In Mianzhu, the streets smell of spirits and the temples hum with history

Mianzhu downtown. Photos By Liu Lu / China Daily

There is the smell of liquor in the air when you enter Mianzhu, the county-level city in Deyang of southwestern Sichuan province.

The smell is real. The city is the birthplace of China's white liquor brand Jiannanchun, a famous baijiu that has a rich and well-balanced flavor.

But apart from the white spirits, which has a history of more than 500 years, Mianzhu has a lot more to offer to tourists.

The temple of Zhuge Zhan and his son, or Double Loyalty Temple, is one of the important historical sites in the city. It was built in memory of the three generations of the Zhuge family for their loyalty to the State of Shu (one of the Three Kingdoms). The legendary deeds of Zhuge Liang are widely read by people over generations in the Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms. His great talent and bold visions helped Liu Bei govern the State of Shu.

Zhuge Zhan was the eldest son of Zhuge Liang. He succeeded his father and dedicated all his life to the Kingdom of Shu. Mianzhu county is the place where Zhuge Zhan and his son refused to surrender to invaders and gave up their lives for their state.

To commemorate their heroic deeds, the local people had built the temple and expanded it over the past hundreds of years.

After years of expansion, it is a magnificent temple today, with a myriad of beautiful inscriptions and vivid sculptures of the two martyrs.

Surrounded by lush plants, the tomb of Zhuge Zhan and his son is behind the worshipping hall. On each side of the tomb there stands a hundred-year-old pine. The two trees are just like warriors in armored coats protecting the tomb, making the atmosphere solemn.