Ciqikou Old Town

Ciqikou (literally "Porcelain Mouth") was a substantial trading and porcelain-distribution town from the Song dynasty onwards — the Jialing River was the principal transport route bringing porcelain from Jiangxi kilns into Sichuan, and Ciqikou was the unloading-and-distribution point. The town's name reflects this trade.

The current preserved old town is a substantial 12-block area of Ming-and-Qing-era stone-paved alleys, courtyard houses, and shop-house buildings. The architecture is typical southwestern-China heritage — exposed wooden beams, white-washed walls, dark-tiled roofs — but the streetscape is denser and more vertical than equivalent canal towns of the lower Yangtze.

Bao Lun Temple, with a Tang dynasty foundation and substantial Ming and Qing reconstructions, is the major religious site in the town. The temple is a working Buddhist temple and produces a substantive vegetarian-canteen lunch.

The river edge below the town has been preserved as a pedestrian boardwalk, with the Jialing River boat traffic providing visual continuity. The nightly light displays during peak season add to the atmospheric character.