从重庆市丰都鬼城顺江东下，大约经过一百公里后，在长江北岸，重庆市忠县石宝镇的中心，有一坨南北走向、孤峰拔地、四壁如削的巨大石山，它的南面倚山建有巍峨雄伟、耸入云霄，共十二层楼的红色塔楼。这就是被誉为“江上明珠”的石宝寨。
from the east of fengdu ghost city along the river, about one hundred kilometers later, on the north bank of the yangtze river, in the center of shibao town, zhongxian county, chongqing, there is a huge stone mountain with north-south trend, isolated peak and ground, four walls like cutting. in the south of the mountain, there are towering and majestic red towers with a total of 12 floors. this is the stone treasure village known as the "pearl on the river".
石宝寨是怎样得名的呢？传说这坨石头是女娲娘娘炼石补天后遗留下来的一块五彩石，故当地人民叫它“石宝”。后来，明末农民起义将领谭宏据此为寨，因此，又叫“石宝寨”。又因它形似玉印，所以，又名“玉印山”。整个山寨由“巨石”、“红色塔楼”、“山顶庙宇”三部分组成。
how did shibaozhai get its name? it's said that this stone is a multicolored stone left by empress nuwa, who made up the stone, so the local people call it "stone treasure". later, at the end of ming dynasty, tan hong, the general of peasant uprising, was called the "stone treasure village". because it looks like jade seal, it is also called "jade seal mountain". the whole village is composed of three parts: "boulder", "red tower" and "peak temple".
下了船，过了一段青石板路，走过五百多米后，就到了前寨门，寨门的门楣上镶嵌着“石宝寨”三个镏金大字。寨门的两侧蹲坐着两樽守护着寨门的威武铜狮子，跨进寨门，一条三米宽的石板路通向塔楼。在路的右侧，有一个供往来游客休息的花园。整个花园围绕着一个圆形的水池修建。花草树木、亭台轩榭，烘托出了园中的幽静。
after getting off the boat and crossing a section of bluestone road, after walking more than 500 meters, i arrived at the front gate of the village. the lintel of the gate was inlaid with three gold-plated characters of "stone treasure village". on both sides of the gate are two powerful bronze lions, who guard the gate. they step into the gate, and a three meter wide stone road leads to the tower. on the right side of the road, there is a garden for tourists. the whole garden is built around a round pool. flowers, trees, pavilions and pavilions set off the quiet of the garden.
沿着石板路向前走，这座悬崖峭壁、四壁如削的石宝寨就耸立在面前。只见寨身岩壁上，镌刻着一些名人题词。如田纪云题写的“江上明珠”；钱伟长题写的“川东奇秀”等。再沿着石级往前走，就可见到一个石牌坊，在牌坊的牌楣上刻着“必自卑”三个大字，大概是取“登高必自卑”之意，说登上石宝寨，你一定会感到自己是渺小的。它告诫我们无论何时何地都要谦虚谨慎，不要自高自大。
walking along the flagstone road, this precipice and precipice, with its four walls like cutting, stands in front of it. there are some famous inscriptions engraved on the cliff of the village. for example, tian jiyun wrote "pearl on the river" and qian weichang wrote "wonderful show in east sichuan". walking along the stone steps, you can see a stone archway. on the lintel of the archway, there are three characters of "self abasement". it's probably to take the meaning of "self abasement is necessary to climb high". when you climb the stone stronghold, you will surely feel small. it tells us to be modest and prudent whenever and wherever we are, and not to be arrogant.
过了石牌坊，向南走二十余米，就来到塔楼门前。只见寨门上雕刻着一些动植物，取其“福”“禄”“寿”“喜”之意。门楣上竖直刻着“小蓬莱”三个字。传说，住在蓬莱仙岛的何仙姑路经此地，被这里的景色迷住，于是在此居住了多日。后人便称此地为小蓬莱。在“小蓬莱”下面，有碎瓷片嵌成的“梯云直上”四个大字。寨门外有一个向外凸起的吊角楼平台，这是为了供游览者摄影取景修建的。
after passing the stone archway, i walked more than 20 meters to the south and came to the front of the tower door. only some animals and plants are carved on the gate of the village, which means "happiness", "wealth", "longevity" and "happiness". "little penglai" is engraved vertically on the lintel. it is said that he xiangu, who lives in penglai fairy island, passed by here and was fascinated by the scenery here, so she lived here for many days. later generations called this place xiaopenglai. under "little penglai", there are four big characters of "ladder cloud straight up" inlaid with pieces of porcelain. outside the gate of the village, there is a raised platform for hanging turret, which is built for tourists to take photos.
