In the past few years, Enshi in Hubei has become famous. Many of my relatives and friends have been there, especially the Enshi Grand Canyon. I certainly want to go. However, the weather there is very bad. The annual precipitation exceeds 1600 millimeters, and there are mostly rainy days throughout the year. Because it is a mountainous area, the terrain is very different, and the weather is changeable. Therefore, almost all the people who have been there have encountered rainy days. discount. I have planned to visit Enshi for several years. I originally planned to go in May this year when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming. But after checking the weather forecast, it rains every day there, so I called the customer service of the Grand Canyon Visitor Center and said that it will rain in late June. Less, just right, my two granddaughters are already on vacation at this time, I booked a direct flight with Spring Airlines to Enshi on June 22, and the family of five, except my son-in-law, traveled. Although I have already been to Shennongjia and Wudang Mountains, I have encountered bad weather, and my wife, daughter and children have never been there. Therefore, this travel route is: Enshi-Yichang-Shennongjia-Wudang Mountains, which can be described as the essence of Hubei. journey of.
Arrive in Enshi on the evening of the 22nd, stay at the Xuanyu International Hotel by the Qingjiang River, four-star, 531 yuan for a parent-child room with river view, 483 yuan for a twin bed room with river view (the prices mentioned in the article all include breakfast). The Qingjiang River in the city is actually just a very narrow river with turbid water. After a few days, the water level dropped and small sandbars were exposed, which was not aesthetically pleasing. However, because the hotel is far away from the houses and mountains on the other side of the river, it feels relatively comfortable. of. As a tourist hotspot that has risen in recent years, Enshi has only two brand hotels, one is the Ramada just opened next to the train station, which has train noise; the other is Mövenpick, a subsidiary of Accor, with small rooms and too close to surrounding houses , so the range of choices is extremely small, but there are still quite a few newly built four-star hotels.
When we arrived in Enshi, we checked the weather forecast, and it didn't rain for five consecutive days. It was a cloudy day on the 23rd. We decided to go to the most important scenic spot, the Enshi Grand Canyon. The front desk of the hotel introduced a domestic SUV. The chartered car costs 500 yuan for a round trip, 72 kilometers one way, and takes 2 hours. The driver said that it rained continuously for the past few days. Fortunately, these days are all sunny.
The Enshi Grand Canyon was discovered by the Sino-French joint expedition in August 2004. It is located at the mysterious 30 degrees north latitude. The Enshi Grand Canyon we went to should be called the Enshi Mufu Grand Canyon, which is the essence of the 108-kilometer Enshi Grand Canyon. part. The mountains are southwest-northeast, mostly karst landforms, and the Qingjiang River is generally in the same direction as the mountains. The only scenic spots that are open now are the first phase of Yunlong Ground Fissure and Qixing Village. The full price ticket is 270 yuan, including scenic spot tickets and cableway uplink tickets. Seniors over 60 years old and students are half-ticket, and seniors over 70 years old are free. In 2013, CNN of the United States rated "Yizhuxiang" as one of the 40 most beautiful scenic spots in China; in 2014, "National Geographic" magazine officially launched the Enshi Grand Canyon scenery film.
Our tour begins with the Yunlong Fissure, which is U-shaped, with a total length of 3,600 meters and an average cutting depth of 75 meters. It has a strange and unique karst landscape, and it is only open to 1,600 meters. The rock wall in the ground fissure is steep and the rocks are criss-cross. Because of the rain in the past few days, the waterfall splashes and the flowing water connects the underground river and the Qingjiang River, I think the Yunlong ground fissure is not inferior to the famous Guizhou Ma Ridge River Canyon. Like the "reputation" of Maling River, the Yunlong seam is also called "a beautiful scar on the earth". The "scar" is so beautiful that it is called "folds".
It took an hour to swim Bi Yunlong's seam, and then took the cableway to Qixingzhai on the front mountain. Because it takes four hours to visit Qixing Village on foot, my wife and I hired two sliders. The sliders are managed by a private company with clearly marked prices. There are sections and the whole journey, and the whole journey costs 900 yuan. If there are scenic spots on the way, slide down the lever to take pictures and take pictures. The children's backpacks are held by us to reduce their burden.
The so-called Qixingzhai Scenic Area is actually mountain climbing. From the bottom of the mountain, the mountain is like a cliff, stretching like a long dragon, with many peaks and forests. After going up the mountain, you can see the mountain instead of the canyon. It can be said that "you don't know the true face of the canyon, but you are only in this mountain." With God's help, when we arrived at Yixiang, the sky was clear and the sun was shining on the incense stick. The height of a stick of incense is about 150 meters, and the minimum diameter is only 4 meters. Ancient monks used "one stick of incense" to time their meditation, and it took half an hour to burn it out. However, this incense will not fall down for thousands of years. What year and month. There is a giant python coming out of Sanqing Mountain in Jiangxi Province. It is 128 meters high and 7 meters at the thinnest point, but the image of the giant python coming out of the mountain is more realistic. Down the back mountain, take the escalator, the ticket price is 30 yuan, the escalator is divided into nine sections, with a total of 688 meters, known as the longest landscape elevator in the world. Regrettably, the cliff promenade, which is considered the best scenic spot in Enshi Grand Canyon, was closed due to maintenance, so it was not possible to go there. Slider is hard work, it can be regarded as poverty alleviation.
