Welcome to visit Chenggu County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province
[Chenggu · source of the Hanshui River] Three days and two nights, choose from 1,000–5,000 yuan packages|The richest “Han family soil” on the southern slope of the Qinling Mountains. Avoid the crowded Hanzhong city center and the trending spots. Just listen to the thousand-year footsteps on the stone steps by the Shushui River, the hometown of Zhang Qian. Watch the freshly picked “Chenggu honey tangerines” drip golden juice in the morning light—that’s the first breeze of the Silk Road, blowing over branches 2,100 years later.
Hello, I’m Agu—a local guide who has stayed at the home of Zhang Qian’s descendants in Bowang Town, copied the “Zhang Qian’s Western Mission Map Study” three times with the county annals office elder, and counted 170,000 ancient orange trees with the Northwest A&F University team. I’m not a history repeater. I’m the one squatting at 4 AM in front of the “Zhang Qian tomb spirit path stele,” waiting for the first light to cut through the mist and shine on the six Han dynasty characters “Han Bowang Marquis Zhang’s tomb” in clerical script.
Chenggu has never been a “memorial hall for Zhang Qian.” It’s the first stepping stone for Chinese civilization heading west.
It doesn’t rely on check-in fame but on—
✅ Han dynasty stone beasts on both sides of Zhang Qian’s tomb spirit path: a sheep on the left and a tiger on the right, with stone veins like muscles. Villagers say, “The sheep lowers its head to remind people not to forget their roots; the tiger raises its head to encourage daring journeys”;
✅ Ten thousand mu of orange groves in Juyuan Town, with the “ancient orange king” over 100 years old. Its hollow trunk still bears fruit every year. Inside the tree hole are visitor notes: “May your journey be full of blossoms,” “Pass the graduate exam,” “Mom, get well soon”—stacked with a Qing dynasty handwritten “Orange Manual”;
✅ The old potter in Bowang Town, throwing clay while saying, “My grandpa fired Zhang Qian shrine ritual vessels, my dad fired citrus kiln jars, and today I’ll teach you how to shape—the curve that looks like the camel bell line carving through the Western Regions”;
✅ When you ask for directions, orange farmers don’t say “go east.” They say, “Follow the orange scent, wherever that fresh air flows, that’s where you stop.”
Below, based on real-life logic, here are three practical, solid, and warm routes for you—
🔹 [Simple first visit | 1,000–1,600 yuan | suitable for students, seniors, and light travelers]
✔️ Stay: “Bowang · Orange Whisper Courtyard” (former home of Zhang Qian’s descendants, with blue tiles, wooden structure, floor heating, and hand-painted “Zhang Qian Silk Road map” mural, 148 yuan/night × 2 = 296 yuan)
✔️ Eat: Morning “Chenggu noodles + soy milk” (7 yuan), lunch “Shushui stove” buffet (vegetable tofu + walnut bread + sour plum soup, 24 yuan), evening “Juyuan Town night market” noodles + cold jelly (40 yuan)
✔️ Travel: Bus + walking (10 yuan/day × 2 = 20 yuan), focusing on the “breathing route”:
→ Early morning climb Zhang Qian tomb spirit path (free admission, enter at 6:25 AM, wait quietly for morning light to pass over Han dynasty stone beasts) → Walk along Shushui River trail to Juyuan Town ancient orange grove → Turn into Bowang Town, listen to the old potter under the century-old soap tree talk about “how Zhang Qian brought Western seeds back to Hanzhong”
✔️ Play: Free experiences—rubbing the “Han Bowang Marquis” characters on the spirit path stele at Zhang Qian’s tomb, hand-writing the first page of “My carving diary” in the orange grove, buying a pack of “Chenggu honey tangerine dried fruit” to send to parents back home
✅ Total cost ≈ 1,150 yuan|Spend the least but touch the slightly rough pages of the 1956 archaeological notes and taste the freshly ground walnut bread’s crisp aroma—simple but heartfelt
🔹 [Cultural deep dive | 2,300–3,500 yuan | recommended for teachers, study tour leaders, families with children]
