Every summer vacation, I have to travel by car. This year, my destinations are Hunan and Guizhou. Departed from Ningbo at 6 am on July 27, 2018, drove 1,200 kilometers, and stayed in Xinhua, Hunan for a rest at night.
Fenghuang Ancient City
In Shen Congwen's novel "Border Town", the border town in western Hunan, the crystal-clear river, the small town surrounded by water and mountains, and the stilted buildings on the river street are always fascinating. After the "Phoenix Ancient City" special stamps were issued in 2009, Yang Wenqing, who designed this set of stamps, helped me draw a set of "Phoenix Ancient City" hand-painted covers with exquisite meticulous painting techniques (Figure 1-3), showing this famous historical and cultural city in China. The beautiful scenery is fixed on the envelope. I often take it out for appreciation, which arouses my desire to go to Fenghuang to have a look, and to stamp the original postmark on the hand-painted cover.
On the morning of the 28th, I drove into the ancient city of Fenghuang, strolled along the ancient road on the bank of the Tuojiang River, and walked across the rock jumping on the Tuojiang River to the north gate tower on the opposite bank. The two ends of the ancient city tower are built with purple-red sandstone walls along the river bank. The city wall has two towers in the east and north, which are still elegant and magnificent after many vicissitudes. The river beside the city wall is very shallow, the water flow is leisurely and gentle, and we can see the ostentatious aquatic plants in the soft waves. We turned back from the wooden and stone bridge next to it and browsed back and forth in the river to enjoy the beautiful scenery on both sides.
There is a monkey jumping post office in the attic near Hongqiao (Picture 4). I sent some postcards here, but the postmark shows the post office of love (Picture 5). The Hongqiao was first built in the Ming Dynasty, and most of the bridge below the deck are Ming Dynasty monuments. The craftsmen who built the bridge back then worked meticulously, and the bridge still stands today. Walking forward on the Hongqiao, a picture scroll of water towns in the south of the Yangtze River is displayed in front of you: Longevity Palace, Wanming Pagoda, Duocui Tower... A feeling of being far away from the world is born leisurely. Row upon row of stilted buildings stand on both sides of Hongqiao, facing the water, with slender and long wooden legs extending into the river, with green hills behind them, with strong Miao architectural features (Figure 6). Across Hongqiao is the ancient street, with buildings with unique Phoenix characteristics on both sides. The ancient street is full of red lanterns, which is quite festive.
Zhenyuan Ancient City
After coming out of Fenghuang, I drove to Zhenyuan, Guizhou, the "Gateway of Eastern Guizhou", and stayed at the riverside inn in Zhenyuan at night. The bright lights on both sides of the Wuyang River and the wave lights on the water complement each other, making the thousand-year-old town look extraordinarily enchanting.
On the early morning of the 29th, I boarded Shiping Mountain, and the mountain was shrouded in clouds and mist in the early morning. The Miaojiang Great Wall is entrenched on the mountain. Looking down from Shiping Mountain, Wuyang River meanders through the city in an "S" shape, with the old Fucheng on the north bank and the old Acropolis on the south bank, which looks like a Tai Chi picture from a distance. Zhenyuan City surrounded by mountains. Not far down the mountain is the ancient architectural complex of Qinglong Cave that once appeared on the postage postcard of "Guizhou Scenery" (Figure 7). The whole group of buildings are backed by mountains and rivers, by cliffs and caves, against walls and volleying in the sky, intrigues and intrigues. Overlooking the river from the stilted building, the water surface is green and rippling, as clear as jade (Figure 8).
Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village
After lunch, go to Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village. Live in the "Story Inn" near the viewing platform of Miao Village. When the lanterns first come on, the Wanjia lights overlooking the Miao Village from the viewing platform of the inn are like stars falling on the top of the mountain.
On the morning of the 30th, I took the scenic bus to Miao Village, where there are mountains surrounded by mountains, and a small stream comes from Leigongping and passes through the village. Five wind and rain bridges span the stream, and the wooden hanging buildings are built against the mountain. The dark red maple boards are golden in the sun, which is quite spectacular. There is a post office with the theme of Chinese Miao culture in the Miao Village (Figure 9), and even the mailbox placed at the door is in the shape of the drum king of the Miao Village. There are Miao style postcards for sale, and there are many scenic postmarks for tourists to stamp. Send a batch of postcards and hand-painted envelopes to friends (Figure 10, 11, 12). After admiring the strong Miao performance in the village (Figure 13), bid farewell to the Miao village and drive to Libo.
