Laosicheng Ruins

The tusi system was an arrangement by which Chinese dynasties appointed hereditary local chieftains to govern frontier peoples in their own way while acknowledging imperial authority, and Laosicheng was the seat of the Peng family, who ruled this Tujia territory for around eight hundred years from the Tang until the system was abolished in 1728. UNESCO inscribed it in 2015 with two other tusi sites. What survives is a city plan in stone: paved streets, drainage, the palace platform, a temple, a cemetery of chieftain tombs with carved stelae, and city walls, spread over a hillside above a river with almost nothing rebuilt.

What you actually see

• The stone streets - the paved and drained city layout on the hillside.
• The chieftain tombs - the Peng family cemetery with carved stelae.
• The palace platform - the foundations of the ruling family's compound.
• The river setting - the site above the Lingxi in a quiet valley.

When to go

April to June and September to November; summers in western Hunan are hot and humid. The site is quiet and rarely crowded, being remote and less known than the nearby scenic mountains.

Honest expectations

The site is ruins and foundations rather than standing buildings, and needs interpretation to make sense. Access without a car is awkward. English signage is minimal. Facilities are limited.

Nearby

Furong town lies south; Zhangjiajie is north.