Pianyan Ancient Town is located between the two remaining veins in the southwest of Huaying Mountains. It is located in the hills, high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The average altitude is 520 meters, and the highest is 942.9 meters. In the Qing Dynasty, it was one of the top six proprieties in Jiangbei Hall. It was built as a town in the 24th year of Qianlong's reign. Because there is a steep cliff in the north of the town, it is called Pianyan Town.
This town is an ancient industrial and commercial town on the old road from Chongqing to Huaying. In the past, merchants gathered together and commerce flourished. It is famous in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hunan and Guangzhou. Although the times have changed for hundreds of years, its streets, buildings, folk customs and city conditions still retain the old simple and elegant style. The ancient town was built close to the mountain and beside the water. Standing outside the town, you can see that many wooden houses and brick houses are distributed close to the mountain, overlapping, and well arranged.
A winding Heishuitan River tightly encircles the ancient town. The slowly flowing river is clear to the bottom, and the tall and sturdy yellow barrel trees on the river bank are interspersed with each other. These hundred year old trees are intertwined, with luxuriant branches and leaves, which block out the sky in the form of huge umbrellas, reflecting the folk houses built by the water and the back door of the folk houses. There are small stone ladders connecting with the river beach for people to go down to the river for water, starch... A small bridge with long green stones runs across the water, connecting the passageway outside the town. The ancient town is permeated with the beauty of tranquility, which is quite poetic and picturesque like "small bridges, flowing water and people".
