At 6:15 am on October 19, 2019, our husband and wife set off from Tianjin on time, drove to Zhuozhou City, Baoding, Hebei Province, and arrived at the Liao Dynasty Twin Towers in Zhuozhou City at 10 am. The twin pagodas are located on Nantasi Street and Beitasi Street respectively. It is impossible to climb the towers now. There are walls and gates, but you can take a closer look. At 10:30, we drove away and headed for Yu County, Zhangjiakou. Arrive at Xiaowutai Jinhe Scenic Spot in Yu County at 14:00. The scenic spot is not big, we walked to the suspension bridge behind the Jinhe Temple, and it took a total of 2.5 hours to and fro. After entering the gate of the scenic spot and seeing a fork in the road, choose the one on the right hand, that is, turn around the scenic spot counterclockwise, which is easy to walk. When we went, it was the off-season of tourism, and the scenic spot was closed (the opening time may be from June 1st to October 8th every year), especially all toilets were closed. There is a village outside the scenic spot, all of which are farmyards, but there may not be guest rooms with independent bathrooms, and they all share toilets and bathrooms. I wanted to live here, but the conditions were a bit difficult, so we left Xiaowutaijin at 17:00 River Scenic Area to Baile Town a few kilometers away for a rest. There are at least two express hotels in Baile Town. In the Xiaowutai Jinhe Scenic Area, people often see herbal pickers in twos and threes, which shows that the scenic spot is well protected.
At 7:30 am on October 20th, we drove to Yuzhou Ancient City, Yu County, Zhangjiakou. Arrive at Yuzhou Ancient City at 8:30 in the morning. The ancient city is not big, you can drive through it. At that time, the ancient city was only open to the Yuhuang Pavilion, the ancient city wall, the Weizhou Office, and the Nan'an Temple Pagoda. Weizhou Department is very large. Nan'an Temple Pagoda is well preserved. The scenic spots are close to each other and can be reached on foot. At 10:30, we left Weizhou City and went to Nuanquan Ancient Town (West Ancient Castle). Arrived at Nuanquan Ancient Town at 11 o'clock. After inquiring, I found out that tree flower performances are not held every weekend. Because it is the off-season for tourism, many snack bars and accommodations in the ancient town (West Castle) are closed. "Bright Sword" filming institute, The Liao Song Museum and the Marriage Customs Museum are not open. Nuanquan Ancient Town (West Castle) is very distinctive and is free to visit. We played carefully for 2 hours and left at 13:00 noon. Arrived safely in Tianjin at 18:45 in the evening.
On the morning of October 19th, Liao Dynasty Twin Towers in Zhuozhou City, in the afternoon, Xiaowutai Jinhe Scenic Area in Yuxian County, and in Baile Town in the evening.
On the morning of October 20th, Yuzhou Ancient City and Nuanquan Ancient Town (West Castle), Yuxian County, return at 13:00 noon.
The following are the strategies I found on the Internet before the trip, for reference only.
1. Zhuozhou Twin Towers (Twin Towers of Liao Dynasty) is the landmark building of the ancient city of Zhuozhou. It is called "Zhidu Temple Pagoda", and the North Tower is called "Yunju Temple Pagoda". Both pagodas are named after the temple, but it is unknown when the temple was destroyed. There is only one pagoda left in each, collectively called "Zhuozhou Twin Pagodas". With a total height of 44 meters, it was first built in the eleventh year of Taiping in Liao Dynasty (1031). The North Tower has six levels and a total height of 56 meters. It was first built in the eighth year of Da'an in Liao Dynasty (1092). The twin towers have obvious characteristics of the era and are quite Liao Dynasty architectural style , has a certain influence in China. The Zhuozhou twin towers are the few pavilion-style brick towers preserved among the existing Liao towers in China. They completely imitate the wooden pavilions. An octagonal corridor is set up. The two towers are stupas, and the distance between the two towers is about 300 meters. There are many places in the tower to face the wind and the colorful light. Xiao Tianzuo and Xiao Tianyou were the reincarnation of two evil dragons and died in the northeast of Zhuozhou City. The two graves became two sea eyes, and the black water flooded seven villages and eight villages. One evening, the sky was full of auspicious clouds, and the goddess in the sky—— The sister-in-law and the two immortals wanted to build two pagodas to subdue the sea eye. My sister-in-law built the North Pagoda, and my sister-in-law built the South Pagoda. Genius four watch, and built five floors. At this time, the sister-in-law’s child was crying, and the sister-in-law had to nurse the child. When the cock crowed, the sister-in-law After repairing the six floors, the needle cone was finally installed on the top of the tower. As for the sister-in-law, she panicked when she heard the rooster crowing, and picked up the lid of the pot and put it on the top of the tower. Therefore, the north tower is one floor higher, and the tower is one story higher. The tip is a needle cone, the south tower has one less floor, and the top of the tower is round. The twin towers were built overnight, so they are also called "aunt towers". But the two green dragons are still unconvinced when they are crushed under the towers. Taiping years Zhuozhou is often surrounded by five-colored auspicious clouds. In the year of a catastrophe, the two pagodas will smoke. People say that Xiao Tianzuo and Xiao Tianyou are tossing under the pagoda. There is also a legend that Qianlong went to Zhuozhou when he went to the south of the Yangtze River. , I saw the twin towers from a long distance, and outside the city is a golden rapeseed field. Qianlong gave Liu Yong a pair: "The yellow flowers in the suburbs are like golden nails on the ground", and Liu Yong wrote the second couplet: The twin towers in the city are like jade cones and cones to the sky.
