The filming location of "Youth": Mengzi, Yunnan's "Little Paris" and the Home of Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles Travel Guide

Many people will notice that a small French-style yellow train station appears in the film "Youth". This is not a temporary set, but a real historical town in southern Yunnan near Vietnam. : "Mengzi", the station name is "Bise Village". Mengzi was also a strategic location during the motherland's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. Today, 468 martyrs are buried in the Mengzi Martyrs Cemetery, which is also an important reason why "Youth" was filmed here.

Mongolia, which is close to the border, has been a famous historical city in Yunnan since ancient times. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the first customs house in Yunnan Province was established here, thus creating the modern industrial and commercial civilization of Yunnan. Mengzi followed France and successively built advanced public facilities such as post office, train station, telegraph office, etc. The ruins of the French Concession and these historical relics gave Mengzi a strong French style.

More than 100 years ago, France colonized Vietnam and began to plunder Yunnan's rich mineral resources. So it requisitioned 100,000 Yunnan migrant workers and used their flesh and blood to build the "Yunnan-Vietnam Railway" to facilitate transportation, which brought together many The blood and tears of Chinese workers have also witnessed a period of vicissitudes of history, and the Bisezhai Station came from this.

Bise Village is located in Caoba Town, Mengzi City, Yunnan Province. It has the title of the earliest railway station in modern history of China. It is a century-old station on the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway. It was designed by the French. At that time, Bise Village was unprecedentedly prosperous, and domestic and foreign businessmen flocked to it. It was called "Little Paris" by Kunming people and Vietnamese at that time.

(The picture shows the Bisezhai Station during the Qing Dynasty)

The station still retains French-style railway buildings and many remains of French foreign companies

But With the decline of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, the busiest station in Southeast Asia has also become quiet. Only the mechanical wall clock brought by the French 100 years ago is still spinning tirelessly, telling the story of time.

On the weather-beaten clock hanging on the wall of the station, the English word Paris is still clearly visible

And the abandoned and dilapidated Bise Village seems to have played a French romantic joke on the world. The former prosperity hidden behind the pomegranate garden is no longer there, giving people a sense of loss that is confused by time and space.

Looking at the houses that have gone through vicissitudes of life, one cannot help but feel nostalgic

What is left over from history is not only its mottled imprints, but also the engraved meaning of the next generation under the yellow old house. A generation of ancient civilization

Datong Company back then could only stand quietly on this land

Don’t think that Bisezhai is just a remnant of history and has lost its most beautiful scenery. part, that's not the case. Nowadays, those red tiles and yellow walls are still swaggering through the city, exaggerating the French romantic atmosphere everywhere, and telling the story of the entire southern Yunnan without being humble or overbearing. The French-style brick and wood structure building, coupled with ancient civilized Chinese customs, is full of extraordinary cultural atmosphere on the first floor and the bottom, and is still full of time charm.

Huang Xuan, the male protagonist of "Youth", described Mengzi this way: "I went to Nanhu in the afternoon the second day after I arrived, rented a boat and paddled for two hours. I really liked it here. I feel very relaxed as soon as I arrive. I don't feel the pressure of the city, and it's not so noisy. It's very suitable for living here. I go out for a walk every day when I have nothing to do. If I like a place, I will walk around. I am attracted by this place. I've been all over it."

You can feel the prosperity and sadness of the past in the yellow and white French-style buildings.

Go boating on the lake in Nanhu Park and eat the most authentic bridge crossing. Rice noodles,

Completely release the railway feelings between the meter gauge and inch gauge of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway,

Recall the passionate youth in Bise Village, the "Little Paris of the East" a hundred years ago Years,

Reminiscing about the passing years of the romantic people at the old site of Southwest Associated University.

The wide variety of rice noodles will refresh your understanding of rice noodles to a new level. The 30,000-acre orchard hides the most delicious sweet pomegranates and pipa in China, as well as the irresistible roasted tofu and brown sugar. Feng Xiaogang and Huang Xuan fell in love with rice cakes as soon as they arrived.

