Dujiangyan & Mount Qingcheng

都江堰景区 / 青城山前山

A 2,000-year-old waterworks and a Taoist mountain in one day

⚠ Both need real-name booking

Hours

Qingcheng about 8am–5:30pm (tickets until 5pm); Dujiangyan hours vary by season

Tickets

Dujiangyan about ¥80, Qingcheng front mountain about ¥80 (peak-season variation); real-name booking online

Address

Dujiangyan Scenic Area, Dujiangyan City; the Qingcheng front-mountain gate is 20–30 minutes' drive south-west

In the 3rd century BC an official named Li Bing built a fish-mouth levee in the middle of the Min River to split it in two, and it still waters the Chengdu plain today. Cross the swaying suspension bridge over the rushing water and the cleverness of the simple design sinks in. Mount Qingcheng, one of the birthplaces of Taoism, is all mossy stone steps and temples in the forest, far smaller and quieter than Emei. Most people do both in one day.