Yingjing County enjoys a long history, and is an important post on the Silk Road in the ancient southern China and a famous hometown for grit utensils. 

Yingjing County enjoys bountiful resources, and is ecologically livable. The county has an annual precipitation of 1,255mm, and its average annual temperature is 15.3 degrees Celsius, the forest coverage rate of which is 76.67%, and the vegetation coverage rate of which is 93%. The county has a reputation as “the Natural Oxygen Bar”, and it is reputed as “the City of Dove Tree”.

As the National Day Holiday and Mid-autumn Festival are pending, the journalist has recommended 2 scenic spots in Yingjing County to friends who like to travel, alongwith the specialty products in Yingjing County, making you feel greatly satisfied by this trip.

Scenic spots recommendation

Colorful Longcanggou

Longcanggou, which is mainly featured with a diversity of vegetations and major water scenic spots, has an intact primeval forest ecological system, and is one of the Top 10 most beautiful flowers appreciation spot in Sichuan Province.

In Longcanggou, plentiful rainfall has made the waterfalls flow without stop. The lake is clear and its bottom is visible. Shallow waters and deep ponds, large streams and small creeks are numerous, endowing the Longcanggou with an elegant style.

Autumn is the season for Longcanggou to become colorful. In the time of golden autumn, red leaves spring out from the new buds, attracting a lot of attention. Because Longcanggou forest is mainly featured with evergreen broad-leaf forest, thus Longcanggou in the autumn will take on a red coat, with all leaves turning red. Because the terrain is relatively flat and with an open view, the landscape of forest vegetation is magnificent.

Small tip:

Self-drive route: Chengdu Ya’an Expressway--Ya’an Xichang Expressway--Longcanggou Exit--Longcanggou National Forest Park. The scenic spot is located 30 kilometers away to the southeast of Yingjing County, about 30-minutes drive away from the Longcanggou Exit.

The rustic and elegant Yunfeng Temple

Yunfeng Temple is located in the Baixiang Village, Qinglong Village, Yingjing County, which was reputed in the ancient time as “Famous Temple in Western Sichuan”, and “Wonder in the Rough Path”.

The total area of Yunfeng Temple Scenic Spot reaches about 15 square kilometers, with an average annual temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, and the lowest altitude is 1010m, and the highest altitude is 2628m. The Scenic Spot is comprised of three parts including religious and cultural area, agricultural and ecological area and natural ecological sightseeing area.

The ancient temple was built in Tang Dynasty, rebuilt in Ming Dynasty, and was extended in Qing Dynasty. The temple was covered in the ancient Nan trees and ginkgo trees, forming a rather special small ambience.

With time, only the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Great Buddha’s Hall, and the Hall of Avalokitesvara Buddhisatva remain. The halls run a north-south direction on a central axis, and each hall is higher than another. One thing is worth mentioning, Yunfeng Temple enjoys a rustic and elegant architectural style, which is featured strongly with the residue beauty of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The carved wooden embossment was rather delicate and vivid.

Small tips:

Self-drive route: Chengdu Ya’an Expressway--Ya’an Xichang Expressway--Yingjing Exit--Yunfeng Temple (about 4 kilometers away from Yingjing Exit)

Taxi: Take a taxi in the downtown area, which costs about 20 yuan, about 10 minutes’ drive.

Hiking route: Yingjing County--Xiaoxikou--Yunfeng Temple, about 50 minutes’ walk

Specialty products recommendation:

Massive and refined Yingjing grit utensils

The old saying goes: In the east, Yixing has dark-red stoneware; in the west, Yingjing has black grit utensils. The Yingjing grit utensils calcination craft dates back to the Period of Warring States, the history of which has been about 2000 years. Its making is rustic and delicate, the calcination of which is rather special, and it is reputed as “the art product of soil and fire”.

Yingjing grit utensils calcination techniques have followed the traditional handicraft workshop production method inherited from the historic relics. The production adopts all natural raw materials, and the procedures are classified into collecting materials, crushing into powder, stirring, making models, airing, calcinating, and glazing. The technique procedures are required to be strictly connected to each other, to be meticulous, especially making models and calcinating are important processes.

The grit utensils made from these procedures are rustic and magnificent, simple and beautiful because of its black glaze, rough yet refined, coarse yet elegant, are of rather high values of art collection.

Well-reputed Yingjing Gastrodia elata

Gastrodia elata is a famed Traditional Chinese Medicine, which can regulate the cerebral nerves and facilitate metabolism. 

Yingjing County is located on the basin edges in the transition area connecting Sichuan Basin and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and is featured mainly with a 680-3666m vertical climate. It is because of this, Yingjing County is the most suitable area for gastrodia elata to grow in the whole Sichuan Province. Yingjing County is famous for its Gastrodia elata, which is well-reputed as “Ming Gastrodia elata”.

Yingjing Gastrodia elata has a thick and massy body, with a stern nature and a fine cross section, and is semi-transparent. The Gastrodia elata is of a small scent and a sweet taste. And the containment of gastrodin in the Yingjing Gastrodia elata is larger than those of other areas. Yingjing Gastrodia elata has received “Western China International Fair Brand-name and High-quality Agricultural Product Award”, and is protected with a China’s Ministry of Agriculture Agricultural Product Geological Logo.

Smooth and refined Yingjing tea

Yingjing tea is of a long production history, and is especially famous in the southwest China for its border area tea. Yingjing County, as an advantaged tea production area, has pure air, fertile soil, high mountains surrounded by cloud and fog, which is rather conducive to growing tea with abundant substances inside. Yingjing tea tastes balanced with sweetness and bitterness, is neither bitter nor dry, and is smooth and refined, with a diverse taste.