The name of Jiangyou is unfamiliar to many expats. When told it has a connection with Chinese ancient poet Li Bai, (also known as Li Po), their interest is sparked.

Located in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jiangyou has been claimed as the hometown of Li Bai, who lives foe more than 24 years here during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907)

Jiangyou has become a romantic travel destination thanks to its literary connection to the greatest ancient romantic poet in China.

Li Bai grew up here and later travelled extensively in the eastern and central regions. He toured as far as the present day Kirghiizstan. That is way some countries and many other Chinese local governments stake a claim to Li Bai's birth place. Suffice to say the poet's name has been fully exploited for the purposes of tourism development.

But Jiangyou is the only place greatly influenced by Li Bai and his poems.

"Almost everyone, young and old, enjoy Li Bai's poems and can recite dozens of them,?said He Yiyu, vice-mayor of Jiangyou. "People here love Li Bai and his poems and respect anything left in the city by Li Bai.

At the commemoration of the 1300th anniversary of Li Bai's birthday, almost 30000 local people gathered in square to recite Li Bai's poem Night Thoughts.

" The bright moon shone before my bed,
I wondered was it frost upon the ground?
I raised my head to gaze at the clear moon,
Bowed my head remembering my old home.

A total of 1500 stone tablets are under construction at Li Bai's birthplace, Qingliang Town in Jiangyou. All Li Bai's poems were inscribed on the tablets in different styles of Chinese calligraphy. There stone tablets will be displayed in the 20 ?hectare Taibai Poem Tablet Garden. It is expected to become another attractive travel location in Jiangyou.

Li Bai's residential house were destroyed and rebuilt for many times over the past 1200 years. Fortunately, the existing building are still well ?preserved in Qinglian Town.

Li Bai's Memorial Hall is another good place to learn about his life. The hall was built for the 1200th anniversary of Li Bai's death in 1962. This is a unique building with Tang Dynasty ?style architecture.

Jiangyou also boasts many impressive landscapes. Doutuan Mountain, Buddha Cave and Bailong Cave are the most interesting destinations.

Doutuan Mountain has also been named Monkey Mountain because of the large number of monkeys livint there. Two peaks stand on the mountain top. It will take two hours to walk from one peak to the other.

Dou Zhiming, a governor of Jiangyou in Tang Dynasty, built an iron cable bridge to connect the two peaks. Dou admired Li's free spirit and romantic journey across China. Dou subsequently resigned his official position and hid himself in the mountain to live a quiet life. To mark Dou's work, the mountain was named Doutuan.

It is easy for local farmers to cross the swing bridge. However for someone living in the city, it needs confidence to walk through it.

In the forest are ancient wooden temple. Cliff carvings and Buddhist sculptures can be found in the temples.

Buddha Cave is said to be the largest limestone cave in Sichuan. Numerous stalactites and stone chimes stand in the cave with shapes of varied poses of Buddha. A kilometer ?long underground river provides a link to the outside of the cave and then going outside will give you a sharply contrasting experience.

Dragon Cave is another limestone cave 16 kilometer ?long underground river is a branch of the Panjiang River.

The breathtaking view, mountain range and waterfalls are just a small part of Jiangyou's sceneries.

Hanging cable line on Doutuan Mountain. If you have enough time, you can plan an half day tour in Jianmen Pass, just 30 kilometers northeast Jiangyou. Walking on the plank road build along the face of the cliff is another exciting time. The pass was the onlu road on land to connect Sichuan and its north neighbouring provinces in ancient China.