Wenling Trip

Woke up, I found myself was in the crowded subway train on my way to work. It was Monday morning, people got in and got out of the train, as busy as usual. I suddenly didn’t know where I am and what I was doing, I just wanted to fall asleep again, dream going back to the amazing trip of Wenling, escape from hustle and bustle of the city

That was a few days ago, I had got an invitation of my friend, so I asked for leave and decided visting Wenling. The distance from the airport of Taozhou to the downtown of Wenling is half hour bus drive. I have never been to Wenling before, so I have no idea what Wenling is look like and I have no expectation from there. My friend’s invitation was just an excuse that take a break from my busy work. But when I was sitting on the airport bus and looked out of the window curiously. I found Wenling is a different city from Beijing, less people, small street, much more relaxed. And I found some small temples at the countryside, the architectural style is complete different from Beijing, for instance the forbidden city . That made me feel very interested. I started to feel excited and expect more for this trip.

The first day, we went to Fang Mountain. My friend told me, Fang Mountain is one of the top 10 most unique resorts in China, global geo park, national scenic site. The steep cliff, fantastic peaks and valleys, cascading waterfalls and the pastoral life altogether make the resort awesome. But when I looked Fang Mountain, I didn’t agree what my friend had told me. It was just look like a nomal mountain to me, but I didn’t tell my friend. I told to myself: “I hope it is very good as you said.” A few minutes later, we start to climb the Fang Mountain.

When we got into the Fang Mountain, I was surprised. Because it is another world, trees, waterfalls and stone steps which there are moss on, so mysterious, secluded. The atmosphere made me forget every problem that bothering me. All of sudden I felt I become a Chinese ancient poet and wanted to read some Tang poems.

After about 15 minutes climbing, we reached the ancient Fangyan Academy. It was a school in Chinese ancient times. My friend told me it has a long history, very famous Chinese calligraphers, Wang Xizhi who lived during the Jin Dynasty (265–420) and famous geographer Xu Xiake who lived Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) had visited there and left their poems. I was impressed for the Chinese ancient education history, when I was in there, I could imagine the pictures of how the students study in ancient times.

Left ancient Fangyan Academy, we continued climbing. Druing the climbing, I found some Buddhist temples and some Taoist temples. I could feel the strong religious culture and the Chinese ancient architectural style interested me very much. The architecture of China is as old as Chinese civilization. From every source of information - literary, graphic, exemplary. Their roofs are with a sweeping curvature that rises at the corners of the roof. The curve is much beautiful than forbidden city style I think.

 

Finally we got to the top of the Fang Mountain, big surprise! Could you imagine there are lakes on the top of the mountain? It happens there. Lakes, bridge, pond, waterlily, Buddhist pagoda and temple, they are so beautiful, I couldn’t describe the beautiful scenic site in words. They used concepts from Chinese cosmology such as feng shui (geomancy) and daoism to organize construction and layout from religious structures. I almost forgot what’s the age I have been living on.

The second day my friend brought me to the Shi Tang Ancient Village. He told me, Shi Tang has been crowned as Oriental notre Dame, it’s a village in the painting which is famour for its balance of natural beauty and human life. Shi Tang is surrounded by waters with picturesque view. The rocks, sea and mountains add radiance to each other. This time I totally agreed with him. I was obsessed by the beautiful stone houses. The village is located at the hillside by the sea, I was stand on the top of village, I saw the stone houses is the stone path, all embracing each other, showing the magnificence. And stone houses rise and fall, stone lanes stretch far; stone step strew at random; sea winds play all around, singing melodies of a fisherman’s song.  It’s the blending of human life and nature.

I think our visit broke the quiet of the village. Some villagers came out from their stone houses and tried to find out who come to their village. And some villagers didn’t notice us, they just kept doing what they usually do. I found there is a couple , sitting on the wooden bench or stool and chatting. They were so cute. The stone houses and the stone paths, steps, well are so beautiful, I felt like I was walking on some village in Europe instead of China.

My friend told me there are drum shows, cabinet carrying shows in dragon boat festival and special shows on Chinese balentine’s day, the South Min traditions add mystery to this ancient village. “ Too bad I can’t see it now” I said. “ Next time then, haha’. My friend laughed.

The third day we visited Chang Yu Dong Tian Cave. The most attractive thing is there are 28 holes and 1314 stone caves, all the caves are connected to each other, presenting to the visitors various shapes. Maybe you would say, “Come on, there are so many places have caves, why should I visit there?” But don’t you know, all the caves are man-made stone cave. All the stone caves were made with plants, water system well preserved. It’s a sustainable development of natural resource. When I was in there, I felt so pride of Human creativity.

After 3 days unforgettable travel experience! I didn’t want to leave Wenling!

 

                                                     Peter

2010-10-18