Hanzhong Museum is located at the ancient Hantai site

Hanzhong gets its name from the Han River flowing through the area and has been known since ancient times as 'Tianhan' and the birthplace of the Han dynasty. It has always been a strategic military location, hailed as the 'throat of Qin' and the 'gateway to Shu'. Since the Paleolithic Age, there have been ancestors settling here. From the Xia to the Western Zhou dynasty, it was part of Liangzhou and Yongzhou respectively. During the Qin dynasty, Hanzhong Commandery was established. Hanzhong Museum was built on the site of the ancient Hantai, mainly relying on the original architectural style and layout. It consists of three progressively elevated courtyards from south to north, composed of the Stone Gate Thirteen Grades exhibition, plank walk display rooms, East and West Hua Ting, the North Gate ancient architectural complex, Wangjiang Tower, Guiyin Hall, courtyard gardens, and more. The ancient Hantai was the palace of Liu Bang when he was conferred as the King of Han by Xiang Yu, also known as the Seven-Star Platform, a typical palace platform of the Qin and Han dynasties built with artificial rammed earth. After the Song dynasty, the ancient Hantai became the backyard of Hanzhong Prefecture. Wangjiang Tower is the Tianhan Tower built during the Southern Song dynasty, located at the highest point of the ancient Hantai. Important collections include the Stone Gate Thirteen Grades, which are thirteen types of cliff carvings between the ancient Baxie inclined road stone gate tunnel and the cliffs to its south and north. The Baxie inclined road is the longest-lasting and most boundary-defining Shu road through the Qinling Mountains. The Stone Gate is a tunnel opened during the Eastern Han dynasty, the world's earliest man-made mountain tunnel. The 'Stone Gate Praise' represents the highest level of ancient clerical script, 'Gunxue' written by King Wei Cao Cao, and 'Yupan' by Zhang Liang. This is my second visit to Hanzhong. The first time was many years ago on a self-driving tour to Gannan and Northern Sichuan. Back then, the highway network was not well developed, and the road conditions in many places were quite difficult. One could feel the challenge of the Shu road being as hard as climbing to the sky. This time, the self-driving trip from Xi'an to Hanzhong took three and a half hours via the West Han Expressway, with good road conditions, although there were many tunnels and caves. Now it is very convenient with both the expressway and high-speed rail. In Hanzhong, I stayed at the best resort hotel, Hanzhong Tianhan Jingyi Hotel. The hotel is well located, and you can swipe your card to enter the Han River Wetland Park from the back door of the hotel. Since I was traveling with a ninety-year-old elder, we did not go far. It was very convenient to drive here to have a look. It was a wonderful journey and a beautiful time. I will visit the Ziwu Mountain Scenic Area, Huayang Scenic Area, and Zibai Mountain Scenic Area in the future.