Wenchuan is becoming a more tourist-orientated town. There are plenty of restaurants and shops, a couple of vegetable markets, and a pleasant small-town atmosphere. Since the 2008 earthquake a square has been built by the river where tourists can join locals doing Qiang and Tibetan dancing most evenings, and it is a comfortable town just to wander around. It is a good center to stay in and then go out to the neighbouring villages and valleys. If you stay in Taoping, they sometimes have traditional Qiang dancing and singing in the evenings, with a bonfire, and â if visitors order it â a goat-roast. This is more frequent at week-ends and on national or Qiang holidays.
The mountains are steep around Wenchuan, with narrow valleys and rushing streams. These valleys are not always easily visible from the main road but some of them are well worth exploring. Because Taoping gets much of the tourist traffic, many other villages are definitely still off the beaten track. Longxi é¾æºª valley is about 20 minutes by minivan or taxi from Wenchuan and is a right turn across a narrow bridge a few kilometers before Taoping. It is an attractive valley and if you make the 3 hour trek along the Longxi road to the village of Aâer, the landscape changes from steep mountain to open walking country and virgin forest. One or two small groups of intrepid explorers have camped here.
Behind the New International Travel hotel there is a road leading up the mountainside to a now closed memorial to Yu the Great. Despite the memorial being closed, this is a pleasant walk up the hillside and from the top less than an hour's walk there is a good view down over the town and of the surrounding mountains.