If you are a railway fan, a lover of rice noodles, or just want to eat, then you must not miss this low-key southern Yunnan town.

First impression of Mengzi, Yunnan

It has both Jiangnan tenderness and French charm

Mengzi

In Yunnan, there is a kind of beauty Called "Bazi", Mengzi Dam is the largest dam in southern Yunnan. After crossing the hills, we came to an open and flat land, passing by large and small lakes and patches of orchards. The air became warm and humid, cute hieroglyphs appeared on the street signs, and people wearing various national costumes strolled leisurely. Congratulations, Mongolian Since arrived.

At first glance, Mengzi looks nothing like the Yunnan small town in the traditional impression. There are Jiangnan-style bridges, flowing water, pavilions and pavilions, as well as Western-style French buildings and cafes. The streets are clean and orderly. It is well-organized, but there are rice noodle shops and roasted tofu shops in every three steps and one big shop in five steps, reminding you at all times that this is Mengzi.

24h city walk

Bring out a small town in southern Yunnan in time

Many people may still be unclear about the name Mengzi compared to Kundali. But the small and beautiful destinations hidden here not only allow people to travel back to their youthful years, but the legendary stories hidden behind them may be even better than the movies. And we will use 24 hours to take you on an in-depth tour.

8:00-9:00

|| Eat a bowl of cross-bridge rice noodles with "the bowl is bigger than the basin"

Mengzi

Getting up early to blend in with the locals, squeezing into a shop with a lot of people, and eating a big bowl of the most authentic Chrysanthemum Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles is the right way to open up in Mengzi.

In Mengzi, cross-bridge rice noodles are sold in a "graded system", ranging from 8 yuan to 25 yuan. Add the meat first, then the chopped green vegetables, a few sprigs of mint, and finally "cross the bridge" the rice noodles. Everything is ready, including the soup, meat, and rice noodles, "suck" it into your mouth together, and then take a careful sip of the soup. The delicious and mellow taste lingers in your mouth, and it doesn't feel too good.

Mengzi

Tongde Square is the "breakfast street" in Mengzi. They are all breakfast shops that make bridge rice noodles. Each shop specializes in one thing, which you can see here. A shop specializing in "Duck Crossing the Bridge", "Sheep Crossing the Bridge", "Pig Crossing the Bridge" and "Chicken Crossing the Bridge". On Xingsheng Road, which is a few blocks away from "Zhaobian Street", there is an old shop that has been open for more than 40 years, "Wuji Mutton Rice Noodles". The soup base is mellow and old people often go there. In addition, the Burning House Chrysanthemum Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles is also very popular.

Other recommendations: Tuanshan Beef Rice Noodles on Honghe Avenue, which has a good reputation

9:00-10:00

|| Take a look at the museum "The most dazzling national style"

Mengzi

The best place to quickly learn about a city is the museum. Mengzi is the seat of the capital of Honghe Prefecture. The full name of Honghe Prefecture is Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture. It is home to 10 ethnic groups: Hani, Yi, Zhuang, Miao, Yao, Dai, Hui, Buyi, Lahu, Han and Blang. nationality. In addition to the usual civilized scenery and historical evolution, the most worth seeing in the Red River Museum is the exhibition of clothing and housing of various ethnic groups, which is truly the "most dazzling ethnic style".

Address: West side of Honghe Plaza, Honghe Prefecture Administrative Center, No. 65 Tianma Road (free and open)

10:00-12:00

|| Make one The down-to-earth Nanhu boating people

Mengzi

Nanhu is to Mengzi, just like Green Lake is to Kunming and West Lake is to Hangzhou. However, Nanhu is not a "small park" without a story. It is the birthplace of the real Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles, and it was also a regular gathering place for professors and students of Southwest Associated University. These two points alone have made it an instant hit. city ??park.

What's more, boating on Nanhu Lake is indeed a great pleasure. The blue sky and white clouds on the plateau fall into the turquoise water, the flowers and willows on the shore are red, and a breeze blows, and you're intoxicated!

