This is my third trip to Yunnan, and I chose a route, Kunming - Fugong - Bingzhongluo - Qiunatong - Gongshan - Liuku - Weishan - Jianchuan Shaxi - Xianmanlin - Dali Ancient City - Kunming. The Ancient Tea-Horse Road refers to a kind of private commercial and trade channel in the southwest that uses horses as a means of transportation. Because tea was the mainstay in the early days, and later spread to all living materials, it is called the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. The Ancient Tea-Horse Road was formed in the Tang and Song dynasties, and reached its peak in the 1940s. It was not only a commercial exchange, but also a road for cultural exchange and religious dissemination.
Nujiang has always been a place I yearn for. It has been raining here before going down the Nujiang River, and my wife has never been so worried about dissuading me from going down. Even when I got off the Nujiang River, her daily text messages were just withdrawn early. After all, the Nujiang Highway is Yunnan. It is even the most dangerous route in the country. It is very common for a car to overturn and crash here. It is said that 5 cars have been buried in the surging Nu River in the first few months of this year. However, the regular operating vehicles here have always been very It is safe, so remember not to take an illegal car when traveling on the Nujiang River.
The most thrilling part of the Nujiang River is from Fugong to Gongshan. The Gaoligong Mountain and Biluo Snow Mountain on both sides of the Nujiang River form a spectacular Nujiang Grand Canyon. The most essential section is from Bingzhongluo to Qiunatong. There are six ethnic minorities in Yunnan living in the Nujiang River Basin. Especially in Gongshan, most of them are ethnic minorities. Their simple characters and honest smiles always infect me. When I came back to Gongshan County from Bingzhongluo, I met a Lisu girl named Adu. Because I helped her open the window to let the wind in, she showed me a student newspaper for me to read. From the chat, I know that they are studying in Bingzhongluo, and now they are going home after a short school holiday. She got off the bus at the village in front of the county seat. After getting off the bus, she didn't forget to wave goodbye to me and leave me with a lovely smile.
Hiking from Bingzhongluo to Qiunatong is a classic outdoor route. Bingzhongluo gives people the impression of an idyllic scenery. Chongding Village is famous for having a church and Aunt Ding outdoors. I stayed at Aunt Ding’s house that night and started my hike at 6:30 the next morning. . It may have been earlier, when I passed through Jiasheng Village, the villagers' dogs were very rude to me. They escorted me along the road from the beginning until they drove me out of the village. The dogs were quiet after passing through the Four Seasons Barrel, but when I left, they gave a warm farewell together. Wuli is the most beautiful village along the way. On the other side of the Nujiang River, there is a trail leading to it. But to be honest, the trail is really dangerous, I just watched the scenery of the village on the other side. After crossing the Chaohong Bridge, there is Nittadan Village, which is a walk along the hillside. It is the last village to Qiunatong. There are also several outdoor accommodations here, as well as bicycle rentals. Qiunatong is the last village in the Nujiang Grand Canyon, and it is 24 kilometers from here to Tibet. Barrel means peace. Bingzhongluo and Qiunatong are a way of life, calling for inner happiness with the tunes of Biye and Qingshan. The beauty of the sunshine, green fields and sky makes people unable to refuse to be intoxicated. In Bingzhongluo, I finally saw the last caravan team. They are now basically moving on some small roads that cannot be reached by cars in Gongshan.
Dali has been to Yunnan for the first time, and this time I chose Weishan and Jianchuan, two places near Dali. The feeling of Weishan is the same as that of Langzhong that I have been to before. The ancient city is not big but very lively. Weishan has always been called Menghua in history. It used to be the birthplace of Nanzhao culture. Nanzhao lived here for nearly a hundred years for four generations, and then moved to Taihe, which is now Dali. The ancient tea-horse road in history also passed here to Xishuangbanna and went abroad. Weishan Ancient City takes Gongchen Tower as the center, and Sifang Street extends from east to west, north, south, and to the city gate, maintaining the most primitive Ming Dynasty city pattern. Now this kind of place that still maintains the complete Ming Dynasty city pattern is basically invisible in mainland China. Of the four city gates, only the Star Arch Tower of the North Gate survives. The south gate has been changed into a modern gate. The east and west doors are gone. The biggest difference between here and the ancient city of Dali is that all you see are locals. Walking in the ancient city and feeling the life of the local people, I am actually a landscape. There is also Weibao Mountain, a famous Taoist mountain in Weishan, which I did not go to. Weishan’s snacks are also very famous. When I arrived in Dali, I could still see many Weishan-style snacks.
