It was late autumn and the temperature continued to decrease, the Jiulong Pond in Zhenshui Village, Huangjing Yao Township, Xinning County had gradually glowed with autumnal tints. Under the blue sky and white clouds, the serried woods deep-dyed, what a poetic autumn scenery!
The yellow of autumn starts from the leaves on the tree tips, the dancing autumn wind blows over the mountains and fields and changes them into dark green, bright yellow, and slightly red. Under the clear sky and blue cloud, the leaves quietly fall. The scene of “blue cloud sky, yellow-leaves covered land” slowly comes into view, like the taste of life changing.
Jiulong Pond is with high mountains and deep valleys, few people come here. It has preserved a relatively intact subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest ecosystem and is a pure natural “oxygen bar”. The golden pine, larch, maple, and metasequoia trees in the forest have put on dazzling attire, and the mountain road meanders into the distance, creating a stunning autumn scenery.
Viewing from above, the beautiful scenery stretches for thousands of acres, with fiery maple leaves, golden larch, and wine red metasequoia shining brightly in the warm sunlight.
The bright autumn sun and mist complement each other, creating a unique autumn painting.
The Feishuizhai Waterfall is located in Anyang Village, Yidushui Town, Xinning County. With a drop of 108 meters and a maximum width of about 10 meters, it is divided into two stages, falling firstly over 100 meters onto a rock shelf, and then falling into a oval deep pool with 3 meters deep and 3 meters wide. Like a natural bathtub, the deep pool’s water is clear and transparent, and you can see the bottom.
Standing under the waterfall and looking up, the waterfall is like a silver curtain sprinkled with pearls, while the water mist is flowing below. Surrounded by green mountains and towering ancient trees, the waterfall is with fresh air and plant fragrance, adding a touch of beauty to its grandeur.
The Legend of Feishuizhai Waterfall
Legend has it, in the late Ming Dynasty, the government was corrupt, with exorbitant taxes and levies everywhere, making it difficult for the people to survive. In Lingyangli (now Yidushui Town), there was a person named Li Feishui with excellent martial arts skills. He can walk on the steep rocks and walls, and even on the water. He is extremely chivalrous, robbing the rich to help the poor, and fighting against the government, but he was deeply loved by the local people! The landlord and corrupt officials hated him to the bone, eager to catch him and eat his flesh. The government sent troops to encircle and suppress him several times, and with the help of the local people, he was able to escape.
In the last time the government sent heavy troops to surround and suppress him, chasing him from the current Xicunfang Village to Anyang Village, blocking him in the current Feishuizhai Waterfall which is surrounded by cliffs. With Anyang Village above and Huangnidong Village below, there is only one way to go through. Both ends of the road were blocked by troops and the government called him to surrender. However Li Feishui was calm and unhurried, holding up his umbrella and jumping down from the top of the waterfall. Against the backdrop of the waterfall, descending like a immortal to the earth, Li Feishui floating in the deep pool below, which made the officers and soldiers stunned! Then Li Feishui burst into laughter at the officers and soldiers above, drifting away without a trace.
Since then, the local people have never seen Li Feishui again. In memory of him, the local people called this waterfall Feishuizhai Waterfall. There is also a folk legend has it that Li Feishui has incarnated into a mountain god, guarding the mountains and the people. In the late 1980s, some people dug mountains for illegal mining around Feishuizhai waterfall. But some supernatural things often happened in the mines, and the people said it angered the mountain god Li Feishui. These men had to close mines willingly to preserve the green mountains and waters around here. Thanks to its beautiful scenery, fresh air, clean water and cool temperature, Feishuizhai Waterfall is a nice summer resort now.
The memorial archways were quite popular in ancient time, but Sandushui Memorial Archway is quite unique. It is the only huge archway that is still well preserved in Xinning county.
Sandushui Memorial Archway, also known as “Li Zhao Qian’s Wife He’s Archway” and “Archway of Chastity & Filial Piety Honored by Imperial Edict”, is located in Cha’an Compound, Sandushui Village, Yidushui Town, Xinning County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province. It was built in the third year of Daoguang’s reign in the Qing Dynasty (1823) and stands on the main post road from Xinning county to Dong’an county. It is now beside the national road 207.
The archway is in the style of a pavilion, made entirely of large ridge stones, with a height of 10 meters and a width of about 7 meters. It is with four big stone pillars and three overlapping layers from top to bottom. There are three parallel doors from left to right. The middle door is 3 meters high and 2.3 meters wide, and two side doors are 2.7 meters high and 1.6 meters wide. Four stone pillars with a height of 7 meters stand tall on four huge stone bases. The entire archway has a rigorous structure and a dignified sitting posture. The relief stone carvings on the archway are dazzling. There are 15 relief carvings of various characters, such as leading an ox, carrying plow, sitting and meditating. Each layer has two Aoyu-shaped cornices(Aoyu,a huge legendary turtle). The archway is exquisitely carved and finely engraved with mythological stories such as Kuixing(Test God), Ten Dragons Robbing Treasures, Eight Immortals Floating in the Sea, Red Phoenix Bowing to the Sun, Two Lions Rolling Ball, Plowing and Farming, and Kirin, Monkey, Frog, Flower, Bird, etc. Ten window frames of different sizes in the archway embedded with over 40 patterns of birds and beasts. The carving is exquisite and delicate, the statues are vivid and lifelike, and the craftsmanship is exquisite, making it breathtaking.