Libo
Libo is hidden deep in the mountains in the south of Guizhou, with excellent scenery, and has the reputation of being a secret place in the world. On July 31, we entered the west gate of Xiaoqikong, not far from the Wolong Waterfall, and then went forward to the Yuanyang Lake (Figure 14), which appeared on the postage postcard of "Guizhou Scenery". Yuanyang Lake is two natural lakes, large and small. There is a "water tree shade" about 700 meters long between the big and small lakes, and the beautiful trees on both sides of the lake form sheds. The lake area is densely covered with shade, and the water birds echo each other, making it quiet and deep. Board a boat into the lake and paddle on the meandering lake water in the woods. The color of the lake water varies from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue and purple. Looking around the lake, the verdant trees are sloping towards the lake, reflecting the color of the trees in the water, turning it into a colorful lake. Looking at the shore from a distance, as far as the eye can see, there are four circles of thick shade, water birds calling each other, and the realm is secluded. Being in it is like a fairyland. Then we went to Tianzhong Cave, where calcium acid deposits are in the form of stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars, stone shields, cave beads, flowing stones, etc. The most characteristic is the stalactites that are upside down on the ground like a copper bell. Go out of the cave and go down the mountain, from the water forest, the 68-level waterfall, and the Laya Waterfall to the Xiaoqikong Bridge. This is the world of water, with cascading waterfalls cascading down, or pouring pearls and jade, pushing snow and clouds, or flowing like a horse, like a galaxy pouring down the ground, with various shapes and myriads of scenes. The small seven-hole stone bridge is made of granite strips, covered with vines and ferns, and under the bridge is the fascinating green Hanbitan (Figure 15), with towering ancient trees on both sides, and huge twigs stretching out along the bridge, like The giant umbrella is propped on the bridge. It's a pity that there is no post office in the scenic spot, so we can't leave post marks.
After dinner, we drove to Huangguoshu and checked into the Wanjia Hotel near Huangguoshu. It was already very late.
Huangguoshu
Huangguoshu Waterfall is the largest waterfall in Asia. The main attractions in the scenic area are the Great Waterfall, Steep Pond, and Tianxing Bridge. Among them, the Great Waterfall, Steep Pond, Silver Chain Pendant, and Dishuitan Waterfall have all been on the national business card.
On the morning of August 1, everyone felt tired, so they slept a little longer, and it was already past eight o'clock when they woke up. The enthusiastic hotel owner told us that the Great Falls is crowded with people every day, especially the Shuilian Cave, which cannot be entered at all. It is suggested that we go to Tianxing Bridge and Doupotang Scenic Area first today, and he will drive us into the Great Falls Scenic Area in a private car tomorrow morning, so as to avoid the crowds.
Tianxing Bridge is a karst landform park. The whole scenic spot has beautiful mountains, rivers and trees, just like a large natural bonsai garden. After crossing Tianxing Bridge and exiting Tianxing Cave, you will find Maoshuitan, where many small waterfalls are formed by the ups and downs of the river bed. Then there is the silver pendant waterfall. After the small waterfalls in the upper reaches converge, the water flows lightly along the rough surface of the boulder, spreads evenly, and then slowly gathers in the deep pool at the bottom, like thousands of large and small silver chains falling gently into the water. deep pool. Under the sun, the water seems to be covered with a layer of silver gauze, crystal clear, bright and soft, giving people the illusion of falling into the Milky Way by mistake, and they are reluctant to leave (Figure 16).
Come out of the Tianxing Bridge Scenic Area and go to Doupo Pond. Doupotang Waterfall is located 1 km upstream of Huangguoshu Waterfall. The top of the waterfall is 105 meters wide and 27 meters high. It is the widest waterfall in the Huangguoshu Waterfall Group. In the evening, the tourists dispersed one after another, and the noisy scenic spot gradually became empty. The sunset shone on the waterfall, and the waterfall was slightly white. Doupotang Waterfall shows a soft side (Figure 17).
