A street of the well-preserved Zhaohua ancient town in Guangyuan.
Some of the cypresses are more than 2,000 years old, standing side by side along the tortuous path. Just walking in their shade soothes the mind.
Indeed, if a relaxing holiday is what you are after, and scaling mountains is too strenuous for you, Guangyuan has two other attractions to appeal to the more cerebral.
The county lays claim to being the birthplace of China's only empress, Wu Zetian (AD 624-705), and offers sites to explore stories behind the great woman.
Huangze Temple, sitting on the waist of a mountain, houses the only gold-plated statue of Wu Zetian in China. The statue is 1.8 meters high and carved out of monolithic sandstone, and is more than 1,300 years old.
A Buddha cave on top of the temple area is an eye-opener. The horseshoe-shaped cave is about 7 meters high and houses several tall-standing Buddha figures. They are sculptures from the early Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).
If you make it to the temple, be sure to drop by the Thousand-Buddha cliff, which is about 10 minutes drive away.
It features the biggest grotto cluster in Sichuan and has more than 400 grottoes in all shapes and sizes, with more than 7,000 Buddha figures in them.
The cluster was built during the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-557). You can give your imagination free rein as you walk down the trestle road along the cliff with a green river running down the other side.
In addition to hiking and long-distance running, the Guangyuan authorities are planning cycling and self-drive events along the Jianmen section of the Shu Road.
International shadowboxing and canoeing competitions are also planned, and a great deal of efforts is being put into tapping local culture with various festivals and rural celebrations.
Plans are in motion to increase the number of flights to Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province over the next five years, and daily flights will connect Shenzhen, Guangyuan and Lanzhou in Gansu province.