When you go to Jianchuan, you have to go back to Xiaguan. Jianchuan is often seen in martial arts novels, and A Peng in the movie Five Golden Flowers is also a young man from Jianchuan. I went to Jianchuan for an ancient town there. This is Shaxi Sideng Street, which was selected by the World Monumental Architecture Foundation as one of the 101 World Endangered Architectural Heritage Lists. In the review, it is written that "it is the only surviving market on the ancient tea-horse road. There are intact theaters, hotels, temples, and gates, making this market connecting Tibet and South Asia quite complete." From Jianchuan to Shaxi The car will pass by Shibao Mountain, which is a national scenic spot and the southernmost grotto in China, but because I have seen a lot of grottoes, I have no interest in grottoes. Walking into Shaxi, walking along the Qingshiban Road into the former residences, there are not many people in the quiet street, those wooden shops left over from early N, dilapidated white walls, and bluestones stamped by horseshoes can be vaguely seen. It feels like time and space have stopped here. I sat quietly under Sifang Street, sucking the air here, as if I could feel the air with horse manure left by N in his early years. The ancient stage and ancient temples in front of Dahuaishu around me are telling me that this place has a long history. The ancient opera stage on Sifang Street was built in the Qing Dynasty. The front and back pavilions (Kuixing Pavilion) have 14 flying corners on the three floors, giving people the impression that the cornices are overlapping, which is magnificent. The Xingjiao Temple on the opposite side is the few existing "Azali" Buddhist temples of the Baijiao in the Ming Dynasty in my country, and precious murals are still preserved. After 3 o'clock in the afternoon here, there is basically no car to go out, unless you charter a car to leave. In the evening, drinking cocktails and cappuccino coffee at the bar on Sifang Street, watching the old people on the stage play the ancient music of the Bai nationality, and the girl dances the Bawang whip. Laohuaishu Cafe was opened by a retired couple from Shenzhen. They stayed here for a visit 4 years ago and opened this cafe. Although the daily business is very ordinary, they still live happily. The goal of life is the same for everyone, but some people go in a hurry and don't know how to enjoy it. They walk slowly and look at life with a normal heart, but they can better understand the true meaning of life. I have always liked their life, and when I get old, I will travel around with my wife.
During the chat in Shaxi, I accidentally saw a picture of Jianchuan stone lions. Looking at the introduction of nearly 3,000 stone lions here, a sense of excitement quietly rose. I have seen thousands of Bodhisattva grottoes, but I have never seen a mountain full of stone lions. I knew about this mountain before I came out of Manxian Forest. Xu Xiake had been there twice, but it was just a Buddhist holy place, and I didn’t notice the stone lions there. The next day, I went to Qianshi Mountain (few people know about Manxianlin now), only to find out that stone lions have been carved there since the 1990s. Jianchuan is a famous hometown of sculpture, where the stone and wood carvings are famous all over the world. Qianshi Mountain now has the largest number of stone lions and the largest volume in the same place in the world. The stone lions in Zhenshan are 25 meters high, 15 meters long and 12 meters wide. Mi Yi stood on the top of the mountain and looked mighty enough.
Dali is an ancient capital city in my country, where the Nanzhao Kingdom and the Dali Kingdom both established their capitals in history. In the Tang and Song dynasties, it was a country independent of the imperial court, and it was not unified until the Yuan Dynasty. In the ancient city of Dali, the only thing worth visiting is the Fuxing Road and the Red Dragon Well. Linshui is just bustling with people coming and going. In Dali, I was attracted by one place, that is the Jiangjun Cave in Xiaguan. Jiangjun Cave is similar to Sanping in southern Fujian, except that a defeated invader is worshiped here. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Mi led troops to attack the Nanzhao Kingdom, but the whole army was wiped out, and his three sons died in the war. He also committed suicide. People who have watched Five Golden Flowers still remember the nosy old man in the movie, he said several times that I swear to the owner, and the owner here is this Li Mi. History does not know how to turn a defeated invader into a god in the hearts of the Bai people, but from this we can see the gentle and mellow character of the Bai people.
This is my third trip to Yunnan in May 2010. I have been in Yunnan countless times. Nujiang River is already a popular self-driving route, and Shaxi has been frequently advertised on the Internet.