According to the "National Geographic" magazine, many experts believe that the Enshi Grand Canyon is the old course of the Yangtze River, and the formation and depth of the canyon are related to the sawing and cutting of the Yangtze River. The Enshi Grand Canyon has a total length of 108 kilometers, an average cutting depth of 1,500 meters, and an absolute height difference of over 2,000 meters. Such a canyon is difficult to form with the amount of water in the Qingjiang River. After the formation of the Three Gorges, the current Grand Canyon was formed after countless collapses of mountains and rivers.
Chinese people always like to compare a certain place in China to a foreign place, such as Eastern Paris-Shanghai, Eastern Venice-Suzhou; like Yuntai Mountain in Henan, Enshi Grand Canyon is also known as the Eastern Colorado Grand Canyon. In fact, the culture of the former is completely different from the geology and landforms of the latter. Why do we have to make an analogy? I haven't seen foreigners comparing a certain place in their own country to a certain place in China, which shows that the Chinese people are not confident. In terms of natural beauty, no country in the world can compare with China.
hotel on the hill
Overlooking the Qingjiang River
landscape escalator
Back to the city, have dinner at the "aunt and son headed home" recommended by the driver in the food street in the city. Hubei people are also very spicy, blending the hemp of Sichuan and the spicyness of Xiaoxiang. Except for Tujia cuisine, there are no other cuisines. Almost all the restaurants we eat are spicy dishes.
Hotel dishes
Dishes from "Aunt and Son Headed Home" in the Food Street
On the 24th, when it was fine, we hired a Buick commercial vehicle to go to Hefeng to avoid the gorge. The fare was 1,900 yuan, including the cost of the boat ride in the gorge.
Dodging Gorge is the downstream section of Pingshan Gorge, 177 kilometers away from Enshi City. It was chaotic to pick up the guests from each house. This section of the route takes about four hours by car, three hours by Buick car, forty minutes in the town to change the villagers’ noodles, climbs the extremely difficult slope, goes up and down the outdoor camp to the canyon for about one hour each, and takes a kayak to enter the canyon. After a few minutes, I returned due to the turbulent water flow, and waited for half an hour to take a photo of the so-called "Semporna". It's not worth it, but it seems to be worth it. Anyone who sees the classic wooden boat photo in the Dodging Gorge will have the urge to go. (People died in the flood last summer, and it is now closed, so don’t go! You can go to Pingshan Canyon, the scenery is similar, but there are many people in one boat.)
hard road
It was cloudy on the 25th, and I went to the Qingjiang River. In the afternoon, I took a Buick commercial vehicle to the Hunshui River Wharf. The one-way trip was about 40 kilometers. I took the cruise ship that departed at 2 o’clock and made a U-turn at Butterfly Gorge. The round trip took about five hours. The chartered car fare included 1100 tickets Yuan. The Qingjiang River is a tributary of the Yangtze River. It was called Yishui in ancient times. Jiangxi leaves Qiyue Mountain in Lichuan on the border of Chongqing and Hubei, passes through Enshi, Xuanen, Jianshi, Badong, Changyang, and Yuyidu, and enters the Yangtze River in the east. There is a mysterious river at 30 degrees north latitude, which is Qingjiang. Regarding Qingjiang, I would like to quote a few passages from National Geographic magazine: "Qingjiang is a river full of mystery. Since its origin, it has been fascinated by people with its flickering, sometimes above ground and sometimes underground gestures. According to incomplete statistics, there are 87 underground rivers in the Qingjiang River Basin, 58 of which are longer than 2 kilometers. The Tenglong Cave in Lichuan, where the Qingjiang River fell from the above-ground river to the underground karst cave, has a drop of more than 20 meters. , the sound of the water is like thunder, forming the waterfall of "Crouching Dragon Swallowing the River", which is magnificent. On both sides of the Qingjiang River, there are majestic canyons with thousands of cliffs and cliffs. In addition, in the entire Qingjiang River Basin, stone forests, peaks It is densely covered with mountains and hills, karst landforms and Danxia landforms coexist, strange peaks and caves, strange gorges and waterfalls abound. The legend about the Ba people and the intersection of the Qingjiang River and the Yangtze River in ancient times add to this river. It’s kind of mysterious.” We took a boat tour from Enshi Dong Hunshui River to Butterfly Gorge in Jianshi County. It is the magnificent scenery of the canyon, which is the essence of Qingjiang River. Duan, the picturesque screens on both sides of the canyon, magnificent stone peaks, flying waterfalls and flowing springs, the reputation of the so-called "eight hundred miles of Qingjiang River, eight hundred miles of galleries" is true. I think that the beauty of Qingjiang Canyon is better than the current Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.
