Ruins of the Shu Road in Sichuan and Shaanxi

Shu Road Relics Between Sichuan and Shaanxi

The Shu Road in Sichuan and Shaanxi is a cultural and tourism attraction.

The Shu Road in Sichuan and Shaanxi, also known as the Hanging Road or Plank Path, is located along the steep cliffs on the eastern bank of the Jialing River in the Moonlight Gorge (Mingyue Gorge) and Breeze Gorge (Qingfeng Gorge), north and south of Chaotian Town, about 45 kilometers north of Guangyuan City. It is a famous ancient relic of the Shu Road connecting Sichuan and Shaanxi. Throughout history, many literati have written about it, with Li Bai’s "The Hard Road to Shu" from the Tang Dynasty being the most well-known. The construction of the plank roads began in the pre-Qin period, with the "Records of the Grand Historian" (Shiji) noting "a thousand li of plank roads connecting to Shu and Han." They were repaired and maintained by successive dynasties. Today, the wooden paths are gone, but the holes in the cliffs remain. The holes are arranged in three tiers—upper, middle, and lower. The middle tier was used for inserting wooden stakes, over which planks were laid to form the walkway. The lower tier served as support holes, while the upper tier was used to construct awnings to shelter from rain. Each hole is roughly 30 centimeters square and about 50 centimeters deep. From a distance, the plank road resembles a corridor hanging in mid-air, hence it is also called the "Cloud Corridor."