★Tourist location: Zhijin Canyon, Zhijin County, Bijie, Guizhou
From the Zhijin Cave, there is a car heading to the Grand Canyon at the door. Sitting in the car, we can see the Grand Canyon. The sharp cliffs are indeed the most typical appearance of the canyon.
The car stopped at the entrance of the Grand Canyon Scenic Area, probably because it was a little late, and the traffic in the visitor center was a bit bleak. Generally speaking, it is enough to play Zhijin Cave for about half a day. Most tourists can go out of the scenic spot to have lunch, and then they can arrange the itinerary of the Grand Canyon. We stayed in Zhijin Cave for too long, and now we can only go to the Grand Canyon to touch our tails. Alas, sometimes, I just feel that I can't have my cake and eat it too.
Zhijin Grand Canyon, also known as Qijie River Park, is located in the Qijie River landform unit area, covering an area of 47 square kilometers. With Qijie River as the link, there are various typical karst landscapes. What we often call the Grand Canyon is locally known as the Grand Canyon, which is about two kilometers long from the dam to the Grand Canyon. The canyon is box-shaped and is the most beautiful section of the Qijie River Canyon. Probably because Zhijin Cave became more and more famous, so the scenic spot was renamed "Zhijin Grand Canyon". In the scenic spot, it is possible to buy a joint ticket with Zhijin Cave.
When you walk into the entrance, you will see the Qijie River. Crossing the bridge is the Science Popularization Corridor, which is the starting point of the tour route. After passing through a science popularization corridor, there is a long plank road, and on the left is Dinosaur Mountain. We have not had time to find out whether it is the remains of dinosaurs or it looks like dinosaurs. Because it is too close to the mountain, we certainly cannot see whether the shape of the mountain is similar to that of a dinosaur.
The name "Bridge on the Bridge" sounds more catchy, far from the bridge on the bridge in Huangguoshu, which sounds like a tongue twister. In fact, there is a bridge on the bridge, which is also a natural bridge. The stone bridge looks very special.
Across the bridge is the Swallow Cave. The lights in the cave are not too bright. It is about 40 to 50 meters high, 60 to 70 meters wide, and 400 meters long. Just came out of the Zhijin Cave of the King of Caves, and passed by this not-so-long hole in a hurry. Because of weathering, there are still some small holes beside the cave wall, where you can see the water of Qijie River.
The cave is not long, and we soon reached the exit. When we heard the familiar sound of waterfalls, we couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised: “There are also waterfalls here? Let’s go and have a look!” But isn't this something I haven't seen in Zhijin yet!
There is a "Wan Yan Homing" viewing platform outside, and the name means that you can watch the spectacular picture of "Wan Yan Homing". It stands to reason that the time we arrived was almost the time for the swallows to return to their nests, right? Of course, we didn't stay for long, maybe we can see the swallows returning to their nests after a while. But we are not sorry, because standing here, you can feel the waterfall roaring under your feet. Although the scale of the waterfall cannot be compared with Huangguoshu, standing here is also a special feeling.
Walking along the plank road, the river is rushing under your feet. The river course is not too wide, and there are large and small stones scattered there, which have not been washed smooth by the river water.
In front is the Tiansheng Bridge, but I have seen Wulong's Tiansheng Third Bridge. Although the scale of this Tiansheng Bridge is not small, it looks really tall, but it doesn't feel that shocking. Through the bridge hole, you can see the stone wall exposed by the opposite green hill.
Under the Tiansheng Bridge is the Jingu Temple in the style of Ming and Qing Dynasties. When it comes to the locations where temples are built, most of them are places with excellent scenery. There is a cliff above the gate of the temple. We looked too high at first and did not find the Buddha. Then I looked down and saw a slightly deeper rock on the lower right side, and it really looked like a Buddha statue. But after getting far away, I realized that the stone wall itself is actually the face of a stone statue, with eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth vivid. So, dare we stare there for a long time, just watching a smug?
Walking down for a short distance, we saw the skylights, and there were actually two more, not too regular round or oval, and the light swayed down wantonly, but it didn't affect the sight.
Originally, we didn't want to take the sightseeing elevator. We always felt that since there is a plank road, we can naturally walk along the way and see more scenery. However, because the scenic spot ticket itself includes the elevator fee, and because it was too late, we could not go back to Zhijin County, so we chose to take the elevator. This elevator is 108 meters high, which can be regarded as a relatively humanized means of transportation. Through the glass, you can see the scenery of the Grand Canyon, and the angle is naturally different from the view on the plank road.
The Zhijin Grand Canyon is called "the world's first-class karst landscape" by geologists, and is famous for "the water on the water, the hole on the hole, the bridge on the bridge, and the sky beyond the sky". Looking at the Grand Canyon from mid-air is even more shocking.
The elevator goes up very fast, which is a pity. Before we have time to experience it again, we are about to say goodbye to the Grand Canyon. After I came out, I looked at the map and found that I missed a few landscapes. Sure enough, I would miss the beautiful scenery by taking the elevator. However, the time is getting late, no matter how regretful we are, it is impossible for us to go all over again.
After coming out, I stopped a car going back to Zhijin on the side of the road, and when I got back to the county town, the lights were on, and it happened to be dinner time. We were not in a hurry to go back to the hotel. We asked the master and got off the bus directly in the bustling neighborhood. It should be considered the center of the county town, and the flow of people is quite large.
I didn’t know until I arrived at Zhijin, but Kung Pao Chicken is actually a special dish of Zhijin. I always thought it was a Sichuan dish. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Ding Baozhen, the Minister of the Qing Dynasty, officially named the crown prince Shaobao, known as Ding Gongbao, who was born in Pingyuan, Guizhou, which is today's Zhijin people. It served as an official in both Shandong and Sichuan, and it was the favorite dish of spicy chicken. In order to commemorate Ding Baozhen, later generations named this dish Kung Pao Chicken. So, it’s okay for us to treat it as a Sichuan dish, maybe we ate this dish and brought it back to Guizhou when we were officials in Sichuan! Today, Kung Pao Chicken is widely spread. Most provinces in the country have this dish, and some people call it Kung Pao Chicken. In fact, it is because later generations do not know the origin of Kung Pao Chicken, and the sound of Bao and Bao is very similar, so they understand it as the meaning of stir fry.
There is also a special dish of blood tofu, which is made by kneading pig blood and tofu in sour soup. It contains both blood and tofu, and the color is similar to that of pig blood. I thought it was duck blood at first glance. . However, Zhijin's blood tofu is a bit old and has a smoky taste. Seeing this dish served on the surrounding tables, it is estimated that most people like it.
