Miscellaneous Notes on Western Hunan

Going to Fenghuang Ancient City is a dream. The origin is that Xiangxi is the hometown of two people. One is Shen Congwen. I have read his articles since junior high school and admire him. The other is Mr. Shen’s nephew, "older than me." Huang Yongyu, the old man, likes it.

Mr. Huang Yongyu’s writing is like that of an old naughty boy. The taste is playful, cute and unique, like Hunan cuisine, fragrant and spicy, mixed with wisdom and humor. It often makes me laugh and cry sometimes, and sometimes laugh and cry at the same time.

I finally got a relatively free opportunity. The group of Baozu Travel Club was disbanded. The ancient city of Fenghuang was on the itinerary. Before going to Fenghuang, I first went to Zhangjiajie. I thought that Fenghuang would be fine, so I set out to go. The description of travel notes is not about tourist attractions, but more about what you heard and saw along the way and some personal experiences and insights. Writing down what comes to mind is called casual notes.

Departing from the Suzhou High-speed Railway, the tour guide Akun picked him up at the Hankou Railway Station Square. Things have changed, but Hankou is still the transit hub for transportation from Hunan to the north. In 1933, Shen Congwen returned to his hometown after getting married and stayed at home for a few days. Taking the transfer train to Beijing via Hankou, the group gathered at Hankou Railway Station smoothly and stopped for half an hour at the Red Building of the Hubei Military Governor's Mansion. Then they drove to Zhangjiajie, Hunan, the first stop of the trip. The train was slow due to rain. When crossing the Yangtze River, the river surface in Hankou was worse than The fields I saw in Nanjing, Tongling and Nantong Yangtze River Bridge were wider and more desolate. Maybe it was because of the drizzle, and the river currents had a desolate atmosphere. The Red Mansion, also known as the "Shouyi Tower", fired the first shot of the Revolution of 1911. It is very close to the world-famous Yellow Crane Tower. Some tourists in the same group asked why they didn't go down to the Yellow Crane Tower. Akun said that the Yellow Crane Tower is chargeable. , the Red Building is free, Akun’s reply was honest, without any detours, we tourists knew how much we paid for attraction tickets, so more than half of them went to the Red Building, and the other half went to the Yellow Crane Tower. What were we doing? In the square in front of the building with my back to the big characters of Yellow Crane Tower, I took a photo and posted it on WeChat Moments. I then went to the Red Building and walked around for fifteen minutes before I came out. In the time saved, I quickly went to the restaurant to eat a bowl of Wuhan Hot Dry Noodles. While eating noodles, I lamented that "young people are terrible" because among the tour guides who introduced the Red Mansion, I was attracted by a very young tour guide. He led a group of students. In addition to telling the process and details of the uprising, he also talked about those who participated in the uprising. The revolution and life trajectory of the generals or main parties after the uprising, their fate ups and downs, and their final destination, such as Sun Wu, who was proud of his merits after the uprising, left the Tongmenghui, took refuge in Yuan Shikai, and supported Yuan as emperor. After Yuan Shikai's death, he lived in seclusion and died of illness in 1939. Jin Zhaolong - Wuchang Uprising was when he welcomed the artillery team into the city to attack the Huguang Governor's Mansion. Later, he repeatedly fought against the Qing army as the captain of the death squad. Later, he was dissatisfied with the current situation of the rebel army and left the army, defected to the Beiyang regime, and was awarded the prestigious position of "Hubei Tax and Anti-Smuggling Captain". After the Northern Expeditionary Army captured Wuchang in 1927, he was dismissed from his post and died of illness in 1933. Wu Zhaolin also withdrew from politics after the uprising and returned home. Later, he engaged in public welfare undertakings and presided over the construction and repair of the Fankou Dike, the opening of the Yue River, the construction of the Wangtanghuang Dike and other water conservancy projects, turning water hazards into water conservancy. After the Japanese invaded China, he refused to win over the Japanese and died of illness in 1942.

? The original intention of life and revolution, private interests, public power and ideals, and history are intertwined and complicated. If the original intention does not change, it will be lost or drift away, and it will be magnified into the long river of human history. At that time, The auspicious light or grand narrative of the earth to an individual is as small as dust, like ripples in water, which will subside in an instant. There is no absolute greatness and no eternal humbleness. Even the truth does not necessarily represent the truth! This reminds people of Yang Yinyu, who left Beijing and lived in Suzhou after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. The Japanese army invited her to take up a puppet post, but she sternly refused. The Erle Women's Academic Club she founded became a safe haven for women. She used her savings to expand the building to protect more women, and finally became a thorn in the side of the Japanese. On New Year's Day in 1938, she was brutally shot by the Japanese on Wumen Bridge. kill.

The bus continued to move forward in the rain, heading to Zhangjiajie, tomorrow’s scenic spot. Akun is a young man from the Tujia nationality, smart and talkative. Along the way, he introduced us to the three Hunan and four rivers, national customs, and why there are bandits in western Hunan. There are two types of hemorrhagic men, bandits, one is a full-time bandit to make a living, the other is farming during the busy season, and going up the mountain to become a bandit during the slack season. Duzhuang in Xiangxi is famous and is also called the peeling tree. Why is Tianmen Mountain repaired in 9980? In Bayi Bay, the mountains kept falling. After worshiping the mountain and placing mountain fences with mountain gods and beasts, there were no rocks falling. He said: "There are no fun scenery, only fun people. If people are fun, they are all good scenery." These words made me admire him with admiration.

Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area amazed and admired me. What is amazing is the miraculous power of nature. The sky is blue and blue, and the sea of ??clouds is changing. In the first three seconds, I wanted to take a photo with the mountain peaks behind me. The next second, the clouds and mist shrouded the mountain peaks and they were no longer visible.

What I admire is the orderly management of the scenic spot, the tight organization, the considerate service, and the classic planning. They are all generous, such as the Tianmen Cave plane crossing, limited sports, and cliff dancing. Of course, all of these are professional It is built on the basis of operation and willingness to invest. There are 12 escalators going down the mountain alone, many of which are built inside the mountain. The investment must be huge.

After going down the mountain via the internal escalator and a section of ropeway, we finally arrived at the minibus transfer, which is the 99881 Bay that the tour guide introduced earlier. There are indeed handrails on the side of Ruishanju Road, and the aerial view of the cable car looks like a snake. , it’s really spectacular. This driver probably drives often and drives boldly. He doesn’t slow down much at the bay. The minibus turns left and right in the bay. Affected by centrifugal force, the passengers are on one side of the car. It was so fun to scream loudly while taking pictures. I held the edge of the front seat tightly with sweaty palms. Due to the altitude difference, I suddenly felt a buzzing in my right ear when I reached the foot of the mountain. I also felt indirect pain. This feeling was a bit like the situation before the plane landed. The car After stopping, I hurriedly rushed to a store to buy chewing gum and chewed it. The pain did not subside, so I called my wife. She had some medical knowledge and asked me to pinch my nose and breathe in, and follow the rules. The inside of my right ear seemed to bounce back slightly. It doesn't hurt anymore. This trip was a worthwhile experience, but the best way is to prepare chewing gum in advance to avoid this sin.

Fenghuang, south of the Tuojiang River, has a fishy smell of grass and mud, and the old stone slabs, Miao women on the long walls, and wall dishes are as before, but the rest is insignificant. Goods are sold everywhere, both sides of the river are full of lights, and bars are full of neon lights. Noisy, looking for a quiet drink of tea on the river bank to no avail. Go to the East Tower and turn to Dongzheng Street to see the Phoenix Ancient City Archway. Turn left to live in Shen Congwen’s former residence. Return and go there tomorrow morning

The next day, Gastrodia is bright and quiet. , the morning sun has not yet appeared, there is no one in the streets, only the singing Tuojiang River, Fenghuang Ancient City, at this moment, is the Fenghuang Ancient City, reflecting the green mountains, bridges, stones, city walls, ducks swimming in the water, a moist and quiet place, from the inn Pass the former residence of Xiong Qingling and the former residence of Chen Dounan from the bluestone slab, turn right, and soon you will arrive at the former residence of Mr. Shen Congwen!

? Cinnabar was the most famous product produced in Chenzhou (now Yuanling), Hunan Province in the old days, hence its name. It is also called cinnabar. It is estimated that it was a valuable or luxury item in ancient times. The poem said, "The wine and meat of the Zhumen stink." The gates were painted with cinnabar. The emperor's seal also used cinnabar. I have known that cinnabar is a traditional Chinese medicine since I was a child. My parents quarreled when they were young, and my father had a bad temper. The loud noise often made my mother angry and weeping. The pot was cold and the stove was empty. Relatives at home came to persuade my mother, "Ignore him. He just smells like beer. He ate cinnabar when he was a child." Is drinking Chinese medicine containing cinnabar harmful to other people's beer? I have no way of knowing whether the hot anger is directly related to it. Anyway, it gives my father a step down and is a "dissolving agent" for the family atmosphere, so that our growling stomachs can eat the food cooked by our mother as soon as possible. There are cinnabar shops everywhere in Fenghuang Ancient City, making bonsai, pendants, bracelets, necklaces and other accessories. According to the tour guide, in 1969, when the Tiananmen roof was being repaired, craftsmen opened the glass tiles in a place and suddenly found a golden nanmu box, which contained gold ingots, rubies, and something like a red pencil tip, which was twisted into red. The red powder, identified by experts as cinnabar, became a treasure for town building. This can be seen in the use of cinnabar to control the house and ward off evil spirits.

? Buffalo horn comb

Tian Nongyu was born in 1893 and is the oldest old man in Hunan Province. According to the tour guide, Hunan Satellite TV once interviewed the old man and asked him what his secret was. , the old man said: I get up in the morning and comb my head, soak my feet in the evening, and go to bed with nothing in my stomach.

Driving to Miao Village in Guzhang County, there are many mountains on the way. In the evening, the nearby mountains are green and the distant mountains are green. Sitting in the bus, the view of the distant mountains is like a painting from the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It is pleasing to the eye, but it is closed to the Miao people who have lived there for generations, but it is inconvenient to travel. They especially understand the popularity of Miao medicine and boiling water with silver to prevent diseases. In ancient times, the witch and Nuo culture of respecting gods and practicing witchcraft was spread.

After the trip, here’s a summary of the diary: First, try not to sign up for a group tour. Second, if you don’t sign up for a group tour, the more specific the arrangements for each itinerary and scenic spots, the better. Three: Set a cap on shopping spending. Attached shopping list: a box of Eucommia tea, a bottle of Eucommia essential oil, some ginger candies, two horn combs, a pair of Eucommia chopsticks, a box of Eucommia cosmetics, a box of Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain tribute chrysanthemum, three boxes of Eucommia toothpaste, and a box of Pueraria lobata powder .

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