The ambiguous words carved in the middle of the bottom layer read as follows: This archway is to honor 84-year old Mrs. He, who was the daughter of He Wenzhang and the wife of a Confucian scholar named Li Zhao Qian, lived in Xiaoxi Village, Xinning County, Baoqing Prefecture, Hunan Province.
According to the words carved , the memorial archway was built by the emperor to praise Mrs. He, demonstrating the benevolence and filial piety of the royal court and educating the people. Li Zhaoqian, the husband of Mrs. He, was known as Guozhen. He was born in a wealthy family and was a scholar. Unfortunately he passed away 55 years earlier than his wife. His wife was the daughter of He Wenzhang who was also from a prominent family in the local area. Mrs. He would rather remained a widow, maintained chastity, showed filial piety to her parents, educated her children well, and many of her descendants have achieved great achievements. Her behavior can be said to be admirable. The local government (or its descendants) reported her deeds to the emperor who instructed to build memorial archway to honor Mrs. He . According to Li’s genealogy, the memorial archway was built with money allocated by the royal court. When the memorial archway was built, Mrs. He was already 84 years old and she witnessed this archway specially built her.
The Sandushui Memorial archway embodies the wisdom and culture of the ancients. It was announced by the Hunan Provincial People’s Government as a provincial key cultural relics protection unit on January 24, 2011.
Known as the “soul of Langshan”, Bajiao Stronghold is one of the core attractions of Langshan mountain. Its main attractions include One Foot Crossing Two Provinces, Dragon Door, Palm Cave, Yuntai Temple, Whale Paddling in the Sea, Yixiantai, King of Medicine Temple, and so on. The undulating Danxia Peaks are magnificent, with lush forests growing on the flat top of the peaks.
Started from Nanning at 8 pm, my friend and I drove through Quannan Expressway and turned into Hubei Expressway. The journey took about 7 and a half hours, and we arrived at Langshan around 4 am the next day.
The weather in the mountainous area was constantly changing. As soon as we arrived at the top of the Bajiao Stronghold by cable car, the heavy rain poured down in an instant, lasting for over an hour. We were extremely excited, thanks to many years of shooting experience, we all knew that there will be mist rising in Langshan mountain when the sun rises after the rain. If we were lucky, we may see a large sea of clouds.
Sure enough, as soon as the rain stopped, the mist slowly rose and gathered more and more, soon enveloping the entire Langshan Mountain. My friend and I openned the drone to start aerial photography on the observation platform in the left front of the cable car station, and took photos of the entire Bajiao Stronghold. At this time, the Bajiao Stronghold was like a dreamy fairyland, with thousands of mountains clean and the Immortal aura floating over high.
From 9am to 11am, the sea of clouds lasted for two hours, with peaks resembling snails, winding and undulating. The ever-changing nature endows the Bajiao Stronghold with different forms of beauty. The Danxia Mountain stones, which appear faintly amidst the clouds and mist, are even more diverse in appearances, with vivid and lifelike shapes. The landscape with strong visual tension made our shooting very exhilarating.
On September 28th, Xinning Splendid Dinosaur Park officially opened to welcome tourists, adding a new tourist attraction to the Langshan Scenic Area.
The Splendid Dinosaur Park is located at the foot of the beautiful Langshan Mountain and by the banks of the Fuyi River, adjacent to the Shunhuangli Cultural Tourism Industrial Park. Featuring the theme of dinosaurs, the park covers an area of more than 40 acres and is divided into dinosaur exhibition area and activity experience area. It is the first independent large-scale park in Langshan with 17 mechanical power facilities and 30 amusement and sports facilities.
During the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, in addition to various regular themed activities and performances, fireworks performances were also held to provide visitors with exciting and diverse entertainment experiences, bringing a lot of happiness to the tourists.
Golden autumn in October, in the Shitian village, the ancient and simple houses with green tiles and white walls, and the golden paddy waves complement the distant Candle Peak and Camel Peak, presenting a charming autumn pastoral painting.
The autumn wind sweeping by, the golden rice fields rolled up with golden waves. With the gentle breeze, flowing light and shadow intertwined, presenting bright and colorful colors. The ears of paddy are ripe and full, and droop low, showcasing the charm of maturity, shining like gold, making people feel relaxed and happy.
Overlooking from a high altitude, the beautiful scenery is in full view, with the green mountains surrounding the paddy fields and the villages interspersed. A unique painting of crested ibis flapping their wings and flying gracefully in the paddy fields catches the eye, which is elegant and vivid.