Address: Nanhunan Road 8:00-23:00 (free and open)

12:00-13:00

|| Eat an authentic and sumptuous meal The "Long Street Feast" of the Hani people

Mengzi

The Yuanyang rice terraces have made the Hani rice famous. The five-color flower rice in Honghe Prefecture is a favorite of many foodies. The annual lunar calendar During the October Festival, Hani villages and counties will hold a "Long Street Banquet" to celebrate the harvest. The banquet is several hundred meters long and includes grain fish, Hani chicken dipped in water, chicken in bamboo tubes, boiled snails, cold olive bark, and banana leaves wrapped in barbecue. Meat, three-color eggs, glutinous rice cakes and other Hani delicacies are bombarded in turn. The Hani people on the tip of your tongue can eat them all in one meal.

Mengzi

Of course, if you can’t make it to the long street banquet, finding an authentic Hani restaurant in the city is also a good choice. You can still enjoy an authentic and sumptuous Hani meal A real treat.

Mengzi

The Hani family is not far from Nanhu. After visiting Nanhu, you can stop by for dinner. It is hidden deep in an alley factory. Once you walk in, you will find a unique place with rich ethnic characteristics. The dishes are spicy, sour and salty, and taste better than they look. Beef jerky, loach jerky, peanut and wild vegetable soup, rapeseed cake, and blood sausage are some of these local delicacies that you can’t find elsewhere.

Address: In the Agricultural Technology Promotion Center, Nanhunan Road, Wenlan Town

13:00-15:00

|| Have a cup of "Southwestern Associated University" Afternoon tea

Mengzi

Mengzi is a small city, but it is not backward. This is the earliest trading port in Yunnan. At the end of the 19th century, foreign companies from France, Britain, the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany and Greece successively settled here. Nowadays, Yunnan arabica coffee is becoming famous, and the first coffee shop in Yunnan was opened in Mengzi.

Mengzi

Strolling along Huanhu Road, you will see French-style buildings appearing one after another. The former site of Mengzi Customs, the French Consulate, the "Yilou" of Brother Lushi and Zhou Bazhai are all... It is the former site of the Mengzi Campus of Southwest Associated University. Walk slowly, take a closer look, and then have a cup of afternoon tea of ??the same style as the Associated University in the French Garden. This afternoon is related to the prosperous years.

Mengzi

The French Garden Bar is located at the former site of Mengzi Customs. There are only a handful of bars built in the national cultural heritage. The bar retains the original European style, with a long Floor-to-ceiling curtains, milky-white blinds, carved iron bars, European-style wall lamps, and wine cabinets filled with a dazzling array of red wines are full of exotic atmosphere.

Address: Customs Road

15:00-18:00

|| Make a mini train dream of "Oriental Little Paris"

The biggest attraction of Mengzi, and the thing you can’t miss the most, is this mini “Little Oriental Paris” - Bise Village. Whether it’s for history, architecture, railways, or exotic customs, this French-style place hidden in a mountain village in Yunnan is worth a special trip. This is also one of the important filming locations for "Youth".

This is the intersection of the meter-gauge Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the inch-gauge Bishi Railway. At that time, trading companies, garages, customs, police stations, hotels, basketball courts, tennis courts, and cafes were all available. . More than a hundred years ago, Bise Village has become a hot topic in European Paris cafes. Today, only the clock with missing hands proves to the world that it comes from distant Paris.

Address: Caoba Town, Mengzi County

18:00-20:00

|| Have a barbecue fantasy night starring "Roasted Tofu"

▲Picture: Weibo @ MU Chun Shan

Mengzi

At night, when you return to the city, you can start a hearty barbecue night . The movie "Bite of the Tongue" made Jianshui's roasted tofu break out of Yunnan and reach the hearts of foodies. In Mengzi, the roasted tofu and various barbecues in the streets and alleys are no less than those in Jianshui. Mengzi's nights are all about barbecue, with all kinds of ingredients and fancy dips, a magical barbecue night is born.

