Suopo Village is a cluster of villages 7km southeast to the town of Danba and 330km west to Chengdu. River after Danba is called Dadu River. Both sides of the river are Suopo Village but the main attractions of the watchtowers are on the northeast side of the river. Suopo is acctally one of the beautiful villages in Danba but due to its relics of dozens of watchtowers, making it unique among the villages in Danba. There are 84 documnented watchtowers in Suopo alone. The name "Home of 1000 watchtowers" refers to Suopo of Danba.
Suopo means Mogonlians, according to local people, it refers to the history of time when there were lots of mongolians coming down and made this place their farm for animals. The watchtowers are exceptional and was considered to have historical significance that it survived wars and earthquakes.
Wachtowers dates back to its earliest age at Han Dynasty, that was about 1800 years ago but most watchtowers were built in Ming and Qing Dynasty which was around 300 to 600 years ago. These towers were built by stones and rock, with some woods in different forms and different sizes and heights.
Initially the watchtowers were built for its most practical use, to defend its people from other groups of people. Gradually throughout time there are also some watchtowers built later without much practival use but rather a cultural or religious driven practice.
How to get to Suopo Watchtower
There are buses to Danba from Chengdu everyday that takes around 7-8 hours and costs around 120 yuan. From Kangding to Danba there are many schedules of buses that costs around 55 yuan. From Danba town to Suopo you can either hire a local taxi or use a local bus to get to theh base of Suopo.
Ticket info:20 yuan per person
Recommended length of visit:2-3 hours
Opening Hour:all day
Route: Danba
Route: Chengdu - Danba - Tagong - Kangding - Chengdu
Route: Chengdu - Siguniangshan - Danba - Tagong - Kangding - Hailuogou - Chengdu
