Shimen Plank Road Scenic Area

　　The Shimen Plank Road Scenic Area is a renowned attraction in Hanzhong and a national AAAA-level tourist destination [1], situated at the mouth of Baogu Valley where Hantai District, Mian County, and Liuba County (district) of Hanzhong City meet. It boasts nationally protected cultural relics and a variety of local delicacies, and is hailed as the "Hometown of China’s Plank Roads" and the "Water Conservancy Pearl of Northwest China." It is also said to be the birthplace of Bao Si from legend. The area features the Shimen Reservoir, a water conservancy project, along with rich cultural and natural landscapes. It is home to the Baoshé Dao and Shimen Plank Road and its cliff inscriptions—the first group of national key cultural relics protection units—as well as a sanctuary for rare flora and fauna.

　　The Hanzhong Shimen Plank Road Scenic Area is 15 kilometers from the city center. Built around the Shimen Reservoir, it boasts beautiful scenery and a wealth of historic sites, making it an outstanding suburban water conservancy scenic area that combines natural beauty with historical culture.

　　The Baogu Valley features steep mountains, rugged rocks, and verdant peaks, all enveloped in tranquility and elegance, with scenery that changes with the seasons. The Qing Dynasty scholar Wang Wanxiang summarized the area as the "Twenty-Four Scenes of Shimen." The construction of the Shimen Reservoir in 1975 added even more charm to the valley. The Shimen Reservoir is a large-scale water conservancy project primarily for irrigation, with a capacity of 109.8 million cubic meters, irrigating over 515,000 acres of farmland and generating 40.5 megawatts of electricity. The dam stands 88 meters high and is 264 meters long, featuring a graceful and magnificent double-curvature arch design. The high gorges and calm lake, with rippling blue waters, allow visitors to cruise along the 17-kilometer-long man-made lake in boats and speedboats, enjoying the idyllic mountain and water views. Mountain streams babble, springs gush forth, and mountain waterfalls tinkle. The area is rich in aquatic life and birds, with the Chinese giant salamander, Chinese softshell turtle, and egrets being among the most precious species.

　　The "Shimen" (Stone Gate) is located at the southern end of the Baoshé Dao and is now submerged under the Bahe Reservoir. It was excavated during the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty (the sixth year of the Yongping era in the Eastern Han), built to connect the Baoshé Plank Road. The tunnel is 13.6 meters long, 4.2 meters wide, 3.45 meters high at the southern entrance, and 3.75 meters high at the northern entrance. It was carved using the ancient Chinese technique of "fire-setting and water-quenching," making it the world’s earliest artificially constructed passable tunnel. It is a valuable historical resource for studying ancient Chinese transportation.

　　The Shanhe Weir was built by Xiao He, Chancellor of the Western Han Dynasty, and completed by Cao Can. In the 1940s, Shaanxi water conservancy expert Li Yizhi built the Baohui Canal on its original site, and in the 1970s, the Shimen Reservoir was constructed. These water conservancy projects from three different eras have benefited generations of people in Hanzhong, forming a unique aspect of Hanzhong’s water culture and water engineering heritage. The Shanhe Weir Memorial Hall was completed and opened to the public in October 2009.

　　The Shimen Thirteen Steles are thirteen extremely precious stone carvings located at the southern end of the ancient Baoshé Dao in Hanzhong and near the Shimen Tunnel. They are a selection of thirteen masterpieces chosen by experts from 104 cliff inscriptions. Not only do they serve as important historical records of the ancient Baoshé Plank Road and the Shimen, but they also represent a significant stage in the development of Chinese characters, holding both great historical and calligraphic value. Japanese scholar Taniguchi Senju once praised: "The Shimen in Hanzhong is the teacher of Japan." The great calligrapher Yu Youren, in admiration of the essence of calligraphy in the Shimen stone carvings, was moved to tears beneath the cliff inscriptions, even stayed overnight in the cave, and wrote the following poem: "Morning I face the Shimen inscriptions, evening I copy the Twenty Pieces, laboriously compiling them into verses, every night my pillow is wet with tears." Countless calligraphers, including Kang Youwei and Deng Shiru, held the Shimen carvings in the highest esteem. The earliest two characters in China’s first dictionary, Cihai (meaning “Sea of Words”), were taken from the Shimen Thirteen Steles, showing the immense influence of these stone engravings.

　　Ticket price: Peak season: 80 | Off-season: 60

　　Inquiry phone: 0916-2294212

　　Postal code: 723000

　　Scenic area address: Hedongdian Town, Hantai District