Special Supplement: Transportation today would stun Tang poet

Sichuan province without question impresses with its spicy food and beautiful girls. But its topography is equally remarkable.

A poem by Li Bai, a noted writer in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), is a masterpiece describing the region's treacherous roads and geography.

Ancient Sichuan Road was a 450-km route from Chengdu, its capital in the hinterlands, to Guangyuan Qipan Pass in the north. A journey on the road was paved with adventures and risks. Li Bai wrote that it is even harder to climb than into the sky.