On the 2nd, get up early. The boss drove us into the scenic spot before dawn. Climbing down the steps from the dense forest, the sky gradually brightened. The trees on both sides of the mountain road grow lush in the humid environment. After a short walk, you can see the big waterfall hanging on the cliff in front of you through the treetops. When you come to the Waterfall Watching Pavilion standing in the air, you can see the waterfall cascading down from the cliff more than 60 meters high, falling into the rhinoceros pool, stirring up waves and flying into the air, and blowing up layers of water with the wind. Fog filled the valley. It has the grandeur of "plain shadows floating in the sky, and cold sounds falling into the Milky Way". Walk along the rugged and wet mountain trail to the Shuilian Cave behind the waterfall. Layers of water flows outside the cave, like thousands of arrows, and the sound of waterfalls is like thunder. When you come out of the water curtain cave and come to the rhinoceros pool, you can see that the waterfall, the rhinoceros pool, the bamboo forest in the canyon, and the vegetation are organically combined to form a spectacular and dynamic three-dimensional landscape painting (Figure 18). It is not difficult to understand that the Huangguoshu Waterfall on ordinary stamps and postage postcards of "Scenery of the Motherland" are all filmed here. I came to the Huangguoshu Waterfall-themed post office at the entrance of the scenic spot at nine o'clock (Figure 19), but the gate was closed. The owner of the nearby specialty store picked up his mobile phone to help me contact me. . Hurry up and stamp on the hand-painted seal that you take away (Figure 20, 21).
Dishuitan Waterfall was seen on the Baling River Bridge when returning from Xingyi. In the valley, Dishuitan Waterfall fell from the sky, and a mist of water rose from the bottom of the valley. Although viewed from a distance, you can still feel the power of it going straight to the canyon with the momentum of thunder.
Xingyi
Drive to Xingyi, in the afternoon to Malinghe Grand Canyon, which is known as the most beautiful scar on earth. The scenic spot is famous for its peaks and valleys, hanging waterfalls, and calcium carbonate wall hangings. The waterfalls and the sunlight reflect each other, and the calcified waterfalls have the most peculiar landscape. The valleys are deep, the flow is rapid, there are many waterfalls, the original ecological protection is complete, and the petroglyphs are so beautiful. When I went out, I sent a few hand-painted envelopes (Figure 22) at the theme post office at the entrance of the scenic spot as a souvenir.
On the way home from Xingyi, it was raining heavily again, and we looked down at the bottom of the valley from the canyon bridge. The turbulent river was like a seam in the ground. Not far away, several waterfalls hit the bottom of the valley with the momentum of galloping horses, stirring up a mist of water in the valley (Figure 23).
Wanfenglin was listed on the national business card "Beautiful China" for its unique beauty of "there are so many mountains in the world, but only here are the peaks forming forests". On August 3rd, I took a scenic tour bus and entered Wanfeng Forest. The beautiful mountains, green fields, winding rivers, quaint villages, and lush forests are integrated into one, forming the best ecological environment in nature. The idyllic scenery of peaks and forests is rare under the sun (Figure 24). After watching it again, we found it still not satisfying, so we drove into the villages and villages of Wanfenglin by ourselves. On the field trails, the air was filled with the refreshing fragrance of rice flowers. You must know that Guizhou is basically a mountainous area. This is probably the flat land where rice can be grown.
In the afternoon, we continued to climb over the mountains and came to Wanfeng Lake. The first thing we saw were thousands of stalagmites. Take a boat tour of the lake, surrounded by tens of thousands of peaks, no matter on the shore or on the lake surface with jagged rocks, the reflection in the water is erratic, like a dream.
Zhangjiajie
On the 4th, drive from Xingyi to Kaili. All the way through the mountains and mountains, this road is very long, passing the world-class famous bridges such as Beipanjiang Bridge and Balinghe Bridge, especially the Balinghe Bridge in the sea of clouds and mist (Figure 25), with thick piers and straight bridges The surface, the curved steel cable... With the change of time and space, it is sometimes soft and sometimes masculine, as if you are in a fairyland. Not forgetting our original intention, we took the famous Anti-Japanese War Highway - Twenty-Four Turns (Figure 26), and it was already dark when we arrived in Kaili.
On the 5th, drive from Kaili to Mount Fanjing. Mount Fanjing once appeared on the national business card, and Mushroom Rock on the top of the mountain also appeared on the postage postcard of "Scenery of Guizhou". After Mount Fanjing was selected as a World Natural Heritage Site in 2018, tourism has become very popular. Fanjingshan tickets were sold out when we arrived. I can only turn around at the entrance of the scenic spot, overlooking the mountain peak, and imagine the mushroom stone on the top of the mountain.
After discussion, several people decided to divert to Zhangjiajie, which has the reputation of "three thousand strange peaks and eight hundred beautiful waters". After lunch, drive on the road and go straight to Wulingyuan.