Park your car at Huayang Gate (East Gate of Huayang Park), where you can directly see the North Pagoda - Yunju Temple Pagoda. Going south from Huayang Gate, when you see a small alley, you immediately walk in, and after a short walk, you see the closer Yunju Temple Pagoda. Walk out of the small alley soon and see a modern residential building, turn right and go south, go to Beisikou Street and turn right again. Going west on Beisikou Street, you can see Nantasi Street. Without hesitation, turn left into Nantasi Street and go south, and you will soon see the South Tower-Zhidu Temple Pagoda under repair.
2. Nuanquan Ancient Town: Nuanquan Ancient Town is a northern town with a long history. It was first built in the Yuan Dynasty and was built on a large scale during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The antique buildings are very suitable for photography. Compared with other ancient towns with developed tourism, the atmosphere here is simple and quiet, and there are many residents living in the town, with a strong atmosphere of life. The tree and flower performance on the east side of the village is even more wonderful, and the live viewing is very shocking.
Nuanquan Ancient Town is small in size, with a length and width of about a few hundred meters. The town has opened the West Castle (an ancient tower) and several courtyards for visitors. There are many small shops in the town that you can walk around at will, and generally visit for 2-3 hours. However, most tourists come here to visit the tree flower performance in the evening, stay in the town for one night after watching it, and leave the next day.
West Castle is actually a tower outside the town, known as "the first castle of Chinese folk customs". Built in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, this tower is a typical tower-style ancient castle building in the Ming Dynasty. There are spectacular towers and quaint stone roads here, which are very suitable for taking pictures. Inside the fort (that is, inside the city) are more than 180 ancient residential buildings in the ancient town. Among them, the courtyards of rich families, ancient theater buildings, temples, etc. are open, and you can visit them one by one. Among them, Nuanquan Academy is very famous in history, so you can take a good look. In addition, the Beimen Wengcheng in the town is the filming location of the movie "Let the Bullets Fly". You can take a good look and see if it is consistent with the scene in the movie.
When shopping in the town, you can go to the small shops on the street. There are small shops selling special products. Because the paper-cutting in Yuxian County is very famous, there are the most paper-cutting shops here, and you can choose what you like to buy. The snack bars in the town are also very good. Special snacks such as noodles and Nuanquan dried tofu are affordable, so you can try them all. In addition, the reason why the town is called Nuanquan is that the stream in the town is hot spring water, which is not frozen in all seasons. In winter, there are also women who wash clothes in the stream by the street, which is very special. Finally, the most exciting thing is to watch the performance at the tree flower square on the east side of the town. The tree flower performance is a special event of the local social fire, which has a history of more than 300 years. It is to burn the iron to 1500 degrees Celsius to turn it into bright red molten iron. When it hits the city wall, a spectacular "fire tree and silver flower" landscape appears, which is very shocking. The performance lasts for 1 hour. In addition to the tree flower hitting twice, there is also a characteristic song and dance performance about local folk customs. It is very exciting. Don't miss it when you come here.
Many tourists will choose to stay in the town for one night after watching the trees and flowers. There are many inns in the town, just in the antique houses
West Castle, Nuanquan Academy, Beibao Dashuhua Ruins, and Old Street all have a rustic and quaint atmosphere, an authentic ancient town. In terms of food, dried tofu and eight bowls are delicious, and the weather is very cool, which is very comfortable. This time I passed by in a hurry, and I also learned ancient folk customs. I saw that the couplet paper on the gate of some houses was green. The locals It is said that this is a deceased person in the family, and the red festive couplets will not be made until the three-year filial piety period expires.
