Jiāngjīn

The Jiangjin country lay along a busy stretch of the Yangtze west of Chongqing. Within the county, Baisha developed as a river port and relay station. Already recorded as a town in the Northern Song, it acquired a water relay establishment under the Ming and became an important stopping place on the routes linking Sichuan with Guizhou and Yunnan.

The river and the overland roads met here. Boats brought travellers and goods along the Yangtze, while the relay routes connected the landing places with the southern interior. During the Ming and Qing periods Baisha served as a transport junction for eastern and southern Sichuan. Its growth illustrates one concrete foundation of Jiangjin's regional importance: river access alone was only part of the connection, completed by landing places, relay facilities and the roads beyond the bank.