Zhenyuan ancient town is one of the ancient towns that must be visited in this life.

Let me say a few digressions first. Guizhou is a magical place, and you can marvel at it every time you go.

It was an accident to go for the first time. I'm going to Luoping with my classmates. As a result, the locals recommended us to go rafting in a nearby place called Maling River. It was so strange that a group of people went at once. Maling River is located in Xingyi, Guizhou, at the junction of Yunnan and Guizhou, where Han Hong sang Dawn. Of course, we went earlier. The Maling River has not been fully developed. There are few people, the water level difference is particularly large, the water is fast and the route is rugged. In order to ensure safety, there must be two locals on the rafting raft to control the route in tandem. We are all sitting on a drifting raft, and we must always hold on to the rope, otherwise it will be easily thrown into the water (I will laugh and cry when I see the drifting on the hovercraft). The river is very long, drifting for three hours, and the scenery along the way is beautiful. Yes, it is such a little-known place with beautiful scenery.

Today, Zhenyuan Ancient Town, located in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou Province, is unknown, but extremely amazing. The mountains and water in Guizhou are underestimated.

In fact, I have known Zhenyuan ancient town for a long time, and I feel that the information is very profound. Many people say that reading travel notes is boring. I have been struggling. Later, because I was going to visit Huangguoshu Waterfall, I decided to stop by.

The train arrived at Zhenyuan station at noon, because it was July, near Hunan, and the temperature was very high. The weather forecast is 38, and I feel at least 36. Fortunately, there was a hotel booked in advance opposite the station, so I put my things away and went out to eat.

Zhenyuan county is not big. My hotel is at the foot of the mountain. There are four or five bus stops to the ancient town, which is opposite the hotel. The bus in Zhenyuan is very small and looks wooden. The windows are antique and distinctive. Zhenyuan has left an excellent impression on me since the bus started.

The ancient town is located in the mountains of Wuling Mountain, and there is a Wuyang River winding through the city in the middle, which looks like gossip. Since ancient times, it has been the only place for the Central Plains to enter Guizhou. Known as "the hub of Yunnan and Chu, the gateway of eastern Guizhou", it is the traffic artery that enters the southwest border. The ancient town has a history of more than 2000 years, with many historical sites and beautiful scenery. There are ancient houses with blue bricks and green tiles on the banks of Wuyang River. I got off at Zhu Sheng Bridge in Zhenkou and walked slowly along the stone road, just like walking in a painting.

It was already one o'clock in the afternoon and I was very hungry. Seeing many Miao sour soup shops by the roadside, I walked into one casually. Ordered food, walked to the river and sat down. It's cool and breezy. It's beautiful to see the blue sky and white clouds and the green hills on the other side reflected in the water. A covered boat staggered past on the water, and the ripples spread in circles.

Miaojiahong Sour Soup is highly recommended here, with bright red color and moderate sour and spicy taste. There are sour soup fish and sour soup trotters, which can be cooked with vegetables when eating. It tastes great. Yunnan-Guizhou tastes more sour and spicy. I bought a lot of Kaili sour soup from snacks, but Zhenyuan red sour soup simply refreshed my three views. Originally, I liked Dongyin Gong Tang best. Every time I eat it, I want to say why there is such a delicious soup, but Zhenyuan sour soup is not inferior at all. I was shocked at the first bite, which led me to search Guizhou soup in Taobao as soon as I got home, and then changed to Dongyin Gong.

There are various historical sites in the ancient town, such as Qinglong Cave, Zhongyuan Temple, Wanshou Palace, Bridge, Xiangluyan, Tianhou Palace, Ancient City Huan, Wuwang Cave, Sigong (Oriental God of War Temple), Heping Village and Zhou Dawen's former residence. Many alleys are long and narrow, and when you walk, you will suddenly have a cave. Many century-old houses are open to welcome guests, so you can go in and have a rest. Another bowl of iced sour plum soup, let alone how pleasant it is. Because it was too hot, I walked through all kinds of cool alleys after dinner. Looking around, there were traces of history everywhere.

The most beautiful thing in Zhenyuan ancient town is the night scene. At night, all the red lanterns under the eaves are lit up, and the whole ancient town is brightly lit, and the street is like day. Light and shadow reflected on the river, full of color. There is a painting boat passing slowly in the river, and it is really beautiful to sit in it and swim in Wuyang River at night.

The shore is full of tables and chairs in the open air, and tourists can watch the night scene while drinking and eating, but they don't know that they have become a landscape in the eyes of people on the bridge. The starry sky is bright, the night is like water, and fireworks are noisy. Many folk singers shuttled through it with their guitars on their backs. When a guest ordered a song, they would stop to play and sing a song. The moonlit night by the river is beautiful, which makes people linger.

The next morning, I went to Qinglong Cave, an ancient architectural complex of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, which was built on a cliff on the other side of the river, commonly known as semi-suspended temple. It's steep when you go up. There is a lot of space inside, and the combination of architecture and caves is very clever. It is said that Zhang Sanfeng once kept his monastery here for three years. Standing at the window overlooking, you can see Wuyang River winding through the ancient town like Taiji Bagua. In the morning, the river is foggy, just like a fairyland.

I went to another restaurant at noon and continued to eat red sour soup, but it was not as delicious as yesterday's, and I was a little depressed.

I continued to wander around the town in the afternoon, mainly going to two places. One is Heping village, which was a Japanese prisoner shelter set up by the Kuomintang in those days. The area is quite large. Seeing the introduction and various configurations inside, it is estimated that the days of Japanese prisoners are not bad. The other place is Zhou Dawen's former residence, so I won't introduce Zhou Dawen. This used to be the former branch of Zhenyuan underground party organization.

I have been to many ancient towns, except the first time I went to Lijiang as a child, which surprised me the most. In fact, some houses along the street in the ancient town were built later, but it didn't affect the style of the ancient town at all. Because there is a profound culture precipitated by history, and the whole ancient town is surrounded by mountains and waters with beautiful scenery. Business is mature, but it won't be too noisy. The consumption of the town is not high, the folk customs are simple, and there are many delicious foods. This is an ancient and modern town. It is like a pearl hidden in the mountains. It's kind of like the Peach Blossom Garden.

I am the train at night. I'm leaving this unexpectedly beautiful ancient town. Before I leave, I know I will definitely come again. It's just that the memories are so beautiful that I'm afraid of being close to home.