Travel Notes | Walking in Lishui (1) - Xiandu

The next trip is to Lishui, which is located in southern Zhejiang and is the poorest place in Zhejiang. (This sentence roughly summarizes the two most important features of Lishui)

Lishui may be considered a relatively niche tourist destination. N years ago, I asked a friend from Zhejiang where there was fun in Zhejiang, and his answer was Lishui. I had a question mark in my mind at that time? ? ? ? What is this place? I haven't even heard of it. Then I checked what was there, and found out that there were terraced fields, villages hidden in the valley, and ethnic minorities. Um? Are you sure this is Zhejiang? Not Yunnan? Then I discovered that the transportation in these places that may not be considered tourist attractions is extremely inconvenient. Apart from self-driving, only urban and rural buses are available. Given how difficult it was, every time I had the chance to think about where to go, I gave up because it was too troublesome. Today, transportation in Lishui is still inconvenient, and self-driving is still the most appropriate mode of transportation.

Lishui is located in the southwest of Zhejiang Province and was named Chuzhou in ancient times. Lishui is the largest prefecture-level city in Zhejiang Province by land area and governs 9 counties: Liandu District, Longquan City and Qingtian, Yunhe, Qingyuan, Jinyun, Suichang, Songyang and Jingning counties. I calculated my itinerary for the past few days: I stayed in the center of Lishui on the first day and went to Guyan Painting Village, which is considered a visit to Liandu District; I visited the Xiandu Scenic Area, which is considered to have set foot in Jinyun County; I saw the clouds and terraced fields, it was like passing through Yunhe County; finally, we visited Songyang Old Street and stayed one night in Songyang County, which was like checking in to Songyang County. In just three days, I visited many places in a daze. Generally speaking, Lishui in southern Zhejiang is rich in mountains and rivers, and the scenery is beautiful. You can enjoy the scenery just by walking around. Probably because of this, transportation is inconvenient and the economy is backward.

I can quote an official description below. In short, the scenery and environment of Lishui are great.

Lishui is the "Green Valley of Zhejiang" and an important ecological barrier in East China. It has unparalleled ecological advantages and is known as the "First Ecological City in China". The mountains are the top of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the water is the source of the six rivers. The sources of Oujiang River, Qiantang River, Minjiang River, Feiyun River, Lingjiang River and Fu'an River are all in Lishui. The city's forest coverage rate is as high as 81.7%. The water and air quality ranks among the best in the province all year round, and it is the only non-coastal, low-altitude city among the top ten cities with the best air quality in the country.

The first scenic spot I visited in Lishui was Xiandu Scenic Area. I don’t know whether it was too hot that day, or I was a little tired of this kind of scenery after two days of shopping in Tonglu. I just thought the scenery was average. The most outstanding advertisement for this attraction is that it is the filming location of "A Thousand Bones of Flowers" and "The Legend of Ancient Swords" was also filmed here. This scenic spot is very large, with several scenic spots scattered in different places. You can take the scenic transportation bus to travel between the scenic spots. I mainly visited Dinghu Peak, Zhutan Mountain and Xiaochibi. Walking down, it seems that you have made a 360-degree circle around the iconic peak of Xiandu (Dinghu Peak), looking at this peak from all angles.

During the National Day, the Huangdi Temple in the scenic area is holding the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor Sacrifice Ceremony. During this period, the Huangdi Temple is not open to the public. After the ceremony, it was reopened to tourists at 12 noon on October 4. We happened to visit this attraction in the afternoon and were not affected at all. I didn’t know anything about this sacrificial ceremony and didn’t have much interest in it. I just walked through the palaces and took the cable car, and then I was able to overlook Dinghu Peak from a height.

Looking at so many stairs, I have no interest in walking up them.

hot dog

There is a not-so-obvious "old farmer holding a cow" on the bridge in the photo above, which is the most famous scene of the "Zhutan Mountain" attraction (pictured below). Because it is the National Day holiday, the scenic spot arranged this performance for free. In normal times, this performance requires payment, and some professional photographers will pay to let the old farmers and cows walk through it.

