Miángǔ

Miangu stands on the Jialing River at the northern gateway to Sichuan. Above the river, the Thousand Buddha Cliff is covered with niches and carved images made over many centuries, especially under the Tang. North of the town the road passes through Mingyue Gorge, where a wooden walkway was once fitted into holes cut in the cliff above the water. Travellers bound for or from the Sichuan Basin faced a narrow passage between mountain and river.