My Hometown – The Castle of Chuanlu in Changchun, Xiapu
The city wall of Chuanlu Castle is located in Chuanlu Village, Changchun Town, Xiapu County. Built in the 36th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty (1557), it is square in plan, with a perimeter of 640 meters and a height of 5 meters, constructed with small stone blocks. Three city gates remain: the west, south, and north gates. The west and north gates are of cantilever type, fitted with stone door frames; the south gate is elliptical, round outside and square inside, with a depth of 3.5 meters and an internal height of 3.2 meters, and was renovated in 1988. When the city was built, 261 trees were planted around the city, standing atop the walls, which is a unique feature of the city. In 1996, the Fujian Provincial Government designated it as the fourth batch of provincial-level cultural relics protection units.
Chuanlu Village is located in the middle of the Dongchong Peninsula, bordering Provincial Road Shalü Line to the east and Dongwu Bay to the west. The village has 425 households with 1,729 people, and has 9,400 mu of tidal flats, 7 shrimp ponds covering 400 mu, 861 mu of farmland, and over 30 fishing vessels.
A concrete road 3 meters wide and 300 meters long has been laid in the central street within the city, and outside the city a ring road 6 meters wide and 600 meters long has been widened and newly constructed, connecting the inside and outside of the castle into an integrated network. This was built with an investment of 60,000 yuan by the village at the end of last year. On the northwest side outside the city, a rather imposing primary school covering an area of over 3,400 square meters was built, which the village raised 470,000 yuan from multiple sources to construct last autumn. Last June, the village also mobilized villagers to contribute labor and invested 74,000 yuan to build a new wharf, and to renovate and reinforce the shrimp pond seawall, facilitating villagers' marine aquaculture, fishing, and transportation. Subsequently, 35,000 yuan was invested to build two public toilets, complete the renovation of the agricultural power grid, and repair the village committee office building. Now, with increased income, many villagers have moved out from the city to develop outside, building over 50 new houses.
The village has incorporated the ancient castle into its tourism scope for protection and development, and is connecting it with the neighboring Gaoluo coastal resort to develop the tourism economy.
