Shangluo gave the reformer Shang Yang his name and gave four famous hermits somewhere to hide. Today these Qinling mountains hold two million residents, receive 55 million tourist visits a year and, since 2026, have two high-speed railways.
商洛给了改革家商鞅他的名字，也给了四位著名的隐士一个藏身之处。如今，秦岭的这片山里住着两百万人，每年接待五千五百万人次游客，从二〇二六年起还通了两条高铁。
That is the equivalent of about 27 tourist visits for every resident.
算下来，相当于每个居民摊到大约二十七次游客到访。
The city lies in the Qinling range, a little over 100 kilometres from Xi’an. Forest covers 70.1 percent of it, and the city promotes itself on a summer average of about 22 degrees.
这座城在秦岭里，离西安一百多公里。森林覆盖率百分之七十点一，夏季平均气温约二十二度，是它对外宣传的招牌。
The Lawmaker and the Hermits
立法者与隐士
Shang Yang was born Gongsun Yang, a nobleman from the small state of Wey. Chinese Social Sciences Net reports that Duke Xiao of Qin rewarded him for defeating the army of Wei with fifteen towns in Shang-Yu, on Qin’s frontier with Chu, and that the grant is how he came to be called Shang Yang.
商鞅本名公孙鞅，是卫国的公子。中国社会科学网刊文称，他因击败魏军有功，秦孝公把秦楚边境上的商於十五邑封给了他，“商鞅”之名由此而来。
The reward did not protect him. Sima Qian’s Shiji records that after the duke died in 338 BCE, the man who had written Qin’s laws was killed and his body torn apart by chariots.
封赏没能保住他的命。司马迁的《史记》记载，公元前三三八年秦孝公死后，这位为秦国立法的人被杀，尸身遭车裂。
A century or so later, four old scholars took the opposite view of public service. Pan Cunjuan of the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences writes that the Four Hermits of Mount Shang, all former Qin court scholars, over eighty and white-haired, hid in these mountains and refused to serve the first Han emperor, Liu Bang.
一百多年后，四位老学者对出仕的看法截然相反。陕西省社会科学院的潘存娟撰文称，商山四皓都曾是秦朝的博士，年过八十，须发皆白，躲进这片山里，不肯为汉朝开国皇帝刘邦效力。
They came out once, by her account. Empress Lü, on Zhang Liang’s advice, invited them to stand beside the crown prince, and when Liu Bang saw them there he dropped his plan to replace his heir. Then they declined their rewards and went home.
按她的讲述，他们只出过一次山。吕后听了张良的主意，请他们站到太子身边；刘邦见了，便打消了更换太子的念头。事后他们谢绝封赏，回了山里。
Through the Mountains at 350
以三百五十公里时速穿山
These mountains were always a road as well as a refuge; the old Wuguan Road ran through them, linking Guanzhong with the Qin–Chu frontier, as Chinese Social Sciences Net describes. A new route through the mountains opened on 30 June 2026, when Xinhua reported the start of the Xi’an–Shiyan high-speed railway, built for 350 kilometres an hour. CCTV News put the fastest run from Xi’an East to Shangluo West at 24 minutes.
这片山向来既是藏身之地，也是通道；据中国社会科学网介绍，古时的武关道就从这里穿过，连接关中与秦楚边境。一条新的穿山通道于二〇二六年六月三十日开通，新华社当天报道了设计时速三百五十公里的西十高铁投入运营。央视新闻报道，西安东到商洛西最快只要二十四分钟。
The line has three Shangluo stops, Shangluo West, Shanyang and Manchuanguan. Science and Technology Daily reported that Shangluo West is clad in aluminium panels of a red chosen to match the Qinling’s Danxia rock. One tunnel on the line, Tianzhushan No. 1, runs 14.74 kilometres and lies up to 690 metres underground.
这条线在商洛设有商洛西、山阳和漫川关三站。《科技日报》报道，商洛西站的外立面用了红色铝板，颜色特意选得与秦岭的丹霞地貌相配。线上的天竺山一号隧道长十四点七四公里，最大埋深六百九十米。
Three months later came a second line. The Xi’an–Ankang high-speed railway opened on 28 September 2026, with Shangluo stations at Niubeiliang, Zhashui West and Zhen’an West; bridges and tunnels make up 94.6 percent of its 171 kilometres, Xinhua reported. For flights, travellers can reach Xi’an Xianyang International Airport by transferring from the high-speed railway to local transport.
三个月后，第二条线也来了。新华社报道，西康高铁于二〇二六年九月二十八日开通，在商洛设牛背梁、柞水西和镇安西三站；全线一百七十一公里，桥梁和隧道占百分之九十四点六。乘飞机则可前往西安咸阳国际机场，但从高铁站还需换乘其他交通工具。
Small Economy, Clean Air
经济不大，空气很好
Shangluo’s economy is relatively small. Its 2025 statistical bulletin puts GDP at ¥82.39 billion, up 5.8 percent, or ¥41,025 per person, and the year-end population at 2.0051 million, 6,500 fewer than a year earlier.
商洛的经济体量不大。二〇二五年统计公报显示，全市生产总值八百二十三亿九千二百万元，增长百分之五点八，人均四万一千零二十五元；年末常住人口二百万五千一百人，比上年减少六千五百人。
What it has is air. The same bulletin counts 349 days of good air quality, second in Shaanxi, and 55.08 million domestic tourist visits, up 10.1 percent.
它有的是好空气。同一份公报统计，全年空气质量优良天数三百四十九天，居全省第二；接待国内游客五千五百零八万人次，增长百分之十点一。
It also has wood ear. People’s Daily Overseas Edition reported that Jinmi Village in Zhashui County, once poor, grew its way out of poverty on the fungus, which now goes into drinks, noodles, snacks and tea. Zhashui West station on the new line serves the county.
它还有木耳。《人民日报海外版》报道，柞水县的金米村曾是贫困村，靠种木耳脱了贫，如今木耳被做成饮料、面条、零食和茶。新线上的柞水西站，服务的正是这个县。
Danfeng County’s Dihua town is the home of the novelist Jia Pingwa, a 36Kr feature on the city notes. The same feature reports that Shangluo wraps its zongzi in oak leaves, and that a local pork dish, shangzhi rou, takes its name, according to legend, from the wild ferns eaten by the Four Hermits. More than two thousand years later, the hermits are still on the menu.
36氪一篇写商洛的文章提到，丹凤县棣花镇是作家贾平凹的故乡。文章还说，商洛人用槲叶包粽子；当地有道菜叫商芝肉，传说得名于四皓吃过的野蕨。两千多年过去，四皓还在菜单上。