In the quiet western corner of Mengyang Park, in Yunnan's Weishan County, stands a building with brick-red walls. This is the Nanzhao Chess Academy, a structure built in 1938 during the Republic of China era. Originally named the Qinqi She, or Guqin and Chess Club, the institution assumed its current name in 2003. It remains a dedicated sanctuary for mind sports, preserving a long tradition of intellectual competition.

Visitors approach the academy through a weathered wooden gate, passing beneath the shade of a large bougainvillea tree and a nearby six-hundred-year-old ginkgo tree. Outside the entrance, local citizens regularly set up chess boards on stone tables, their hands moving wooden pieces across the grids. Inside, the space serves as a quiet tea house during the off-season. The scent of warm tea leaves fills the courtyard, mingling with the sharp clack of Xiangqi pieces. Over the decades, these rooms have trained generations of regional chess masters. The academy also hosts major events, including the Yunnan Provincial Chess Championship and the annual Spring Festival Xiangqi Arena Challenge.

The academy exists within a wider sensory landscape. Next door, members of the local Flower and Bird Association hang wooden cages in the branches, adding a chorus of birdsong to the quiet concentration of the players. The physical preservation of this space has drawn international attention. Xue Zhong, the Secretary-General of the European Xiangqi Federation, observed that this was the most ancient and rustic chess academy he had ever visited. Today, the building connects the deep history of the Nanzhao kingdom with the slow, daily rhythms of modern Weishan.