The hills north of Chengdu, in Pengzhou, are green, steep and far enough from the plain to feel like a different province. In the late nineteenth century French Catholic missionaries working in Sichuan chose a site above the village of Bailu for a seminary, and between the 1890s and the 1900s they built a large complex in stone and brick - a church, teaching buildings, dormitories and courtyards - on a ridge looking down a wooded valley. It became known as the Shangshuyuan, the upper academy, and trained priests for the Sichuan missions.
What happened to it
The seminary was closed in the middle of the twentieth century and the buildings fell out of use. In May 2008 the Wenchuan earthquake brought the main structure down; the site had been badly damaged and the collapse was total. The remains were conserved, and the complex was subsequently rebuilt to its original form on the same footprint, using the surviving walls and photographs to reconstruct the rest. What stands there now is therefore a faithful reconstruction over original ruins rather than a surviving historic building, and the site says so openly, which makes it more interesting than a straightforward restoration.
The town below
Bailu itself has been rebuilt since the earthquake with a deliberately European look - cobbled streets, pastel facades, a church square and a small river running through - because of the French connection, and it is a popular weekend destination for Chengdu families driving out of the city for the cool air and the scenery. There is a second, more dramatic earthquake site in the town: a school building that was lifted bodily by the fault movement and left tilted but standing, preserved as a memorial. Between the seminary above and the town below, the visit is as much about recent history as about architecture.
Practical notes
Bailu is roughly two hours from Chengdu by road in the hills of Pengzhou, and is best done with a car, either as a day trip or as part of a longer route into the mountains. The seminary charges a modest admission and is open daily in daylight hours; the site is on a hillside with steps and uneven ground. Summer is the season here, when the valley is cool and green, and autumn colour is good in late October. Weekends are busy with domestic visitors, and the roads up can be slow; go on a weekday if you can.
