Tucked away by the Yangtze River, the antique-style small town is grand yet void

‼️Unexpectedly, even the cultural travel expert can have a misstep 😱 . 🗺 Previously, I found information and pictures of Chongqing Songgai Ancient Town online: the whole town unfolds along the Yangtze River, with ancient residential buildings built layer upon layer against the mountain, and a network of old streets and alleys. The visual impression of the pictures is comparable to the Fubao Ancient Town PLUS version I visited 🔍 Further online exploration revealed even more impressive accolades: Chongqing's first batch of historical and cultural famous towns, the fourth batch of China's historical and cultural famous towns, one of Chongqing's top ten charming towns, one of the top ten most beautiful ancient towns in Chongqing, and one of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage tourism towns, etc. The titles were dazzling, and I added it to my travel list without hesitation 🖼 . 👉🏻 Not long ago, with the aspiration for 'a top-grade ancient town, ten miles of old streets, a century of history, a thousand years of culture, and the vast Yangtze River', I finally embarked on this trip . 🏯 Upon arriving at the entrance of the ancient town, a huge cement antique-style building stood at the street corner, and my heart sank, sensing something was amiss. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be true, those ancient buildings, ancient residences, and ancient ancestral halls in the photos had long been reduced to ashes. Although the ancient town is large, it is almost entirely made up of Ming and Qing Dynasty-style antique buildings, brand-new streets, brand-new pavilions, brand-new so-called county yamen (government offices), complete with snack streets and other commercial facilities . ‼️ Following the navigation, I wanted to visit the Ziyun Palace and the Luo Family Ancestral Hall by the Yangtze River, but my path was blocked by barricades. Looking from a higher vantage point, several excavators were busily working, and the dozens of ancient buildings by the river had already been razed to ruins. Who knows how many antique-style buildings will be built here in the future, and how many historical stories will be fabricated... . 🏘 The once historically famous first town of the Yangtze River entering Chongqing has since disappeared into the long river of history... Songgai 'new' town is quite large, but it always feels like something is missing . 🔍 Address: Songgai Ancient Town, Jiangjin, Chongqing