Butterfly Rock
On a sunny day on the 26th, Bao Buick commercial vehicle went to Shiziguan and Wujiatai tea garden in Xuan'en County, and the hotel was 59 kilometers away from Shiziguan. It is 27 kilometers from Shiziguan to Wujiatai, and 57 kilometers from Wujiatai to the hotel. The chartered fare includes 1,000 yuan for the ticket to Shiziguan.
Shiziguan is one of the three ancient passes in Xuan'en County. In 2002, the Shiziguan Hydropower Station was built to store water and become a reservoir, becoming a waterscape world. We only went to the Shiziguan water pontoon bridge and Shiziguan Canyon, the Internet celebrity check-in place. The pontoon bridge is 500 meters long and 4.5 meters wide. Vehicles with less than seven seats can drive through it. When cars pass by, the pontoon bridge undulates up and down, and the water surface is full of waves. Looking down from the viewing platform on the mountainside of the canyon, it is indeed beautiful, but the pontoon bridge is too short. , the car passes by in an instant, and you can't go back, it's not addictive and not exciting enough. Cross the pontoon bridge and enter a canyon that is shaded by the sun. White mist floats on the turquoise water, just like a fairyland. Turning two bays, the clear water merges into the muddy water in another canyon, and the trip to Lion Pass ends here.
Wujiatai tea garden is located at 30 degrees north latitude and 400-900 meters above sea level. When discussing Bashan tea in Tang Luyu's "Tea Classics", he said: "The tea maker is the Jiamu in the south", "One foot, two feet or even tens of feet, Among them, Bashan and Xiachuan, if two people hug each other, they will cut them down." There is a huge stone tablet in the tea garden, and the inscription on the tablet reads: "In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong (1784 A.D.), a man named Changchen of the Wu family in Wujiatai Village developed tea and offered it to the imperial court. Emperor Qianlong was full of praise after tasting it. "Emperor's Grace Tin", a gold plaque was made and given to the Wu family, which was hung in the Wu family's ancestral hall. After that, when all officials came to this plaque, civil officials dismounted from their sedan chairs, and military officials dismounted from their horses. Wujiatai tribute tea became famous all over the world. "Cai Zhangwu, a native of the town today, even praised Wujiatai tea. His masterpiece "Gong Cha Fu" occupies an entire wall. It is inferior to Hangzhou Longjing, and the eyes are bright when observing; it is better than the clouds and mists of Lushan Mountain, and the view is refreshing; it surpasses the Maofeng of Huangshan Mountain, and the taste is lingering." But I tasted its special-grade green tea and tea in the exhibition hall of Changchen Tea Factory. Special grade black tea and green tea taste very astringent. The salesperson said that this is the characteristic of Wujiatai good tea. Astringency is the characteristic, and probably few people like it. Therefore, although Wujiatai tea is favored by the emperor, many people still don’t know its value. We tasted tea, sorry, bought a few bags of tea, more than 200 yuan, more expensive than online, it is considered a service fee. Instead, we ate lunch at a farmhouse. The ordinary stir-fried greens made by the proprietress for us had no astringent taste and tasted better than premium tea. After drinking tea for decades, I still don't know the value of tea.
The tea trees in Wujiatai tea garden are planted in an orderly manner, with scattered heights and beautiful curves. There is a tea viewing pavilion on the high place. You can look around the tea garden scenery, marvel at the good weather, and be pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the tea garden. The trip to the tea garden exceeded expectations.
It was evening when we returned to the urban area. We went to Daughter City, a must-see attraction for travel agencies. This is a commercial project developed according to the Tujia architectural style. A restaurant that suits our appetite. After eating spicy food for several days in a row, my mouth and stomach can no longer tolerate it. Once when I was in a car, I saw the signboard of "Hong Kong Tiantian Fishing Port" at the corner of Yijie Street, so I asked the driver to take us to Tiantian Fishing Port. Shanghai's Tiantian Fishing Port has been popular for several years, but now it has disappeared. Entering the store, the boss welcomes customers at the door. He speaks Mandarin with a Hong Kong and Cantonese accent. The restaurant has four floors. This person is the Hong Kong boss of Shanghai Tiantian Fishing Port. It is unbelievable that he came from the big Shanghai to a small town in Enshi, Hubei. To adapt to the local people’s spicy taste, the menu includes Cantonese dishes such as abalone, shark’s fin, roasted meat and seafood, as well as Tujia dishes. Although I didn’t eat spicy dishes for this dinner, the Cantonese dishes have changed. After eating spicy dishes, it is hard to distinguish the pure Hong Kong and Cantonese flavors on the tip of the tongue.
