These attractions are all in the East Dongting Lake near Yueyang City, which is just one of the eight hundred miles of Dongting Lake component. And dream water town, fishing and hunting paradise in the western part of Dongting and what people think of it, today you will follow me there to search for the deep, mysterious, vast, magical Western Dongting Lake.
Small town style
Tuesday, November 25, 2003, a friend and I in Changsha City, West Bus Station, spent 30 yuan to take a luxury bus to the town of Hanshou County, Jungshanpu, and then transfer, along the smooth hard countryside highway to the north, fifteen minutes later we arrived at the town of Jiangjiazui, the ticket price of 3 yuan. It took only two hours to travel from Changsha to Jiangjiazui town a***.
Jiangjiazui town is a small town between the city and the countryside, the street is wide, along the street is a store, in addition to the most grocery stores, the number of beauty salons, in addition to the teahouse and a lot of family hotel. The town is surrounded by water on three sides and built on mountains. She leaned on the north of Muping Lake, the east side of the Dragon Pond accompanied by the Dragon Pond Lake water as clear as turquoise, surrounded by mountains, shaped like a green dragon claws, the lake side of the weeping willows, the west side of the exit of the Canglang River, the ancient Canglang River originated from the Wuling Mountains between the Cangshan Mountain and the Langshan Mountain, meandering flow ninety-nine bays and then converge into the dongtian. Her coast is full of wonders, on one side are mountains and mountains, on the other side is a flat river, Qu Yuan in the river out of the "Canglang of the water is clear can be Maundy maundy my tassel, Canglang of the water is turbid can be Maundy maundy my feet". Today's Canglang River is flowing a kind of noble spirit, a kind of the world are drunk I wake up alone character.
People used to call the place that protrudes into the water the mouth. The earliest inhabitants of Jiangjiazui were fishermen from Dongting Lake, who made their living by fishing and hunting, and recuperated in the mountains, which became a natural fishing ground. When there were many fishermen, the boats were numerous. They collected the discarded and broken oars and used them to build sheds. So this place was named "Oar Frame Tsui", which was later changed to Jiangjiazui.
The small town is not noisy and noisy, not as closed as the countryside, it is as rich and accessible as the city, but also has an idyllic mountain and the elegance of the quiet, it is the Pearl of the Dongting Lake, Hibiscus Kingdom in the emerald, the locals call this place a paradise on earth.
Western Dongting Lake International Wetland Protection Station is located at the end of this town. The station to the protection point, there are about a kilometer more blocks, luggage, take a slow tour, if you are a foreign tourists, do not forget to talk about the price before getting on the car, the actual price of a car 2 yuan, if you do not say good price off the car when he may want to 10 yuan, although only 8 yuan, so that you feel cheated.
Treasure trove of knowledge
Through nearly a kilometer of streets, Xidongting Lake is in front of us, the end of the street near the lake with few stores and few pedestrians, we came to the management office of the nature reserve. The building style of the management office is very international, with a large lawn and small but neat rooms. The gray tiles on the roof, the white exterior walls, and the dazzling blue and white observation tower make the administration office look elegant and solemn. On the wall of the management office, a hundred-meter-long scroll painted with the spring color of Dongting Lake and celebrity poems, called the wetland gallery. The mission of Xidongting Lake Reserve is to protect waterfowls and the whole water ecosystem. The background of the whole building is a painting made in heaven - Megaping Lake.
"Hi! Hello guys!" A young man in a red hat greeted us. This is one of the lucky ones of our trip, we met a guide who knows a lot, i.e., enthusiastic and talkative, his name is Zhang Meifang, originally he lived in the lake's Qingshanwan, Wanzi retired from the field and returned to the lake after two years of jianghu in the northern area, since the establishment of the protected area of the Xidongting Lake, he came back to start the tourism service center of the Xidongting Lake, Zhang is a kind-faced person who is easy to get close to. His service center is right next door to the missionary museum of the reserve. He took us to the museum and revealed a magical wetland world to us in a very standard Mandarin.
West Dongting Lake is located in the western part of the Dongting Lake Basin, with the regional scope in Hanshou County, Hunan Province, 26 kilometers away from the county town and 60 kilometers away from Changde City. The Yuanjiang River and the Li River meet here and enter Dongting Lake, which is an inseparable and important part of the whole Dongting Lake wetland, and is a typical representative of subtropical inland wetland, which is rich in biological resources and has important protection and scientific research value.
Western Dongting Lake wetland has special geomorphology, mainly manifested as a lake when the water rises and a continent when the water falls, and at low water level, there are both bright water and reed marshes, tussock swamps, peat marshes, sandy beaches and other geomorphology, which provide a good breeding place for a great variety of wetland organisms.
According to the survey data, the wetland of this district is an important place in the migration process of rare fish such as Chinese sturgeon and anchovy, and an important station in the migration process of endangered birds such as cranes and storks.