进入寨门，就到了石宝寨的主体部分——红色塔楼，这是石宝寨最吸引中外游客的地方之一。塔楼依山而建，共十二层楼，越往上楼越小，通高56米。全楼采用具有地方特色的穿抖结构修建，没有使用一根铁钉。塔楼每层末端均向上翘起，还有各种栩栩如生的动植物雕塑，如龙、仙鹤等。塔楼临江的墙壁由凿了1-3个直径为1米的圆孔和许多小方孔窗户组成，这种设计，既有利于游客远眺长江，又有利于减轻塔身重量，保持楼内通风干燥。为防止塔楼木料被虫蛀，所有木料都采用马桑树，在使用前，将木料晾干，再用药水浸泡等干后才使用。塔楼修好后，再在所有木料上刷上一层红油漆。这些保护措施使塔楼木料在400年后的今天仍然完好无损。每一层楼由几根到十余根大圆柱支撑着，全塔共用了100余根这样的圆木。为了使塔身稳稳地靠在岩石上，每一根柱子都微微向岩石方向倾斜。越往上，倾斜度越大，使红色塔楼紧紧贴在岩石上，其目的是想把塔楼的重心落到岩石上。
entering the gate of the village, you will arrive at the main part of the shibao village, the red tower, which is one of the most attractive places for chinese and foreign tourists. the tower is built next to the mountain, with 12 floors in total. the smaller it is, the higher it is, and the higher it is, the smaller it is. the whole building is built with a through shaking structure with local characteristics, without using a nail. the end of each floor of the tower is up, and there are various lifelike animal and plant sculptures, such as dragon, crane, etc. the wall of the tower near the river is composed of 1-3 round holes with a diameter of 1 meter and many small square holes. this design is not only beneficial for tourists to overlook the yangtze river, but also beneficial to reduce the weight of the tower and keep the building ventilated and dry. in order to prevent the tower timber from being eaten by insects, all timber are made of horse mulberry. before use, the timber shall be dried in the air and then soaked in liquid medicine before use. after the tower has been repaired, a layer of red paint will be applied to all the timber. these protective measures make the tower timber still intact 400 years later. each floor is supported by several to more than ten big columns, and the whole tower shares more than 100 such logs. in order to make the tower stable against the rock, each column is slightly inclined towards the rock. the more upward, the greater the inclination, so that the red tower closely adhere to the rock, the purpose is to put the center of gravity of the tower on the rock.
从楼梯盘旋而上，在第二层楼，有巴曼子刎首留城的雕塑。传说春秋时，外族入侵巴国，巴国危在旦夕，巴王求救于楚国，楚国提出要求出兵后巴国割三个城池给楚。后在楚国军队的帮助下，巴国取得了胜利。楚索城，巴曼子刎首而留城。后来，当地人民感其忠义，于是改地名为“忠州”（现称忠县）。继续盘旋而上，每层楼都有塑像、画像、名人字画等。到了第七层楼，除了可从楼梯爬上去外，还可出西头的小木门，沿着一条石梯，攀着链子而上。据说这条路在还没有修塔楼前，是人们上下的必经之道。攀着铁链继续向上，就到了山崖南边的一个小平台，人称“望江台”。站在这里，数公里之外的长江尽收眼底。
spiral up the stairs, on the second floor, there are sculptures of bamanzi. it's said that in the spring and autumn period, when the foreigners invaded the state of ba, the state of ba was in danger. the king of ba asked for help from the state of chu. the state of chu asked that the state of ba cut three cities for chu after sending troops. later, with the help of the chu army, pakistan won the victory. chu suo city, bamanzi cut his head and stayed in the city. later, the local people felt their loyalty, so they changed the place name to "zhongzhou" (now called zhongxian). continue to hover, each floor has statues, portraits, celebrity calligraphy and painting. to the seventh floor, in addition to climbing up the stairs, you can also go out of the small wooden door at the west end and climb up the chain along a stone ladder. it is said that this road is the only way for people to go up and down before the tower is built. continue to climb the chain, to the south of the cliff a small platform, known as "wangjiang platform.". standing here, you can have a panoramic view of the yangtze river several kilometers away.