It was cloudy on the 27th, and I was on the way to Shennongjia all day. My original plan was to stay in Yichang for three days. One day I would take my children to see the Three Gorges Dam and take a cruise to Xiling Gorge; one day I would go to Changyang and take a boat to see the Qingjiang River from Changyang to Shuibuya. But my wife and daughter think that the three of us have already visited the entire Three Gorges of the Yangtze River before, so we don't need to go. So we first took the bullet train at 11:35 to Yichang East at 13:19, then took the bus at 3:30 pm to Shennongjia, arrived at Muyu Town at 7 pm, and hired a van to the Arcadia Forest Hotel. The fare was 50 yuan. Arcadia Hotel is on the mountain, 6.7 kilometers away from Muyu Town Bus Station, and it takes more than ten minutes to go up by car along the Panshan Highway. As soon as we entered the Yunjing family room, we all let out a "WOW" sound of surprise. The room is 80 square meters, with a 2-meter bed and a 1.5-meter bed. The terrace is about 40 square meters. The Yunjing twin room we live in is also 50 square meters There is also a terrace, and it is not yet the peak season. The price of a family room is 800 yuan, and the price of a twin room is 577 yuan. Starting from July 1st, the weather will be hotter, the school will be on holiday, and more guests will come to visit for summer vacation, and the house prices will rise to about 1,800 and 1,000 yuan respectively. We ate dinner at the hotel, and the chef left work at 8:30. The dishes came out quickly, and we ate quickly, too. The taste was good, especially the stir-fried sausage with pepper and sesame, which I ordered twice in the next few days.
Hotel panorama
Hotel annex
hotel lobby
Parent-child room
balcony
standard room
buffet
Terrace
swimming pool
Shennongjia is located in the eastern section of Daba, between the Yangtze River and the Han River. Most of the area is above 1,000 meters above sea level, and there are six peaks above 3,000 meters. Shennongjia got its name because it is said that the Shennong family lived here in ancient times. In order to taste herbs, Shennong once "built wood as a ladder to help climbing; built wood as a house to avoid danger." It was called Shennongjia. The climate in Shennongjia is also unstable, and the phenomenon of "sunrise in the east and rain in the west" often occurs.
On the 28th and 29th, it was rainy and cloudy. I had been fighting continuously in Enshi a few days ago, and I just had a rest. Looking at the clouds and mists in the mountains, drinking Shennong tea, and going down the mountain to the supermarket to buy some vegetables and seasonings, and bought a pair of mahjong. The international school my child attends actually teaches Chinese mahjong. We played mahjong with the children and had a good time. The hotel's dishes are too monotonous, all Tujia dishes. After three meals, I got tired of eating, so I used the small electric pot that came with me to cook vegetable noodle soup, and went down the mountain to eat in a small restaurant.
It was cloudy on the 30th, and I took a Buick business car to visit Shennongding Scenic Area and Dajiu Lake. The fare was 500 yuan, which was very cheap. Although the round trip from the hotel to Dajiuhu Lake via Shennongjia Scenic Area was only 160 kilometers, we spent 10 hours on the entire tour. The driver didn't care, he was a nice guy. Shennongjia International Ecotourism Area Pass is 270 yuan, including Shennongding, Dajiu Lake and other six major scenic spots. It is valid within five days, which is much more cost-effective than a single purchase.
In the morning, Shennongjia was covered with thick clouds. The first scenic spot we visited was Shennong Valley (formerly known as Scenery Ya), which is known as "the first scene of Shennongjia". This is a canyon with peaks and valleys, with beautiful peaks and valleys, and the mist drifts by, hazy, while the high mountains in the distance are distinct in layers because of the overcast sky, showing their beautiful curves even more. We did not go down to the valley. It is said that the valley is four to five kilometers long, and we do not have the physical strength. The next scenic spot is Shennongding, where cars can drive to the parking lot under Shennongding. Shennongding is 3,105 meters above sea level. It is not worth seeing. The top of the mountain is an observation tower, but when you walk up to the observation tower and look around, you can see the vast green hills one after another, surrounded by clouds and mists, and thousands of miles of emptiness. Not long after the car goes down, it is the iconic landscape of Shennongding Scenic Area, Banbi Ya, where there are many strange rocks and various poses, which people can imagine. Thinking back to the time when you visited Shennongding in heavy fog, and you visited Banbiya with wind and rain, it is a blessing that the sky is sometimes dark and sometimes bright during this trip. Diagonally opposite Banbi Ya is Taizi Ya, with an altitude of 2600 meters. When he traveled here and made it, Taiziya got its name from this. There is a primeval forest under Taiziya, with a good trail, 1,500 meters long, with towering firs and lush arrow bamboos on both sides. There is a viewing platform called Rhododendron Valley. In spring, the mountains must be full of red. It took us an hour to cross, and it didn’t feel very ornamental. The car was waiting at the exit, got on the car, and passed through the three provinces. It is said that when the weather is fine, standing on this platform in Shennongjia, Hubei Province, you can look far away at Sichuan (now Chongqing), The two provinces of Shaanxi, hence the name.
Shennong Valley
Shennongding
banbiya
Taiziya
Shennongjia in the photographer's lens
Arrived in Jiuhu Town in the afternoon, we had lunch at a noodle shop. Jiuhu Town was built for the purpose of developing and protecting Dajiuhu to resettle and relocate villagers. The planning and design reflect the local architectural features and the positioning of the resort. It is a very beautiful new town. Fog, you must stay in the town for one night, which also makes the town more popular.