I can't even figure out why this attraction is called "Zhutan Mountain". All this attraction has to do is cross the bridge and take a spin. But because it was too hot, I was too lazy to think too much, so I quickly retreated after shopping.

One-way line, tourists queuing alternately to cross the bridge in both directions

Yunhe Rice Terraces is already the third rice terrace I have seen. The first two are Guilin Longji Rice Terraces and Guizhou Jiabang Rice Terraces. Although we passed by the rice terraces three times, the weather was actually pretty good. The only thing we could see clearly was the Jiabang Rice Terraces, but we didn’t see the sunrise because of the rain. Appreciating the rice terraces is very demanding on time and weather.

Yunhe Scenic Area includes Baiyin Valley and Jiuqu Yunhuan. Jiuqu Yunhuan is a place for viewing terraced fields, and Baiyin Valley is a place called Kenggen Village, also called Kenggen Stone Village. The entire Yunhe Scenic Area is hidden in the mountains. Whether it is Jiuqu Cloud Ring or Baiyin Valley, it can only be reached through winding mountain roads, which is a test for driving skills.

This time, the clouds and terraces were still filled with heavy fog. The fog was slightly lighter at lower altitudes, but it was still cloudy and foggy. In a short period of time, I have no expectations for the terraced fields, so that’s it.

Below is the Baiyin Valley Scenic Area, which is a village called "Kenggen". The village is completely hidden in the closed valley with the rising peaks. A stream flows down from the high place. The houses in the village are scattered high and low on both sides of the water. It is said that this village has a history of 800 years. "According to historical records, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court set up a silver mining bureau here, and miners used local materials in the village. While mining, they built unique villages. It took more than a hundred years to form the stone village, so it is also called Kenggen Stone Village "

The village is not big, but when I walked up and down the narrow stone road, turning left and right, I often couldn't figure out where I was walking, whether I could continue forward, or whether I accidentally walked into someone's house. There are several B&Bs, cafes, restaurants, and cultural and creative shops in the village, but there are not many other shops. This village is really a bit remote. However, the decoration of these cafes and restaurants and bars is very good. They are also distributed high and low on the hillside like the villagers' houses. But the difference is that modern buildings can make full use of glass for viewing and lighting, and use large-area floor-to-ceiling windows on the external side. The glass gives the house a perfect view. You can overlook the mountains in the mist from a distance, and overlook the joyful mountain springs flowing around you from a near distance.

If I lived in this place for half a month, I would be able to recognize everyone in the village. Wouldn't it be boring if I had an Internet connection? It feels like a paradise far away from the hustle and bustle. It's remote enough. Except for the inconvenience of shopping, everything else looks pretty good.

I was very confused at first, why is this scenic spot not called Kenggen Village? What is the relationship between Silver Valley and Kenggen Village? After some research (as shown below), it turned out that this area was once an important silver-producing area, and there was indeed such a place as the "Silver Valley", and Kenggen Village was at the mouth of the Silver Valley at that time.

Kenggen Village is located at the mouth of the Baiyin Valley, which is thousands of meters above sea level. There is an ancient silver mine site deep in the valley. Documents such as "History of the Ming Dynasty", "Daming Huidian" and "Ming Dynasty Records" record that the mountainous areas of southern Zhejiang are very rich in silver mineral resources, and Yunhe is an important It is a silver-producing area where the Ming Dynasty recruited a large number of migrant workers to mine and refine silver. The mine is a mining area, usually located in high mountains, while the smelting area is located at the foot of a nearby mountain, with roads connecting the two places. The canyon from "Kenggen Shizhai" to Meizhu was the ancient road used by miners in the Ming Dynasty to transport silver ore, so it is called the "Silver Valley".

After entering Lishui, I ate Jinyun sesame cakes every day. There were thin ones and thick ones. I didn’t know which ones were authentic. It felt like the Guokui we eat in the north? I remember that I was very fond of prunes near Huangshan. There is still a vast world of prunes here. They are so important as stuffing, accompaniment and soup.