The natural scenery of Zhangjiajie National Park is known by its peaks, secluded by valleys, and beautiful by forests. In the early morning of the 6th, I took the cableway up the mountain and visited the Tianzishan scenic spot. What caught my eye was the "Fairy Scattering Flowers" (Figure 27) that was once on the postage postcard of "Wulingyuan", just like a girl with flowers on her head, holding an exquisite flower basket in her arms , grabbed a handful of flowers with his right hand and presented them to the world. There are many strange peaks here, as if all the strange peaks in the world gather here. At the viewing platform on the top of the mountain, you can look at the peak and see Yubi Peak. As a representative of thousands of strange peaks here, it has appeared on stamps and postage maps many times (Figure 28-30).
Yangjiajie Scenic Spots mainly include Golden Rooster Announcing the Dawn, Wulong Village, Three Ghost Gates, Yangmen Female General, Echo Wall, Lover Peak, Wuzhi Mountain, Tianbo Mansion and other scenic spots. Among them, the most famous bandit den in western Hunan - Wulong Village is dangerous. , Easy to defend but difficult to attack, quite characteristic.
Coming down from Wulongzhai, there was a sudden thunder and heavy rain. Take a car to the top of the mountain to see the most peculiar and spectacular Yuanjiajie. The Yuanjiajie in the rain is misty and confused, just like a landscape of ink and wash. After the rain, the sky cleared, and the clouds and mists slowly rose from the valley, circling the mountain peaks, looming, like a fairyland on earth (Figure 31), which made people linger and forget to return. "The First Bridge in the World" (Figure 32) is the highest stone bridge in Zhangjiajie. Hengkong "stands" on top of the two peaks, connecting the east and west peaks. The pines on the bridge are tall and straight, the clouds and mists under the bridge are rippling, the abyss is vast, the surrounding cliffs are precipitous, and the water droplets are splashing. Stepping on the bridge deck, I feel like flying in the air and facing the wind. Scenic spots such as Qiankun Pillar, Jiutian Xuanti, Lianxin Bridge, Shengui Wentian, and Mihun Terrace are also shocking.
Descend from the Yuanjiajie Bailong Ladder to Shili Gallery. A day's walking makes people feel exhausted, so take the small train in the scenic area to enjoy the Three Sisters Peak, the Old Man Collecting Medicine, Family Portrait, Index Finger Peak, Camel Peak and other strange peaks. It's just that I still haven't been able to find the location of the main picture on the stamp sheetlet. Mr. Xu Yanbo, who designed this set of stamps, crossed a small stream and found it at the cost of falling into the stream in order to check the original picture of the souvenir sheet. It can be seen that it is not seen on ordinary tourist routes. I'm waiting for a quick pass, so I can only check in here. Later, I called on Teacher Xu to verify it face to face. Teacher Xu told me: This is the scenery at the entrance of the scenic spot. Because the mountain peaks are shown on the stamps, the elements of the streams are deliberately incorporated into the souvenir sheet (Figure 33).
On the morning of August 7, walk into the "Shanshui Gallery" Golden Whip Creek. When we first entered the valley, the sun was still shining brightly. After a short walk, there was a sudden heavy rain, and the tourists walked back one after another, scattered like birds. The still large valley suddenly became empty. We continued to walk along the stone path along the stream, with thousands of peaks on both sides rising into the sky; beside the stream, there were luxuriant trees. After walking about 3 kilometers, the sun squeezed out from the clouds again, and the sunlight shone on the stream through the gaps in the forest, casting beams of light. The mist rises slowly from the stream and is picturesque (Figure 34). It feels more beautiful than the picture of Jinbianxi on the postage postcard of "Wulingyuan". Many lively monkeys are playing in the woods, some are jumping on the treetops, and some are walking in front of tourists, stretching out their paws to eat. There are also mischievous ones jumping directly from the trees into the stream to swim...adding a little fun.
The post offices in Hunan’s scenic spots are quite complete. Each scenic spot has a themed post office. There is also a post office at the gate of Wujiayu scenic spot, providing services such as stamping and sending postcards for tourists.
After having lunch in Wulingyuan, drive away from Zhangjiajie. Along the Hangrui Expressway, I passed through Yueyang and Linxiang, and stayed at Yinshui Renjia, Dafan Town, Tongshan County, Xianning, Hubei at 6 o'clock in the evening. Although there is a hidden water cave in the 4A scenic spot nearby, I am not interested in visiting it. Continue on the road early in the morning on the 8th, and return to Ningbo smoothly in the afternoon. The continuous 100,000 mountains, thousands of beautiful peaks, deep canyons, and rapid waterfalls are endlessly memorable.