Dajiu Lake is located on the boundary of Chongqing and Hubei, on the watershed between the Yangtze River and the Han River. It is a national wetland park with an altitude of 1,780 meters, a length of about 15 kilometers from north to south, and a width of about 3.5 kilometers from east to west. Nine lakes of different sizes are inlaid in this alpine grass On Dian, the lake is actually not big at all. It is named because there is a small Jiuhu Lake across the mountain. The protected area of the core area is 1645 hectares. In 2009, Dajiu Lake won the first place in the "Six Most Beautiful Wetland Parks in China". In October 2013, it was officially included in the list of internationally important wetlands of the United Nations.
Non-walkers can take the small scenic train (actually a train-style multi-carriage car) to visit Dajiu Lake. The ticket is 60 yuan, which can be used for unlimited times. Get off at the favorite scenic spot for sightseeing and then get on the train to the next scenic spot. We visited Sihu to Jiuhu successively according to the driver's recommendation. The small train only went to Liuhu. From Liuhu to Jiuhu, we had to rely on our feet. We walked to the source of the Han River before returning. We entered the park before three o'clock until seven It was only after 1:00 o'clock that I left the park, and I didn't go to some scenic spots that needed to be climbed. In the evening, the clouds cleared a little, revealing the blue sky. The beauty of Dajiu Lake had just been revealed, and we were about to leave. We were tired, and the driver was waiting outside. Looking at the pedometer record of the mobile phone, I actually walked 16336 steps, 11 kilometers.
Dajiuhu Town
Dajiu Lake in the photographer's lens
We rested at the hotel on July 1st. The weather was fine. I walked around the hotel and looked at the villas and apartment areas under the hotel. The planning is poor, disorganized, and the building density is too high, which destroys the overall environment of the resort. Because of the large size, the two ancillary buildings of the hotel have been closed. The developer is Rongsheng Construction Group in Langfang, Hebei. Ranked 16th, the hotels under the company are all called Arcadia. Arcadia is a place in Greece, which is now widely used as a place name in Western countries, and it is extended as "Xanadu". However, in addition to high-quality hotels, they are also resorts. Wanda’s Changbaishan International Resort and Vanke’s Yunnan Fuxian Lake International Tourism Resort are superior to Rongsheng in terms of overall planning, individual design, and various supporting facilities and services. The Shennongjia International Resort is much better, and the latter has been approved as a national tourist resort by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Resort Villa
Resort Apartments
Resort Townhouses
There is also a five-star hotel in the town called Kangde Junlan Hotel, which is next to the street and has a noisy environment. We went in before and the front desk staff introduced that there is a Cantonese chef in the hotel, so we went there for a lunch. It was very bad. It turned out that the Cantonese chef was resting that day, and there were only a few diners in the huge restaurant, and there was only one chef and one in the kitchen. Cut with the master. Most of the tourists in Shennongjia come from this province or Sichuan, Chongqing and Hunan. There are many small restaurants in the town, all of which are spicy and salty, and the prices are not expensive. Tourists who like spicy food will naturally enjoy eating in these small restaurants. On the slope opposite Junlan Hotel is Shennong Mountain Villa. When I went to Shennongjia in 2003, this hotel was considered the best hotel at that time. It was a three-story building. Now it is a listed four-star hotel with more than ten floors. At that time, Muyu Town was very small. When we looked down from the hotel, we could see the small streets at a glance. Now the streets are several kilometers long and there are high-rise apartments. It is really different from what it used to be.
Muyu Town
Kangde Junlan Hotel
On July 2, I bought a Buick commercial vehicle to go to Wudang Mountain. The driver offered a price of 1,500 yuan. I had communicated with the driver before that we were going to visit the Danjiangkou Reservoir Ring Road. It is about 280 kilometers from Arcadia Hotel in Shennongjia to Danjiangkou Reservoir. Take Provincial Highway 209 and Hubei Expressway G59. The initial section has to pass through Shennongjia forest area. We pass by a place with magnificent scenery. We got off the car and looked at it. The driver said that the valley is down It is a longevity village. The average age of the villagers is close to 90 years old, and there are many centenarians. I believe this is true. Because on the weather display board of Arcadia Resort, PM2.5 has always been 0, and the negative oxygen ion content is about 65,000 per cubic centimeter, and the negative oxygen ion on the weather display board of Shennongding Scenic Area is 110,000 per cubic centimeter , the Tianshengqiao area has measured an instantaneous peak of 272,100 per cubic centimeter, which is 272 times the standard concentration of negative oxygen ions in clean air published by the World Health Organization (1000-1500). No wonder I felt strenuous and out of breath when I was on vacation at Fuxian Lake in Yunnan at an altitude of 1,750 meters. In Shennongjia, I didn’t feel any discomfort even when I walked at an altitude of 2,600 meters or even more than 3,000 meters. My daughter couldn’t sleep well when she was in Enshi. It's great, staying at Arcadia Hotel in Shennongjia actually sleeps every day. Shennongjia's forest coverage rate exceeds 90%, the first in the country, and it is China's first "triple crown" of UNESCO "Man and the Biosphere Nature Reserve", "World Geopark" and "World Natural Heritage". I thought that the vitality of the earth is manifested in water and trees. With good water, good trees and good air, people become more vigorous.