The region's vast waters, many lakes and continents, suitable climate, abundant water and grass, abundant fish, shrimp, mussels, is a variety of birds live in a good place to live. According to the survey records, there are 136 species of birds of 15 orders and 35 families in the region, including 83 species of waterfowl, accounting for 61%, and 112 species of migratory birds, accounting for 82%.
The region is rich in fish resources, with 114 species of fish in 12 orders and 23 families, of which 103 species, or 90%, belong to local fish subspecies, species or families. The vast majority of these species belong to the lake sedentary type, their reproduction, growth and development throughout their lives in the lake. There is also a considerable part of the semi-migratory fish, they grow and develop in the lake, but must go to the Yangtze River, "four water" and other rivers in the spawning and hatching, the young fish into the lakes for bait, fertilization, into the river, between the lake migration. Not only can we stabilize the fish resources in this area, but also play a complementary and optimizing role for the fish resources in the whole Dongting Lake area.
In the missionary museum, we watched the fish and bird specimens, deepen the understanding of the wetland of Xidongting Lake. After two hours of "wetland" science study, when we walked out of the exhibition hall, climbed thirty meters high viewing platform, the wetland in front of us has been so magical, so great, from the depths of the heart produced a kind of emotion - love it well, protect it well! It's a good idea to love it and protect it.
The Story of Qingshanwan
At four o'clock in the afternoon, with the knowledge we had just learned, we used our third eye, the lens, to look for photographs that could reflect the beauty of the wetland. Coming out of the reserve to the west, we walked along the south dike, south of which is the Canglang River, which is connected to Meiping Lake through three sluices. The neat rows of nets outside the embankment constitute a unique landscape of the water town - the people on the water. Those people originally lived in Qingshanwan, immigrants, no land, the World Wide Fund for Nature funded them to engage in net box fish farming, each net box subsidy of 400 yuan. Looking around, Qingshanwan embankment meandering long, huge embankment like a huge dragon on the water, the floodwaters broke down the gap in the long embankment into several cuts, I exclaimed, this is the real water chopped dragon waist. When we stood on the back of the dragon, we could see that there were strangers in the village, dead trees and abandoned houses standing there telling people about the history. Qingshanwan was reclaimed from Dongting Lake in 1976, with an area of more than 13,000 mu, mainly composed of paddy fields, fish ponds and vegetable bases. After the construction of Qingshanwan, it fought against floods every year, and finally the dike broke in the great flood in 1998, and nearly 6,000 people in the dike became victims. The history of Qingshanwan has been staged countless times in Dongting Lake. For thousands of years, the enclosure of Dongting Lake has never stopped. From the feudal regime issued "reclamation licenses" to the modern reclamation, created and abolished, abolished and created, as the folk saying goes: "the old field is low", the lake bed year after year in the accumulation of elevated, resulting in easy collapse of thewan. In the Dongting Lake, there are thousands of such ruined wans. A tombstone from the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty washed out in the gap of Qingshanwan, proving that Qingcao Lake had been reclaimed more than once. During the Tang Dynasty, Tang Wenru, a famous Confucian scholar, traveled to Dongting Lake and wrote the famous lines "The west wind blows the old Dongting Waves, the white hair of Xiangjun grows more in one night, I don't know that the sky is in the water when I am drunk, and my boat is full of dreams pressing the river of stars" at the Qingcao Lake in Longyang County (the location of Qingshanwan). Standing by the lake, I can't help but feel that things have changed.
At six o'clock in the afternoon, we stood on the Qingshanwan embankment, in front of the wetland consisting of several water surfaces, which are the original fishponds. At this time, the sun slowly and the water surface closer and closer, the sun in the water sprinkled a golden yellow band of light, this time just a fisherman, hold a boat to drive a group of ducks passing by, ducks in the golden water surface swim through, a picturesque fishing countryside scenery, thousands of lakes and water color, the present intoxication of the picture was presented in front of the eyes. After a few minutes have passed, the red sun approaches the lake, when the sun is already crimson and tender, and in every piece of water there corresponds to a corresponding sun. I have been to many famous mountains and seashores, but it was the first time that I had seen so many suns appear at the rising and setting of the sun. The scene would make my blood boil, and watching the sunset and sunrise at Xidongting Lake is probably the most exciting thing we can do.
After watching the sunset, Zhang contacted his friend, Xu, and said he would be his guest for dinner. Brother Xu and his wife live on the surface of the outer lake, which is Dongting Lake. Brother Xu is a local fisherman. His family has a net box, the house is floating in the net box next to the house area may only be more than ten square feet, inside a bed, basically occupies half of the entire house, the outside is the living room, of course, in addition to the hall guests, rest in addition to cooking, eating, repairing nets and so on, in short, all things to be accomplished in this room. Brother Xu was very happy to hear that we were coming, because the weather was not so good these days, he didn't go out to fish, so he didn't have any stock at home. He knew that we came to the fisherman's dinner, will want to eat to the Dongting Lake fish, they went to a friend to ask for four feet long, outside the lake in the carp. Local fishermen like to eat fish from the outer river because the water in the outer lake is flowing water, while the water in the inner lake is relatively static.
