During the China Tourism Day on May 19 this year, all the scenic spots in Tongchuan city, the main tourist destination in Shaanxi Province, will be free to visitors on May 19 and 20, cnwest.com reported on Wednesday.

Major scenic spots in Tongchuan worthy of a visit include Yuhua Palace, Zhaojin-Fragrant Hill Scenic Area, Yaowang Hill, Yaozhou Kiln Museum and the ancient town of Chenlu.

Yuhua Palace

Located in the northwest suburbs of Tongchuan city, Yuhua Palace was the famous summer palace during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The famous monk Xuanzang once translated a part of the Buddhist sutras and gave lectures there. The palace has many historical relics such as Buddhist niches and stone sculptures, which all have high values for historical researches.

Yuhua Palace is also famous for its beautiful scenery. Rising 2401.7 meters above sea-level, the forest covers 90.4 percent of the area. The average temperature in the scenic area is 10 to 12 degrees centigrade cooler than in Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi Province. It is a nice health resort for sightseeing and enjoying the summering. A large-scale skiing field has been constructed in this scenic area and visitors can ski there every winter.

Admission fee: 41 yuan ($6.49)

Transportation: Take the tourism bus at Beiguan Bus Station to Yuhua Palace.

Opening hours: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Zhaojin-Fragrant Hill Scenic Area

Zhaojin-Fragrant Hill Scenic Area is located in Zhaojin town, 50 kilometers northwest to Yaozhou district in Tongchuan city. It is a famous tourist spot combining the red tourism, Buddhist culture tourism and forest ecotourism.

Zhaojin town is an important part of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Revolutionary Base Area in Northwest China. The major scenic sights include Zhaojin Revolutionary Memorial, Xuejiazhai Revolutionary Sites, the camp site of the Red Army and the Big Fragrant Temple.

Transportation (by car): start from Xi'an – Xi Tong (Xi'an - Tongchuan) Express Way – New District in Tongchuan city – West Loop of Tongchuan tourism line – Liulin town – Liuzhao Road – Zhaojin town

Yaowang Hill

Located 1.5 kilometers to the east of Yao county in Tongchuan city, Yaowang Hill was named after Sun Simiao (581-682), the great physician from the in Tang Dynasty (618-907). "Yaowang" means the "king of medicine." Yaowang Hill was the place where he lived secluded from the world and studied medicine for many years.

The later generations built temples and authorized statues on the hill to commemorate Sun Simiao, which has made Yaowang Hill a sacred place for all people in the medical field China.

Admission fee: 40 yuan ($6.33)

Transportation: Take No.18 bus at Tongzhou district bus station in Tongchuan city and arrive at Yaowang Hill.

Yaozhou Kiln Museum

Located to the south of Huangpu town in Wangyi district in Tongchuan city, Yaozhou Kiln Museum is the largest ancient porcelain kiln site museum in China. Covering an area of 60,000 square meters, it stores over 500,000 pieces of porcelain relices. By imitating the ancient porcelain making technique, it shows visually to the visitors how the porcelain wares of Tang, Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties were made. Visitors can also make porcelain piecesworks by themselves in the museum.

Admission: free

Transportation: Take the No. 6 bus from Tongchuan to Yaoxian county and get off at Huangpu town.

Chenlu ancient town

Chenlu ancient town is located on a hill top, 15 kilometers to the southeast of Tongchuan city. It is the only Yaozhou porcelain site that still burns fire today. In Chinese, "Chen" means "display" and "Lu" means "kiln", so together Chenlu means a town for displaying kilns. Some ancient kiln sites in the town are preserved very well and the town residents there mostly are engaged in the porcelain business.

Transportation (by car): start from Xi'an - Xi Tong (Xi'an - Tongchuan) Express Way – Chuankou Crossing – Chenlu Tourist Line – Chenlu ancient town