Arrived at the Danjiangkou Reservoir at around 3:00 pm. The Danjiangkou Ring Lake Highway is known as the most beautiful landscape highway in China, with a total length of 429 highways. We drove around the section from Canglanghai to Qiandao Gallery, which is close to the urban area. It is 18 kilometers long and did not go far. Because the driver had to rush back to Shennongjia Muyu Town that day, we were embarrassed to ask him to drive more roads. Climbing up to the viewing platform of the Thousand Islands Gallery, one can see winding and winding coastlines of islands with lush trees, which are very beautiful. Unfortunately, the water level is very low and the water color is unclear.
The Danjiangkou Reservoir is the water intake of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. I saw a long article written in 2018 on the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. This article believes that the South-to-North Water Transfer Project has completely failed. Not to mention the ecological damage and water pollution caused by the project, in terms of water diversion alone, the current water level of the Danjiangkou Reservoir is only 140 meters, which is more than 7 meters away from the 147.33 meters head of the canal, and the soil erosion caused by vegetation damage costs 10 per year. Billion tons decrease, there is no high water level, how to let the water flow into the canal, even if the water is pumped into the canal, plus the 1300-kilometer step-lift water, the power consumption is huge, not counting the project cost, the water sent to Beijing is already as expensive as oil up. This article believes that the south-to-north water diversion is the product of the decision-making of the politicians who slapped their heads, and the experts did not make scientific demonstrations.
(This picture is copied from Baidu)
Arrive at the Jianguo Hotel where we stayed at 6:00 in the evening. The triple room is 700 yuan, and the twin room is 539 yuan. Jianguo Hotel is located at the entrance of Wudang Mountain. It is the best hotel in Wudang Mountain.
Wudang Mountain, also known as Taihe Mountain, has a radius of 800 miles. The name "Wudang" first appeared in "Hanshu", and Wudang County was established in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (202 BC). It is said that Emperor Zhenwu, the incarnation of Taishang Laojun, the ancestor of Taoism, once practiced in this mountain for 42 years and ascended to heaven. After the birth of Taoism at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wudang Mountain was even revered as a mountain of immortals, and it has been a retreat for immortals and Taoists until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Since the Zhenguan Year of Tang Dynasty, Wudang Mountain has been valued by the emperors of all dynasties, and its status has become increasingly prominent. In the Yongle Year of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di thought that he had won the throne because of the help of Emperor Zhenwu. There are so many, I can’t say enough.” In the tenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1412), Zhu Di ordered the court to order officials to lead 300,000 soldiers and civilians to build palaces and temples in Wudang Mountain in accordance with the architectural regulations of the Forbidden City in Beijing. In the fifteenth year of Yongle (1417), Wudang Mountain was named "Dayue", which is higher than the five mountains. From the 21st year of Yongle (1423), it took 12 years to complete 33 architectural complexes including Jiugong Jiuguan. In the 31st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1552), Emperor Jiajing wrote "Zhishi Xuanyue" and built the archway of "Zhishi Xuanyue" as the gate of Wudang Mountain. The crown of the Five Sacred Mountains is listed as the first mountain in Taoism. Since then, although it has been repaired, rebuilt and expanded during the Kangxi and Qianlong years of the Qing Dynasty, Wudang Mountain still maintains the architectural style of the early Ming Dynasty. Among the palaces and temples, it is second to none, "it is rare to make up for the legacy of Emperor Qin and Han Wu; the victory of Zhang Gongque is also unprecedented in the whole world. "Wudang Mountain is also the birthplace of Wudang martial arts. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Taoist Zhang Sanfeng gathered his great achievements and created the Taiji Wudang School. This is the treasure of Chinese martial arts. It is known as "the north worships Shaolin, and the south respects Wudang". In 1994 On December 17, the "Wudang Mountain Ancient Architectural Complex" was included in the "World Cultural Heritage List" by the United Nations.
It was cloudy on July 3rd. We stored our large luggage at Jianguo Hotel, packed lightly, and took the scenic bus to the reserved Nanyan Taiji Courtyard to check in. This hotel is also a high-end hotel on the mountain, with a price of 389 yuan. The room is relatively large, in Chinese style, with tatami mats by the window. A group of Chinese children from the United States came to Wudang Mountain to study and lived here. On the opposite side of the Tai Chi Bieyuan is the Tai Chi Guild Hall, where a French group of dozens of people lives.
Tai Chi Bieyuan
room
Foreigners learn Taoism
After a short rest, we will take a car to Taizipo and visit Fuzhen Temple (also known as Taizipo). Fuzhen Temple is praised by experts as an architectural classic on a steep slope. There are more than 200 halls with rigorous layout and ups and downs. The ancients were ingenious and constructed architectural landscapes such as "four gates in one mile", "nine-curved Yellow River wall" and "one column and twelve beams". Among them, the "nine-curved Yellow River wall" is particularly eye-catching. "Pillars and Twelve Beams" is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture. The statue of Zhenwu and his attendants enshrined in the Zhenwu Hall is the largest painted wooden statue in Wudang Mountain. It is still as beautiful as new after 600 years.
