For thousands of years, the ancient Shu Roads have connected the Sichuan Basin with the vast Guanzhong plain, carrying countless rolling wheels and hurried travelers. In recent years, the ancient Shu Roads within Sichuan Province, under the protection of various local measures, have continued to take on a new appearance.

　　The ancient Shu Roads refer to the ancient transportation network that, during the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties, crossed the Qinling and Daba Mountains from Chang'an and passed through the Hanzhong Basin to reach the Chengdu Plain. For a long time in ancient China, they served as the main transportation routes linking the national political center with the southwestern region. Within Sichuan, they include the Jinniu Road, Yinping Road, Micang Road, and Lizhi Road.

　　Among them, the Cuiyun Corridor section of the Jinniu Road, running north from Jiange County in Guangyuan City and south to Zitong County in Mianyang City, is flanked by towering ancient cypresses and sea-like forest belts, and has been known since ancient times as "three hundred li of long journey, one hundred thousand trees." The Cuiyun Corridor section within Zitong County is home to the largest pure ancient cypress forest in the country, with more than 10,000 verdant, upright ancient cypresses, and a "Cypress King" over 2,300 years old that is simple and vigorous.

Photo shows the Cypress King in the Cuiyun Corridor section within Zitong County, Mianyang City. Photo by Guo Chaoying

　　Walking into the Cuiyun Corridor, one sees towering ancient cypresses reaching into the clouds on both sides of the winding ancient road, with dense branches and leaves; sunlight pierces the shade and falls on the rustic stone-slab path. Up close, each ancient tree has a card hanging on its trunk—its "ID card," containing basic information such as the county-level code of the ancient cypress and its family and genus.

　　The lushness of the ancient cypress forest is inseparable from local protection measures. Since the Ming Dynasty, systems such as "officials and civilians alike are prohibited from cutting" and "handing over trees along with the seal of office" were promulgated and implemented here. Today, Zitong County has established "one tree, one file" for the ancient cypresses, completing unified labeling of all ancient cypresses in the county through both cluster steles and individual tags, and issuing an "ID card" for each ancient cypress; through measures such as anti-decay repair, stone masonry and soil mounding, and fence protection, more than 3,500 ancient cypresses have been rejuvenated; the responsibility for the management and protection of ancient and famous trees has been assigned to 1,356 forest rangers, who can promptly report and handle forest-related incidents found during patrols through a mobile application...

　　"We implement 'one tree, one file' labeling protection, 'one tree, one policy' scientific rescue, and 'one person, one tree' daily patrol." Liu Wen, a cultural and historical expert from Zitong County, said that in Zitong County, the concept of "planting cypresses and protecting cypresses" has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts and integrated into their daily lives.

　　In Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, the Yinping Road, also part of the ancient Shu Roads, has taken on a new "role."

　　The Yinping Road is one of the more hidden routes among the ancient Shu Roads. Spanning Gansu and Sichuan, it was "the route in and out of the Guanzhong plain." Its most precipitous section is located in the Motianling area of the Tangjiahe *** Nature Reserve within Qingchuan County. It once witnessed the Wei general Deng Ai's surprise attack on Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period and is also engraved with the glorious battles of the Red Army; today it has "transformed" into a "secret base" for wild giant pandas and many protected animals.

　　"The Motianling section of the Yinping Road is currently the place in the reserve with the best biodiversity and the easiest place to see wild giant pandas," said Liu Rui, deputy chief of the Ecotourism Management Section of the Management Office of the Tangjiahe *** Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province. He introduced that his protection team carries out maintenance and monitoring of this section of the ancient Shu Road on schedule and also repairs eco-friendly boardwalks, so that "visitors can feel the profound historical heritage of the ancient Shu Road and also see many wild animals."

　　Diao Kunpeng, executive director of Beijing Hongshi Qingye Natural Ecology Technology Co., Ltd., was the first station chief of the Tangjiahe Baixiongping Protection Station. Today he is seeking to use market-based approaches to give back to nature conservation and development. "The Yinping Road is an area rich in historical and cultural heritage, and today's achievements in ecological civilization are also very good," he said. He stated that next the team will deeply explore the cultural content of the Yinping Road and combine it with natural ecology to design nature education activities and courses, "so that more people can understand the history and present of the Yinping Road."

　　Yinping Village in Qingxi Town, Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, at the foot of Motianling, is named after the Yinping Road and now also "lives off the road" by earning income from tourism. In recent years, Yinping Village has vigorously developed homestays and farm stays; of the village's 642 households, nearly 240 are engaged in tourism.

　　Li Mingxiong, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Qingxi Town, introduced that last year the village received more than 400,000 tourists and earned more than 38 million yuan in tourism revenue. At present, industrial development has also attracted a large number of young laborers to return, "many young people and college students are choosing to return to their hometowns to start businesses and build their hometowns."

　　"The ancient Shu Roads have profound historical accumulation, and we should let more people understand and fall in love with them," Li Mingxiong said. He stated that next Yinping Village will focus on the culture of the ancient Shu Roads and actively create tourism products such as ancient Shu Road hiking, performances related to ancient Shu Road culture, and travel photography.