✔️ Stay: “Juyuan · orange keeper’s home” (four generations of orange farmers’ courtyard, hosts are intangible cultural heritage potters + old orange masters, includes breakfast + evening fire pit storytelling, 500 yuan/night × 2 = 1,000 yuan)
✔️ Eat: “Chenggu twelve flavors” seasonal feast—
Morning: vegetable tofu made with fresh water from Shushui source;
Lunch: Juyuan ecological farm fresh lunch (freshly picked shepherd’s purse + cave-chilled sour plum soup);
Evening: old orange master’s “orange fragrance pot helmet feast,” teaching you to bake “orange petal patterns” and “camel bell patterns” with a griddle
✔️ Travel: Private car + local cultural consultant (former chief editor of Chenggu county annals office, narrates the whole trip without notes on “why Chenggu is the ‘Han family birthplace,’ ‘Silk Road starting county,’ and ‘Qinba orange source core,’ 1,050 yuan/day × 1 = 1,050 yuan)
✔️ Special: “One-day carver”—learn to rub Han dynasty stone carvings at Zhang Qian’s tomb, handcraft “Silk Road pottery talismans” in Juyuan Town, identify ancient orange tree growth rings with plaster molds on Shushui River beach
✅ Total cost ≈ 3,350 yuan|Valuable for the “depth of time and space”—while others see scenery, you read the grandeur of the Western Han, the openness of the Tang dynasty, and the perseverance of today in the claw marks of stone beasts
🔹 [Heartfelt luxury | 4,100–4,900 yuan | suitable for cultural institutions, publishers, deep retreats, anniversary celebrations]
✔️ Stay: “Shushui · Yunqi orange house” (perched on the cliff above Shushui River, full floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ancient orange grove, each room with a private tea room + Chenggu green sandalwood incense burner, 1,780 yuan/night × 2 = 3,560 yuan)
✔️ Eat: seasonal private feast “Shushui seven flavors”—spring eats “shepherd’s purse honey walnut,” grain rain pairs with “Chenggu honey tangerine tea jelly,” cold dew drinks “Shushui source spring water brewed aged Fu tea”
✔️ Travel: Helicopter tour over Zhang Qian tomb + Juyuan ancient orange grove + Shushui River valley (20 minutes, limited to 2 people, 1,100 yuan)
✔️ Highlight: “Carving quiet night”—after lights out, listen to the intangible cultural heritage suona live performance of “Shushui ballad” by the river, fall asleep to the sound of water; next morning, personally seal your wish-filled “carving drifting note” in a pottery jar and bury it under the memorial tree at the viewing platform
✅ Total cost ≈ 4,800 yuan|Not just buying a view but a frequency: slow enough to hear the faint carving sounds of Han dynasty stone masons, quiet enough to catch the 2,100-year-old question—
“Heading west, what is your proof?”
“Heart as proof, action as witness.”
📌 Real tips (for insiders only):
❶ Don’t go to the “internet-famous orange grove café.” Head straight to the slope west of the “ancient orange king” in Juyuan Town—at 6:38 AM, sunlight slants through the orange grove, instantly lighting the entire orchard like molten gold, the fruit skin shimmering with amber cold light;
❷ Want to shoot stunning photos? Skip the main viewing platform. At 5:50 AM, go under the south gate arch of Zhang Qian tomb spirit path. Morning light passes through the brick arch, and light spots dance on the “Han Bowang Marquis” stele rubbing like Buddhist chants;
❸ All cultural protection sites are free after 4:40 PM with no reservation! Locals prefer this time—tourists have left, guides become friends, even the temperature of the Qing dynasty stone steps is just right, and the wind carries the ink scent of the first 1956 “Zhang Qian tomb protection regulations.”
Chenggu doesn’t call you to “pay tribute to Zhang Qian.” It quietly offers a bowl of hot soup, a warm walnut bread, and a “Have you eaten?” Then waits for you to realize:
True strength isn’t behind glass display cases but in the cool touch at your fingertips when you scoop up Shushui water;
True inheritance isn’t reciting slogans but standing under an ancient orange tree and suddenly understanding—
All great departures are quiet, just one person planting the first orange tree on the Qinling slope, facing the light.