One Post Twelve Beams
Wudang Mountain Scenic Area has a large scale and scattered scenic spots. The whole mountain tour is as long as 60 kilometers, so the scenic spot is equipped with dozens of tourist shuttle buses. You have to change trains here when waiting for scenic spots. Every time you go to a scenic spot, it takes half an hour and three quarters by car.
After we went back to the hotel to rest, we visited Nanyan. You had to climb very steep steps to visit Nanyan. My wife and I were afraid of being exhausted, so we hired a slider for 200 yuan, and we sat in rotation.
Nanyan is the "sacred place" called by Taoism where Zhenwu attained Taoism and ascension. It is also said to be the place where Lu Dongbin practiced Taoism. It is the most beautiful place among the 36 rocks in Wudang Mountain. ) was given the title of "Dayi Zhenqing Wanshou Palace"; it was rebuilt in the 11th year of Yongle (1413) in the Ming Dynasty, and given the title of "Great Sage Nanyan Palace"; today there are still stone halls in the Yuan Dynasty, Nantian Gate, Stele Pavilion and Liangyi Hall in the Ming Dynasty and other buildings. Nanyan, also known as "Zixiaoyan", is called Nanyan because it faces south and faces Jinding. Some buildings in Nanyan are built on cliffs, similar to the Hanging Temple in Hengshan, Shanxi, but larger than the Hanging Temple, and stone components account for a considerable proportion. The main building "Taiyi Zhenqing Palace" is all built of stones, and there are many cliff stone carvings , the four characters of "Fu Shou Kang Ning" pray for people's blessings and catch people's attention. The most eye-catching thing in Nanyan is the "dragon head incense", which is a stone dragon head protruding from the cliff. The dragon head stone is 2.9 meters long and 0.3 meters wide. The dragon neck is carved with a cloud dragon, and the dragon head is carved with an incense burner. The imperial horse of the emperor, Emperor Zhenwu often rides it around. It is precisely because of the mystery of dragon head incense that believers and pilgrims, to show their piety, often go to the way of yin and yang to burn "dragon head incense" every time they come to Wudang. As a result, countless people fall off the cliff and die. In the twelfth year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Governor Cai Yurong ordered the erection of the stele "Forbidden to Burn Dragon Head Incense". Juegu, looking down from a high place, the gods tremble with horror, and if the incense burner stumbles, he will die. This world is mediocre, and what people do is not the intention of God's benevolence. Now it is moved to the furnace hall, so that the incense burner can know the filial son The meaning of not climbing high and not facing the depths, standing in front of the stone eaves, Yongdu villain walks the road of danger and luck, the abbot of the palace and all the Taoists, always advise, do not follow the same path, and follow it without neglect. Governor Chuan Daqing Kangxi 11th New Year’s Day in June.” My humble opinion is that faith in God is sincere, and persistence is a villain. This monument can be used as a lesson for believers of all sects. Under the deep ravine in Yannan, there is a solitary peak slanting like a giant bird spreading its wings. There is a dressing table and a flying platform on it. It is said that it is the place where Zhenwu ascended to heaven. Cliff, intending to ascend to heaven, is really foolish.
Dinner is eaten on the terrace of the Tai Chi Club. The altitude of Nanyan is about 960 meters, and the temperature at the foot of the mountain is as high as 35 degrees, but there is a cool breeze on the mountain. It is very comfortable to sleep at night without turning on the air conditioner. The dishes made by the hotel are also very delicious, and the price is almost the same as that of a small restaurant.
Xuandi Palace
south rock
Dragon head incense
True Martial Ascension Office
On a cloudy day on July 4th, I rested at the hotel and went to Zixiao Palace at about 3:00 pm. Because Zixiao Palace and Jinding are managed by Wudang Mountain Taoist Association, I need to buy additional tickets. The adult fare is 10 yuan, which is more than ten years older than mine. The 20 yuan ticket was cheaper when I went there.
Zixiao Palace is the most well-preserved royal palace complex in Wudang Mountains. It has 860 rooms of palaces, pavilions and verandahs. Zixiao Palace was first built in the third year of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty (1121), named "Yuansheng Zixiao Palace". It was rebuilt in the tenth year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (1412), named "Taixuan Zixiao Palace". In the eleventh year of Yongle (1413), the main building, the Zixiao Hall, was rebuilt, and the "Taiyi Zixiao Palace" was granted. Zixiao Hall is the main hall of Zixiao Palace. It is the only wooden structure with double eaves and gables preserved in Wudang Mountain. There are hundreds of bronze statues for the gods of Zhenwu, which can be called the treasure house of my country's bronze casting art. When we arrived at the main hall of Zixiao Palace, we happened to be doing ceremonies. Taoist ceremonies are more complicated and richer than Buddhist ones. There are scriptures chanting and Taoist music accompaniment. The three mages are dressed in splendid clothes. .
Zixiao Palace is the seat of the Wudang Mountain Taoist Association and the place with the most Taoists in the whole mountain, but most of the people I saw were Taoist nuns. In the temples of Wudang Mountain, there are no circulation places like those in Buddhist temples. They sell incense and candles as tokens, and tourists are not allowed to burn incense and light candles (because the Golden Temple is an all-copper building, you can spend money to invite Taoists to burn incense). Neat, this should be to protect the world heritage. But the Shaolin Temple, which is also a world heritage site, is filled with smoke from high-scented golden candles. Whether it is building protection, environmental sanitation, transportation facilities, greening maintenance, I think the management of the entire Wudang Mountain Scenic Area is worthy of appreciation.
