lou Zi's residential buildings are a courtyard complex consisting of three sections and three rooms with a screen wall, now converted into a 'Residential Museum'. Xi Yi Ting, along the river of Heshun Ancient Town, there are quaint and elegant pavilions at intervals, where village women wash clothes. Wenchang Palace is used to worship Wenchang Dijun, the Taoist god in charge of literature and officialdom. Heshun's Wenchang Palace was built during the Daoguang period of the Qing dynasty (1821~1850) and consists of the main hall, rear hall, Kui Xing Pavilion, Zhu Yi Pavilion, passageway, wings, main gate, and the large terrace at the front. Heshun Library was established in the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928) by overseas Chinese from Myanmar to revitalize the cultural education of their hometown. Shuang Hong Bridge's old bridge was originally built in the early years of the Jiajing period of the Ming dynasty, and it is said to have been constructed by the efforts of the local deity Inch Jade. It was rebuilt in the tenth year of Guangxu of the Qing dynasty (1884). Shuang Hong Bridge's new bridge was built in the tenth year of the Republic of China (1921), and the two bridges are shaped like double rainbows lying on the waves, hence the name Shuang Hong Bridge.