On the Yunnan border, 200 kilometers away from Myitkyina in Myanmar and 602 kilometers away from Leido in India, there is a small town called Tengchong.
Almost every traveler who has been to Tengchong thinks that one day he will go again.
Volcanic Atami, Beihai Wetland, Heshun Ancient Town, National Cemetery, Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, "Fantasy Tengchong" performance... If you come to Tengchong, Yunnan for the first time or with a tour group, you will not leave these few place.
"The mountain is not as high as the foot, and the road is not as long as the caravan." The caravan culture in Tengchong, the men who traveled to the barbarians, left their lovers and hometowns, and their lives and deaths were uncertain;
"An inch of rivers and mountains, an inch of blood", Tengchong is a hot land of the war of resistance, how many heroes and martyrs defended it with blood;
"One knife is rich, one knife is poor." Tengchong Jade has created many wealthy businessmen, how many people have become rich overnight, and how many people have lost their homes overnight.
In March 2021, I came to Tengchong for the sixth time. I gradually became familiar with it and heard many stories about Tengchong.
When you come to Tengchong for the second time, you will no longer check in those famous scenic spots in Tengchong. These few beautiful niche scenic spots are recommended to you, and some of them are not even known to the locals.
1. Jietou rape blossoms that can be reserved
At the beginning of March, the 150,000 mu of rapeseed flowers at the foot of Gaoligong Mountain in Yunnan Province was in full bloom, and there were not many tourists, so it felt like a private place.
When it was still winter in the north, the rape blossoms in Tengchong were in full bloom. That picture scroll that only belongs to spring is quietly waiting for you to arrive at the foot of Gaoligong Mountain.
Jietou Town is a border town located in the north of Tengchong City. It belongs to the "Garden Basin" embraced by the upper reaches of the source of the Longchuan River. It is only 40 kilometers away from Panwa Town in Myitkyina, an important town in Myanmar, so it is named Jietou.
Here, it was selected as "the most beautiful place in Yunnan" by "China National Geography" and national media.
The 6 of us rented a 7-seater Mercedes-Benz Vito from Tengchong Memory Business Service.
800 yuan a day, 8 hours of service, the car is domineering, spacious, high-end, and the interior is still a starry sky top, especially beautiful at night. This price includes the driver and all fuel costs, and the driver is quite professional.
In half a day, we wandered in the sea of rapeseed flowers in Jietou, all kinds of beautiful things. It was less than half a month since I left this sea of flowers last time, and the rapeseed flowers bloomed even more violently, golden yellow.
Taking off the winter clothes, standing in the sea of flowers, lamenting such beauty, it deserves all the praises of spring.
Flying a drone is quite shocking, and it is worth your special drive. If you travel to Tengchong, don't miss it, no tickets.
2. The small village of the Dai people built by artists
Art changes the countryside. One day, a group of people came here, and art and poetry have taken root here since then.
In Wuhe Township, Tengchong City, Yunnan Province, at the foot of Gaoligong Mountain, there is a small Dai village called Palian Art Village that has been transformed by art.
I asked a few locals in Tengchong, and they all said they hadn't been there yet.
It has become the most poetic art village in Tengchong, Yunnan. When you come here, you can not only appreciate the charm of poetry and art, but also taste the delicacies of the Dai nationality.
What I remember deeply is that in Palian Art Village, there is an art gallery called "Your Art Museum", which is very interesting. It is quiet and beautiful here, and the folk customs are quite simple.
In Palian Art Village, you will see a lot of wall paintings, which are suitable for punching in and taking pictures. Strolling around this art village, you can see blue bricks, soil foundations, homestays, small courtyards, lighting, art, poetry, and the original Dai style.
There are also homestays, taverns, Dai restaurants and so on. The Palian Art Village at night is the most beautiful, all kinds of lighting verses, please remember to wait until night.
Artists inject "new art" into "old villages". In this era of lack of aesthetics, art is integrated into life, so that tourists who come and go can feel the beauty of art.
3. Hiking Gaoligong Mountain to find rhododendrons
Gaoligong Mountain, starting from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the north and reaching Myanmar in the Indochina Peninsula in the south, stretches for more than 600 kilometers from north to south. Gaoli is a transliteration of the name of a Jingpo family, and "Gong" means mountain in Jingpo language.
Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Yunnan Province, and it is also a national forest and wild animal nature reserve.
In Gaoligong Natural Park, there is a hiking route. Many locals in Tengchong may have never been to this mountain road, and it is a base for outdoor enthusiasts.
That day, I met with some friends to hike Gaoligong Mountain and walked 6 kilometers in the mountain. I haven’t been so close to nature for a long time. It feels really good.
There are blooming azaleas scattered on the mountain, and colorful fallen petals on the ground. You don’t have to think about anything, just walk forward like this, and the mobile phone signal is intermittent.
Every spring, alpine rhododendrons on Gaoligong Mountain are in full bloom. Alpine rhododendron is also called azalea, and the locals call it horse cherry blossom.
Six kilometers on foot, to the end of the small local reservoir. You can also have lunch in Xiaodifang Village. The cured pork ribs hot pot is really delicious, and I will never forget it.
4. Qiluo Ancient Town, which is still unknown
In addition to Heshun Ancient Town, there is also an equally beautiful hometown of overseas Chinese hidden in Tengchong - Qiluo.
When Xu Xiake, a great traveler and geographer in the Ming Dynasty, visited Tengchong, he wrote "Qi Luo, the ambition is Yi Luo, and the village is quite prosperous", "Bamboo trees are sparse, fields and ravines are staggered, and it is also a secluded environment." and other praises. Qi Luo's text.