Nuanquan Ancient Town actually includes three ancient castles, but the western one is the best preserved and the largest, so the most people visit it. Usually when people talk about visiting Nuanquan Ancient Town, they refer to West Castle. The castle has two gates, north and south, which are connected by a main street. Other buildings are built along both sides of the street, surrounded by tall city walls. There are many merchants in the fort, and the ancient temples and theater buildings are well preserved, which is quite spectacular. Now it is free to enter the fort, but there are five separate paid attractions in the fort, such as "Bright Sword" Filming Institute, Liao Song Museum, Marriage Customs Museum, Magical Children's Museum, Haunted House, etc. The package we purchased is 50 yuan per person. There are parking lots at both the north and south gates of the ancient castle. The north gate is charged and there are few parking spaces. The road at the gate is still under construction, which is extremely congested. The south gate is free and has more parking spaces. In addition, there is a large free parking lot at the entrance of the indoor tree flower venue, and it is only a five-minute walk from the south gate.
Nuanquan ancient town was built in the Yuan Dynasty and got its name because the well in Nuanquan Academy was Nuanquan. West Castle is one of the "Three Castles". This place integrates the four cultural wonders of "ancient houses, ancient temples, ancient castles, and ancient theater buildings", and it is a relatively complete ancient castle.
The pass is 120, and the old age certificate is half price. It's really not worth it! You can ask the owner of the farmyard to take you in. Although there are a few small attractions that cannot be entered, the main thing is to feel the historical depth of the castle. West Castle is free to open before 7:30 in the morning and after 5:30 in the afternoon.
Glass tower parking lot, five scenic spots, haunted house, a museum, I couldn't find it, a children's magic, just two or three rooms for taking pictures, the shooting location of Liangjian is a courtyard, and there is a wedding custom, just posted a few Xizi, put something and it will be a scenic spot. The old castle is good, and the old castle is free. You don't need to buy a ticket to see the castle directly.
There are also tree flower performances in summer, and there are performances both indoors and outdoors. It is best to watch the outdoor ones. There are five times. It is said that the total time for tree flower performances is ten minutes. Local homestay owners can help you buy discounted tickets, 150 yuan indoors and 130 yuan outdoors. Indoor, only played three times, less than five minutes, wonderful.
3. In 2005, Xiaowutai Jinhe Scenic Spot was rated as an AAAA tourist scenic spot by the National Tourism Administration. Xiaowutai is not only a majestic mountain, with undulating peaks and cliffs, but also strange peaks and rocks in the scenic area, clear springs and streams, forests, seas and pines. It has eight characteristics: ancient, wild, secluded, elegant, strange, majestic, dangerous and beautiful. Xiaowutai Mountain is a natural treasure house, which contains rich animal and plant resources. The rare brown-eared pheasant is a national treasure and protection animal.
Xiaowutai Nature Reserve has a large area. Donkey friends go wild. For ordinary tourists, let's go to the regular scenic spots. At present, the Jinhe scenic spot is still expanding, and the signs in the scenic spot and the publicity map on the gate of the scenic spot do not match, and there are not as many scenic spots as there are in the publicity map of the scenic spot. Behind Jinhe Temple is basically a flat road with no scenery, and there are no signs. There is a waterfall attraction about 6 kilometers away. Then there is xxx 10 kilometers away (I didn’t go to this one, it’s too far away, and there’s nothing to see on the road). The air is good along the way, there are few tourists after Jinhe Temple, and the wild flowers are beautiful. If you go to Jinhe Waterfall and return, the whole journey takes 4.5 hours. After entering the door, you see a fork in the road, choose the one on the right hand, that is, turn around the scenic spot counterclockwise. When going there, there is a waterway that needs to be stepped on stones, which is relatively dangerous; when returning, it is easy to go down the steps (ladders) from the high plank road. There are restaurants at the entrance of the scenic spot.
The road from Yu County is much better.
4. Yuzhou City is a valuable thousand-year-old city with towers, walls and alleys similar to Beijing, as well as many temples and courtyard houses. Because this small city was built by three thousand Weizhou craftsmen who built Beijing City in the early Ming Dynasty. From north to south, the historic sites in the ancient city include Yuhuang Pavilion, Ancient City Wall, Zhenwu Temple, Lingyan Temple, Drum Tower, Weizhou Office, Nan'an Temple Pagoda, Sakyamuni Temple, Wanshan Tower, etc., as well as a large number of Ming and Qing hutongs and dwellings. This is one of the ancient cities with the most concentrated Ming and Qing ancient buildings in the country. It is known as the "Hebei Provincial Museum of Ancient Architecture and Art" and is applying for a national historical and cultural city.
