The Ancient Stone Town is located in Chonghan Village in Putao Township, Yangshuo. It is about 10 square km. There are four gates on the direction of south, north, east and west. The stone town original had 24 small gates, and now 18 of them still exist. In the stone town, there were original 4 ancient temples, and now 2 of them still exist.
Who built the ancient stone town and when it was built? There are two legends of it.
The first legend goes that it was built during Xianfeng Period in Qing Dynasty. It was built for running away from social upheaval for villages living around.
Another goes that it was built in Ming Dynasty as auxiliary buildings of Jingjiang Prince Mansion. It was used for storing up grains and training armies. According to the construction style and culture, the later is more convinced. The design of the gate and wall are similar to that of Jingjiang Prince Mansion. As there is no history record, it is still a mystery.
Passed a steep and winding stone path, the west gate comes into view. The gate was built between two high mountains. The gate was constructed with big stones which are about 400 to 500 Jin. The most imposing gate is the East Gate, which is 3.28m high, 2.92m wide and 4.62m deep.
The south and north gate and other smaller gates have the same shape as west gate and east gate. The farthest gate needs 1 hour’s climbing to get to. Unfortunately, most of the gates were destroyed
Admission Fare: 35 Yuan/P
Transportation: suggest you charter a car to get there
Accommodation: the facilities in the hotels here are not so good. We suggest you back to living in hotels in Yangshuo County.
