longmen ancient town: hometown of sun quan
a bird's-eye view of longmen [photo/zjol.com.cn]
longmen is a small town located in southwest hangzhou. it is full of ancestral shrines, halls, pagodas, camphor trees, and footbridges from the ming and qing dynasties (1368-1911).
it is also home to the largest settlement of descendants of sun quan (182-252), who ruled the kingdom of wu during the three kingdoms period (220-280). more than 90 percent of the 7,000 people living here are surnamed sun.
the town covers an area of two square kilometers and is located south of fuchun river and north of shan river, 38 kilometers away from hangzhou's city center. it is located at the foot of longmen mountain and longmen river runs through it.
the longmen river runs through longmen village. [photo/zjol.com.cn]
the name longmen means "a gate for dragons" in chinese and comes from a poem written by yan ziling, who traveled there during the eastern han dynasty (ad25-220).
-
'nice' to meet you, hangzhou
may 6, 2024