Luodai Ancient Town is located in Longquanyi District of Chengdu, and is honored the world's largest town of Hakka. There are more than 20,000 Hakka people settled in this town, making up nearly 90% of the local population. People call it “The world’s Luodai, the eternal Hakka.” Being 18 kilometers and 10 kilometers away from Chengdu and Longquan Town respectively, Luodai Ancient Town is a National 4A scenic spot of Sichuan Province, and is famous for the Four Guild Halls – Guangdong Hall, Jiangxi Hall, Huguang Hall and Chuanbei Hall – the Hakka Museum and the Hakka Park.
Luodai is a historical town. It is said the town was built in Three Kingdom Period. However, it was not called “Luodai” at first. One day, the prince of the Shu Kingdom, Liu Edou came here and dropped his jade belt in an old well in this town while trying to catch a carp. “Luodai” means dropping a belt in Chinese. Therefore, this town was called “Luodai” afterwards.
The Hakka culture is well-preserved in Luodai Ancient Town. The old street area is 1,200 meters long and 8 meters wide. Walking down the street, there are two main streets, upper street and lower street, together with seven lanes: North Lane, Fengyi Lane, Huanshu Lane, Jiangxi Hall Lane, Chaishi Lane, Macao Yan Lane and Kangshi Lane. The buildings in Luodai Ancient Town are full of elements of the traditional Chinese architectural style, especially the curved roof. This type of roof towers into the sky forming a curved slope stretching out of the upwardly sweeping eaves. The brackets under the eaves, named Dou Gong, play an important role in supporting the roof.
The most famous local delicacy is called “Sad Bean Jelly.” It is a kind of bean jelly seasoned with a super spicy pepper. The origin of its name has two theories. One is that people would tear after eating this super spicy bean jelly, and it looks like they are crying because of sadness, therefore “Sad Bean Jelly.” The other explanation involves a longer story. It is said that in old times, Hakkas from Guangdong who lived here made “Sad Bean Jelly” because of their homesickness, and thus people called it this name.