Located in Xiaqiluo Village, Tengyue Town, Tengchong City, Qiluo Ancient Town has a history of more than 600 years, with beautiful scenery and simple folk customs. But very few tourists arrive here, because it has not been developed by tourism and retains the original flavor of the ancient village.
The Qiluo Wenchang Palace, which was built in 1609, has experienced more than 400 years of vicissitudes, and the entire building complex is basically well preserved.
Qiluo Ancient Town has no tickets, and no supporting facilities such as homestays. Strolling in Qiluo Ancient Town, the locals live leisurely, as if the outside world has nothing to do with this place.
Qiluo Library, the gate is a traditional screen-walled building, simple and elegant. According to historical records, the history of Qiluo Library can be regarded as the earliest in Tengchong. Unfortunately, this library has not yet opened to the public.
Known as "Shuiying Temple, the temple reflects the water, and the water flows in the temple", Shuiying Temple has a history of nearly 500 years and is also one of the relatively well-preserved ancient temples in Tengchong County.
Bridges, water, trees, houses, blue bricks, green tiles, double eaves... constitute a rural landscape painting.
There are "one palace, two temples, and five ancestral halls" in the whole Qiluo. So many cultural relics and historic sites are concentrated in the residential area of Xiaqiluo Village, which is less than one square kilometer.
5. Tengchong Qiluo Tea Garden picks tea and makes tea
That day, she turned into a tea picking girl and went to the Dianhong tea garden of Qiluo tea in Tengchong, Yunnan. Walking in the tea garden, I like to take a deep breath, the air is sweet.
In addition to feeling the nature, I also heard some stories about tea.
Tengchong tea in Yunnan also has conditions unmatched by other tea producing areas in the world: fertile volcanic ash soil. And when it comes to Tengchong tea, I have to mention the Feng family.
The Feng family is the pioneer of Tengchong's tea industry. As early as more than 150 years ago, Mr. Feng Zhenguo, the "tea god" of Tengchong, carried forward the non-smoking tea plantation with lofty patriotic national spirit, promoted, publicized and cultivated the earliest local fine tea in Tengchong. Tea tree varieties, a large area of tea fields are widely planted along the Longjiang River, the main peak of Gaoligong Mountain.
The tea-making process of "Fengjia Tea" has gone through several generations and has been passed down from generation to generation. And this Qiluo Tea Industry was separated from the original Tengchong State-owned Tea Factory.
Looking at the large sea of tea, thinking that there is no online sales, only Qiluo tea is passed on by word of mouth, which is also a touching story in the tea industry in Tengchong.
In Qiluo Tea Industry, not only can you pick tea leaves yourself, but you can also drink the originator of Kung Fu tea: Qiluo Leixiang Tea, and listen to the story of the caravan told by the boss, which is quite exciting.
But the most surprising thing is that I also made a unique piece of raw Pucha tea cake by myself. It is very meaningful to design the appearance of tea cakes on Tengchong rice paper by yourself, and then complete the tea cakes step by step.
Qiluo Tea Industry is a modern professional enterprise integrating tea garden base, preliminary refining and processing, tea culture development, sightseeing, tourism and shopping experience. It has more than 2,800 mu of high-quality pollution-free tea garden base in Tengchong.
If you come to Tengchong, you can also make your own tea cake!
6. Lai Zai Myanmar Overseas Chinese Hot Spring Resort Inn
If you meet an inn you like, will you be like me, staying in the inn and not wanting to go out? Vacation travel is another way to open Tengchong, Yunnan.
Burmese Overseas Chinese Hot Spring Inn, this is an inn opened by returned overseas Chinese from Myanmar born in the 1980s, full of a sense of vacation. There is a small yard I like very much when I enter the door, full of succulents.
The rooms in the inn are all named after cities in Myanmar, Myitkyina, Pagan, Mandalay, Taunggyi... The decoration is also full of Southeast Asian style.
Almost every room has a private hot spring. The room I live in is called "Yangon·Panoramic Oversized Balcony Private Hot Spring King Bed Room".
This room is super large, 110 square meters including the balcony, and the view is very good. Living in this room, you can see the entire Tengchong sunset from the balcony.
The decoration style is very Southeast Asian, and the thatched roof highlights casualness and leisure.
The hot spring pool on the balcony is in the shape of a ship and can be used at any time, and it is a real geothermal hot spring, which is good for the body and skin.
During the day, I like to lie on the swing on the large balcony of the room and watch the entire city view of Tengchong; at night, I like to soak in the hot spring pool on the balcony for half an hour, to wash away my exhaustion.
Is this kind of Yunnan vacation travel what you want?
"Finally back to China. So the No. 1 courtyard of the inn is called homesickness." Sitting in the courtyard and chatting with the innkeeper that night, I heard him say this.
We had barbecue together that night, and there was also a resident from Guangdong who had been to Tengchong several times, and would stay here for a few days every time he came.
The wind is soft here, and time slows down here.
How warm and gentle the sun is, gently encountering my face.
You said that you are lonely and confused in the city, and you always want to go out and have a look.
Coming to this small town on the extreme side is the place of your dreams...
The melody of the song "The Little Town on the Extreme Edge" rang in my ears.
There are 99 volcanoes and 88 hot springs. In the south of Caiyun, everyone knows Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La, Xishuangbanna...but there is another paradise, that is Tengchong.