Over 12,000 ancient cypress trees planted along Cuiyunlang, a section of the historic road system in southwest China's Sichuan Province, have been well preserved following ecological protection efforts passed down by local people for thousands of years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visited the Cuiyunlang section in Guangyuan City on Tuesday during his Sichuan inspection tour to learn about local progress in promoting historical and cultural inheritance and advancing eco-environmental conservation.

The 150-plus-kilometer Cuiyunlang, with Jianzhou ancient town as the center, is part of Sichuan's ancient road accessibility system known as Shu Dao.

With the best-preserved and largest number of cypresses artificially planted in the ancient time along it, Cuiyunlang has been hailed as "the treasure of the country" and "the wonder of the world."
The cypresses lining along Cuiyunlang are believed to have been first planted during the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-220 AD), and more than 12,000 trees are still alive today.

According to historical records, there has been a tradition of planting and protecting cypresses along the Shu Dao since ancient times. The laws of Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties all involved stiff penalties for destroying trees.
In recent years, local authorities have actively carried out the protection and utilization of the Shu Dao, and have filed the application to put it on the World Heritage List.