Laoguan Town, Langzhong [Nanchong]

Laoguan Town locates at the northeast of Langzhong City where is east to Yilong, Bazhong, south to Langzhong, west to Cangxi and north to Wangcang and Guangyuan. This town is on the mountain and adjacent to roads with a very good transportation. Merchants are gathering here and the market is prosperous. The town is surrounded by beautiful scenery which has been a strategic point for army and merchants since ancient years.

Laoguan Town has a long history. According to the records, Laguna town was the relic site of ancient Fengguo County which lasted for 729 years. Then it changed other names after that until it gained the name Laguna after the establishment of People’s Republic of China. Laoguan town has an area of 3 square kilometers and the ancient town occupies half of it.
Laoguan town has many existing well – preserved historical sites. There are historical blocks and ancient architectures of about 4 hectares; ancient streets with unique characteristics of about 1000 meters; ancient residence are in picturesque disorder; temples have great originality; magnificent memorial archways with red cultures recorded by history. These ancient architectures which have went through long years of history have become the rareness of culture though once they were destroyed by nature or people. Together with residence and revolutionary relic sites, the architectures have become human heritages of great historical and cultural value and the indispensable existing heritage for the research on ancient architectures and Bashu culture.

With a history of more 1400 years, Laoguan has left many memories to people: site of Fengguo temple, ancient granary, ancient fence gates and the famous historical figures “ three Qiaos”— Qiao Long, Qiao Xuan and Qiao Ying who are the important officals of Emperor Wu of Han (the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty in China).

The Laoguan Town has a rich cultural atmosphere of lantern drama. Since ancient days, Laoguan people perform it, see it and comment on it. Lantern drama is the historical brand of Laoguan Town and the honor of Laoguan people nowdays. As the birthplace of lantern drama, Laoguan’s lantern drama has deep roots and large influence. In the last 1000 years, the lantern drama of Laoguan has been spreaded to over half of Langzhong, even to large urban and rural areas of Cangxi, Wangcang, Guangyuan and Nanchong. Therefore, the lantern drama has been called “Lantern Drama of North Sichuan”.
Whenever the festivals come, Laoguan is extremely bustling with bamboo horse, lights in cow shape, land boat (a model boat used as a stage prop in some folk dances), waist drum etc.

Laoguan town has rich resources of folk songs, red army songs and Laguna Town is called “town of folk songs”.