在望江台的北边，就是山顶庙宇部分。山顶庙宇从南到北依次由“天子殿”、“玉皇殿”、“王母殿”三大殿组成。三大殿分别有“四大天王”“玉皇大帝”“瑶池祝寿”、“八仙过海”等塑像，给石宝寨罩上了一层神秘的色彩。其实，这些塑像是后来加上的。早先的石宝寨是有和尚有庙宇的。1919年新文化运动传到了石宝，当地一个叫邓牌的乡绅，在“民主”“科学”思想的指导下，发动进步青年将寨上的数百樽菩萨毁坏并推下了石宝寨，从此石宝寨上就再没有菩萨了。在王母殿北面的一个小屋里，一个小和尚手拿錾子在打石洞。这就是流米洞。相传，石宝寨上的这个洞能流出大米来，每天流出的米仅供和尚们吃，后来一个贪心的和尚就拿着錾子想把洞打大些，多流出米来。岂料流米洞不但没有多流出米，反而从此不流米了。这个故事告诉我们：为人切勿贪心，要知足常乐。
to the north of wangjiangtai is the temple on the top of the mountain. from the south to the north, the temple on the top of the mountain consists of three main halls: "tianzi hall", "yuhuang hall" and "wangmu hall". there are statues in the three halls, such as "four heavenly kings", "jade emperor", "yao chi's birthday wish", "eight immortals crossing the sea", which cover the shibaozhai with a layer of mystery. in fact, these statues were added later. there were monks and temples in the early stone treasure village. in 1919, the new cultural movement spread to shibao. under the guidance of the thought of "democracy" and "science", a local squire named deng pai mobilized progressive youth to destroy hundreds of bodhisattvas in the village and push them down. since then, there has been no bodhisattvas in the village. in a small house in the north of the palace of the queen mother, a little monk was digging a stone hole with a chisel in his hand. this is liumi cave. according to legend, rice can flow out of this hole in the stone treasure village. the rice that flows out every day is only for monks to eat. later, a greedy monk took a chisel to make the hole bigger and more rice can flow out. unexpectedly, the rice flowing hole did not flow out more rice, but it did not flow rice from now on. this story tells us: don't be greedy, be content.
继续向北走，就到了山顶后院，院内有一门铜炮，据载称：这是石宝人民在同治年间，用来抗击外来侵略者的武器。
continuing north, we reached the backyard at the top of the mountain. there was a copper gun in the backyard. it was said that it was a weapon used by the shibao people to fight against foreign invaders during the tongzhi period.
站在庭院向东望去，一座现代化的城市拔地而起，那就是石宝移民新城。今年三峡二期水位淹没到此后，石宝城将全迁到新城。那时，石宝寨的四周将是一片汪洋，石宝就成了一艘名副其实的江中巨轮了。
standing in the courtyard and looking to the east, a modern city rises from the ground, which is the new town of shibao immigrants. after the water level of the second phase of this year's three gorges project is submerged, shibaocheng will move to the new city. at that time, there will be a vast ocean around the stone treasure stronghold, and stone treasure will become a veritable ship in the river.
沿着庭院左边的石级辗转而下，经过“二墩岩”，又回到了前寨门，这时，你回头再看一眼那夕阳辉映下的石宝寨，你会情不自禁地赞叹：“石宝寨真不愧是长江上的一颗璀璨的明珠啊！”
go down the stone steps on the left side of the courtyard, pass the "erdun rock" and return to the front gate of the village. at this time, you can't help but look back at the stone treasure village with the setting sun. you can't help but admire: "the stone treasure village is really a bright pearl on the yangtze river!"