Detailed Guide to Zhangbi Ancient Castle in Jiexiu

Zhangbi Ancient Castle, also known as Zhangbi Village, is located in Zhangbi Village, Longfeng Town, Jiexiu City, Shanxi Province. It was built in the Sixteen Kingdoms period and has a construction area of 12,000 square meters. Zhangbi Ancient Castle was built following the traditional Chinese astrology and Feng Shui concepts, with the yin and yang five elements above ground and the six Ren Qimen below ground. The origin of the name of Zhangbi Ancient Castle also comes from the Zhang and Bi constellations of the twenty-eight constellations. The ancient castle has two castle gates, north and south. The north castle gate is made of brick, and a barbican is built outside the gate to enhance defense capabilities. Several religious ancestral temples were also built on the barbican. On May 25, 2006, Zhangbi Ancient Castle was announced by the State Council of the People's Republic of China as the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
Travel Guide:
1. The ticket for Zhangbi Ancient Castle is CNY 66. It is divided into two parts, above ground and underground. Just walk along the main street. The above-ground part is mainly temples, such as the lifelike Erlang Zhenjun Meishan Six Friends (the earliest prototype of the Seven Sages of Meishan originated from the "Erlang Baojuan" in the Yuan Dynasty, namely Erlang God Yang Jian; Meishan Taiwei: Kang Anyu, Zhang Boshi, Li Huanzhang, Yao Gonglin; Meishan General: Guo Shen, Zhi Jian. The Seven Sages of Meishan and the Seven Monsters of Meishan in "The Investiture of the Gods" are two different images), as well as the Kongwang Temple, etc.
2. The underground part is an ancient tunnel that extends in all directions and is divided into several layers. Because the air circulation is poor 20m underground, you will feel short of breath. Many intersections are blocked to prevent accidents. The exit is the residence of actor Du Jiang's family in an episode of the "Where Are We Going, Dad" program. The elderly should not go down to the tunnel.
3. The entrance of the ancient castle is the 28 Constellation Glazed Tile Temple, as well as the glazed tile mythical beast exhibition on the roof ridge. There are 10 ridge beasts on the roof ridge, namely: dragon, phoenix, lion, Pegasus, hippocampus, Suanni, Xia Yu, Xie Zhi, Dou Niu, and Hangshi, as well as immortals. The eldest is called "Riding Phoenix Immortal", and the ninth is called Hangshi, which is actually "Lei Zhenzi". The enlarged glazed ridge beast details and lifelike appearance allow us to see the real face of the ridge beast. It is very worth seeing.
4. There are also homestays, restaurants, children's amusement projects, open-air concerts, archery, cloth art, snacks, and handicraft sales in the ancient castle. The tour time is 3 hrs.

Post by Brooks Isabella87 | May 3, 2025