The mountains and crested ibis in the painting complement each other, giving a poetic and picturesque atmosphere to the tranquil countryside, jointly forming the “intoxicating” beauty curve of the beautiful Langshan Mountain.
Chilli Peak Scenic Spot, a dense area of Danxia pictographic landscape in Langshan Mountain and an outstanding representative of dense Danxia peak clusters, perfectly shows the development and evolution mechanism and process of Langshan Danxia, as well as the extraordinary natural beauty of Danxia. The scenic spot covers an area of 9.62 square kilometers. The main attractions are Chillie Peak, Camel Peak, Linjia Stockade, Egong Stockade, Candle Peak, Yixiantian, Longkou Chaoyang, etc.
Linjia Stockade
Egong Stockade
Egong Stockade
Swallow Stockade
The famous Chilli Peak in the scenic area is located on the top of Foding Mountain. It rises from the ground, stands out in the air, goes straight up and down and disregards the peaks around. Its absolute height is 180 meters, the top is big and the bottom is small. Its top’s circumference is approximately 100 while that of bottom is 40 meters. Since it is reddish red and looks like a huge red chilli from a distance, so commonly known as “Immortal Chilli Drilling Ground”. In 2002, the famous French “Spiderman” Alan Robert climbed the Chilli Peak with his bare hands, creating a new myth, then the Chilli Peak became famous all over the world.
Camel Peak is a three-sided steep Danxia pinnacle pictographic landscape with a height of about 188 meters and a length of about 273 meters. Looking from the north, the camel has a round head, towering peaks and bald tails, with staggered heights, clear structure and lifelike shape. The Candle Peak next to the Camel Peak is 199 meters high and about 400 meters in circumference. It looks like a red candle.
On the first day of year 2021, the newly-renovated “Fangsheng Pavilion” opens again.
Located on the rocks of Litou Bay on the bank of Fuyi River in Jinshi Town, Xinning county, the “Fangsheng Pavilion” was initially built in the 25th year of Shaoxing period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1155). In the Ming Dynasty, an ancient stele engraved with the word “Fangsheng” was discovered when rebuilt it, so it was named “Fangsheng Pavilion” until now. “Fangsheng” means free captive animals.
Hengpu, used to be a town in Xinning county and later merged into Huanglong town, stretches at the foot of Jinziling mountain. It is especially famous for its terraces and is a good place for rural sightseeing!
Hengpu terraced fields cover Hengpu village, Tiantai village, Tiaoshi village and Cushi village, starting from Xiacushi in the south and reaching Pengjialing in the north. Throughout the year, many photographers come to Hengpu to shoot and record the beauty of its terraces in spring, summer, autumn and winter. Every year, many tourists also travel thousands of miles to Hengpu to enjoy the terrace scenery.
Xicunfang Ancient Dwelling is located in Yidushui Town, Xinning County, Hunan Province. Thanks to its location at the intersection of the ancient post roads between Wugang Prefecture and Yongzhou Prefecture, trade and business have flourished through the ages, making it a settlement and resting place. Because there was a village in the west of the brook, and there were workshops in the east and west of the bridge, so it was named Xicunfang(literally translated as West Village Workshop).
The main body of the existing ancient dwellings in Xicunfang was built by Li Jifu, a memeber of local famous Xiaoxi Li clan during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and gradually expanded by his grandchildren in Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. With a history of more than 300 years, it is an ancient and mysterious village with the architectural characteristics of Luling school. The ancient building complex is adjacent to the mountains and surrounded by the brook. With a total construction area of 6218 square meters, it includes houses, ancestral halls, guild halls, bridge pavilions and other parts.
Located in the southwest and facing the northeast, the main buildings of residential complex are arranged in three vertical and three horizontal directions, forming nine quadrangle courtyards of different ages, seemingly unified but relatively independent. The non-slip pavements are paved with cobblestones with all kinds of patterns and designs, and crisscross with ditches.
The layout of the buildings is orderly, and the strictness of the feudal hierarchy is reflected everywhere. The building complex is majestic and simple. The exterior walls are built with blue stones and blue bricks one by one. The cornices and corners are tilted and the beams are painted with different colors. The interior is made of wood structure. It is said that no iron nail was used. After hundreds of years of wind and rain, it still stands. The wooden walls, doors and windows of each building are decorated with various patterns and carvings, which are exquisite and antique in drawing, and pleasing to the eyes.
This complex of buildings is large in scale, rigorous in structure, well-proportioned in layout, and exquisite in craftsmanship, which is rare in Shaoyang city. It has high historical, scientific and artistic values and can be called the superior work of ancient architectural art in Ming and Qing Dynasties, enjoying a good reputation as a wonderful work of folk houses in southwest Hunan Province.
Since the beginning of the new century, this small mountain village, which has been silent for hundreds of years, finally attracted the attention of the world. In January 2011, Xicunfang Ancient Dwelling was announced as a provincial cultural relic protection unit by the Hunan People’s Government. In 2013, it was officially listed in the second batch of Chinese Traditional Villages.
Langshan Mountain-World Natural Heritage 