Recommendation: Just go to a crowded place on the street

Go straight down to the river mouth in 2 hours and cross the border to Vietnam

Experience the French romance that travels through time

Mengzi

If you have enough sightseeing in Mengzi, you can take the train to Hekou, which takes 1.5 hours and takes about 2 hours by car. This is the last stop in China on the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway. It faces Vietnam's old market across the Red River. The Mekong River and the Red River intersect here. Most people who come here will choose a one-day or two-day trip to Vietnam.

|| Shopping in Hekou

The local food is mainly sour and spicy Vietnamese food, including tropical fruits, Quan Chong Yan Night Market, Vietnamese rice noodles, Vietnamese roll noodles, and Vietnamese rice dumplings. It’s time to eat. If you want to eat special dishes, it’s recommended to visit the night market. The border trade street next to the port is full of Vietnamese people coming to do business. They sell everything from snacks and snacks to wood carvings and slippers, and the prices are sometimes cheaper than in Vietnam.

Mengzi

The Hekou is separated from Vietnam by a river. The taste has both Yunnan and Vietnamese characteristics. You can eat Yunnan delicacies such as flower rice, Hekou rice dumplings and insect feast. Vietnam Small roll noodles, small baguettes and Vietnamese coffee can also be found everywhere. What’s even more exciting are the tropical fruits, such as jackfruit, sugar apple, dragon fruit and passion fruit. They are cheap and delicious.

◆ Information on one-day or two-day tours in Vietnam:

There are many travel agencies in Vietnam near Bianmao Street, providing one-day tours, two-day tours in Sabah, or Lao Cai Sabah, Sabah Fangcheng Port, Sabah Ship Port, Sabah Nha Trang and other travel options.

The current one-day tour price is 480 yuan. Usually, most people choose the two-day tour of Lao Cai and Sabah. The price is about 580 yuan per person. The certificate of Chinese tour guide includes food and accommodation. You can apply with both your passport and ID card (passport issuance is faster). Go one day in advance and ask the travel agency to apply for a pass.

|| Vietnam Lao Cai Transfer Station

Vietnam starts from the port of Honghe Prefecture in Yunnan, walks through the China-Vietnam Bridge at the customs, and arrives at Vietnam Lao Cai. It is said that many Vietnamese come to China from Lao Cai in the morning to work and make a living in Hekou, China, and return home in the evening. One of their iconic features is that women wear bamboo hats and men wear green helmets.

Lao Cai is a border city in northwestern Vietnam and the capital of Lao Cai Province. Compared with the wide streets and high-rise buildings in China, the houses in Vietnam have a very Nanyang style. Every household is a long and thin Western-style building, painted in colorful colors, typical of Southeast Asian style. The city is more like China in the 1980s, full of socialist aesthetics.

◆ Recommended travel routes in Vietnam

Route 1: Hekou-Lao Cai-Sapa (two days and one night)

Vietnam

Sabah is 38 kilometers away from Lao Cai and takes about an hour by car. Due to its spring-like climate all year round, Sabah has been a resort for French colonists since the 19th century. European colonial colors and ethnic minority cultures complement each other to form a unique Vietnamese style. Sapa is very small and you cannot see the night view on a one-day trip, but a two-day trip is just right.

Route 2: Hekou - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Halong Bay - Da Nang - Nha Trang - Saigon (more than one week)

Vietnam

If you plan to transit through Hekou For long-term travel in Vietnam, it is recommended to take this route. From north to south, we pass through all the major tourist cities and attractions in Vietnam, from mountains and rivers to cities, through ancient cities and across lakes and seas, all the way south, Vietnam becomes more and more beautiful, and finally we reach the capital, Ho Chi Minh City, taking in all the most beautiful Vietnam.

Practical guide

Transportation:

Mengzi does not have an airport for the time being, so you can only choose railway or highway. The railway is more comfortable. The only trains currently available are regular express trains, which take 4 hours from Kunming to Mengzi and 1.5 hours from Mengzi to Hekou.

Accommodation:

There is still some distance between the train station and Mengzi city, but the accommodation here is very cheap. You can consider finding a B&B or inn in the city.

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