Zixiao Temple
white butterfly on the ground
On a sunny day on July 5, I went to the cableway station at nearly 11 o'clock and bought an up and down ticket for 170 yuan. Go up the cableway and get out to the Taihe Palace. The Taihe Palace complex, also known as the Golden Summit, is distributed on steep and steep peaks above 1,500 meters above sea level. It is surrounded by mountains and rocks. , Ming Chengzu granted it the title of "Dayue Taihe Palace". In the seventeenth year of Yongle (1419 A.D.), Chengzu ordered to build a city wall around the platform of the Golden Temple, which is 1500 meters long. The red wall is winding and undulating, majestic and majestic. Since then, with the Jinding City Wall as the boundary, the Taihe Palace is outside the wall, and the Forbidden City is inside the wall. Entering the Forbidden City to see the Golden Palace is 30 yuan for adults. The Golden Palace is located on the top of Tianzhu Peak, the main peak of Wudang Mountain at an altitude of 1612 meters. It was built in the 14th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1416). It is 3.15 meters deep, surrounded by 12 columns, and a gold brick is embedded in the left rear beam. According to historical records, all the components of the Golden Palace were cast in Beijing, transported to Mount Wudang via the canal, and then the Yangtze River, where they were spliced with mortise and riveting. The platform and railings of the Golden Temple are not common marble or granite, but ancient fossils from Shennongjia. The statues, tables and offering utensils in the Golden Palace are all made of copper. In the middle is enshrined the Emperor Zhenwu. He is 1.86 meters high and weighs 10 tons. This statue of Zhenwu was built according to Zhu Di's appearance. It is hard to imagine how this 10-ton statue was transported up the mountain.
(This picture is copied from Baidu)
golden palace
After going down the mountain, we hired a car to go to the nearby Yuxu Palace, which is used by Taoists as the residence of the Jade Emperor. In the 11th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1413), more than 2,000 palaces and temples were built. It is the largest building complex in Wudang Mountain. It is surrounded by red walls and interspersed with Yudai River in the middle. The shape of Xuangong is similar to that of Beijing Taihe Hall , but it was seven years earlier than the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It was once the largest palace in Wudang Mountain. Most of it was destroyed during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. When I went there in 2005, it was still in ruins. Now it has been completely renovated. The main hall is completely newly built. There is a stage and auditorium in front, and sets on both sides. The vicissitudes of Yuxu Palace in the past have disappeared.
Yuxu Palace in 2005
This time it took more than an hour to go up to the Golden Summit, climbing up and down the steep steps, and then to the Yuxu Palace. I walked a total of 13,557 steps but I didn’t feel tired. Could it be that there are immortals to help Wudang Shenshan?
As the saying goes: "All the famous mountains in the world are occupied by Buddhas", but the five mountains mentioned by Xu Xiake in his travel notes: Dongyue Taishan, Xiyue Huashan, Nanyue Hengshan, Beiyue Hengshan, and Zhongyue Songshan are mostly famous Taoist mountains. Although there is a Buddhist Shaolin Temple in Songshan, the Taishi and Shaoshi in Songshan are all famous Taoist mountains. The Zhongyue Temple in Songshan was built in Qin Dynasty. There are changes, but the scale is much larger than Shaolin Temple. As for Mount Wudang, known as the first mountain of Taoism, it is said that the golden top was once occupied by the immeasurable Buddha. Zhenwu practiced Taoism and came here. Seeing the excellent geomantic omen of the mountain, he borrowed land from the immeasurable Buddha. Zhenwu said: "It's only eight steps", and Wuliang Buddha fully agreed. Unexpectedly, the power of real martial arts is boundless. He walked eight steps on the top of Tianzhu Peak, a step of a hundred miles, and even occupied Wudang Mountain in eight steps. Therefore, "no real martial arts are not enough", which is the origin of the name of Wudang Mountain. I checked the famous Chinese mountains listed in the world heritage: Mount Tai, Mount Huang, Mount Wudang, Mount Emei, Mount Lu, Mount Wuyi, Mount Qingcheng, Mount Sanqing, Mount Wutai, Mount Fanjing and the six Danxia Mountains in China, except for Mount Emei, Mount Wutai and Mount Fanjing. As a famous mountain of Taoism, Mount Huangshan has always been a famous mountain of Taoism before the Ming Dynasty, and it gradually declined after the Qing Dynasty and finally disappeared. It can be seen that Taoism was once very prosperous in Chinese history, and it can be described as "all the famous mountains and roads in the world".
This trip to Hubei lasted 18 days. I climbed three mountains (Qixingzhai, Shennongjia, Wudang Mountain in Enshi Grand Canyon) and walked through two gorges (Yunlong Ground Fissure in Enshi Grand Canyon, Dodge Gap).
July 17, 2019