Since three people were added to Xu's family at once, it was no longer possible to turn around for the already tight living room, but there were two more wooden boats outside the house, so we were arranged to rest on the wooden boat outside, and even though we were outside, it didn't affect at all the chatting with Xu's elder brother, who was helping his wife with her work in the room. From his ancestors to his small children, their life and recreation, their survival and wetland protection, the contradiction between the way they fish and the policy, the rest period of the lake and the source of life ......, talked for a long time, talked a lot and talked y. Xu also told us a little-known history - a folk legend about Dongting Lake:
Dongting Lake in a long time ago, is not a lake, but a land full of grass, the Miao people are the masters of this place, they graze their cattle and sheep, cultivate their lives, and gradually formed a small country of the Miao people, an earthquake, due to the Yangtze River water The Hmong decided to migrate due to the flooding of the Yangtze River. Their wisdom was that they would not be flooded if they went to the high ground, so they moved westward along the river into Dongting. The origin of the name of Dongting Lake has been unknown, some of the books "Changde Chi", "Hunan Zhi", "Dongting Zhi" only mentioned Dongting Lake, also known as the nine rivers, five islets, Baqiu. Originally, Dongting is the name of the ancient state of the Miao people, in the Miao language, Dongting means "water, grass, wind and the United States of the depression". The Yuan water outlet Yanwang Lake, is the Miao people into the Yuan water they saw the stars, called this place for the Yanwang, Yanwang in the Miao language is the meaning of the stars. Epping Lake, a large area of grassy plains like the Hulunbeier grasslands, that is the Miao people's cattle ping, sheep ping, and later in the mouth of the crowd into the Epping. The Miao people, an ancient people, a large part of them now live in the western part of Hunan province, the western part of China, so it turns out. How do they trip over rivers and lakes? Remember the day: "What to cross, a reed hangs." Research has confirmed that the formation of Dongting Lake originally in a collapse, and folklore is: the Dragon King's third princess accidentally broke the Wangm's water purification bowl, the water overflow and become .......
It was very late when we left this floating in the water Xu family, said goodbye to tomorrow along to the lake some to go fishing.
Fantasy water town
Epping Lake morning is the beginning of this way, when the east appears a purple halo, the night does not completely disappear, fishermen began to prepare for the day's activities, cleaned up will be used in the fishing gear, will be on the boat tail engine full of oil, start the diesel engine is not an easy thing, the machine freezes all night, get up in the morning, it's generally difficult to start. Today we got up at six o'clock and came to Xu's house, but Xu masters to make every effort to solve the problem, when the tail engine issued a "sudden" "sudden" ...... sound has been to more than eight o'clock.
The fishing boat carried us into the dongting. Boat in the continent beach through, oasis like a huge emerald floating in the blue water, here a piece, there a piece, which is full of moisturized grass with dew, delicate green drops, popping fingers want to break, and like water as limpid and clear, still as if the place, as long as I reach out, you can touch her gentle and slippery. The sun breaks out, the sun will be projected on these large and small emerald, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, if any, like a dream, like a dream, like to give it set on the colorful edge, when the winter, Xidongting Lake is so full of spring. Surge of clear water holding our boat, molten gold sun has been shining brightly in the dongting, the surface of the water floats up a layer of mist, there are egrets standing in the shallow water in the soft mud, the curvature of the body, showing a noble, I can not help but tremble, this is not the sky remote pool, where is this? Resting on the shore, standing in the lake made of soil on the platform, looking out over the eye level lake. Reed swings as far as the eye can see, continuous, blue sky under the dark black boat in the soft waves floating, West Dongting Lake is such a group of charming, wind and water flow of beauty. Breeze, ripe reeds such as silver girl limp dance, whispering in the ear, who is pouring out infinite love, the quiet depths of the reeds, there must be lovers hidden, is it Fan Li and Xi Shi? At this time, I thought of an ancient love song: "reed reed, white dew for frost, the so-called Iren, in the water side."
Boarded the boat downstream eastbound, the boat is always in the harbor in the shuttle, such as in the maze, if it is not a beacon light, who can read the map? Around the labyrinth, in front of the clear, the boat is moving away, we are surrounded by a white, vision of the missing a thing, the boat seems to be sailing to the sky, then I have never had a marvelous feeling, "you can say that the sky is the water? Can you say the water is the sky? You can't", and I really felt in the lake: "the sky is water, water is sky". If it is not a towering lighthouse into the field of vision, I thought almost to the sky, the lighthouse stands proudly in the rapids, hemp stone, without it, we do not know where to get lost, along the stone steps to the top of the tower, in front of the eyes of the world is so open, between heaven and earth, only I am the only one!
Mantra of Husbandman's Paradise
The boat once again drifted in the lakes and branches, the small Paiyu in the bow of the boat flying happily galloped, teasing us to chase, and now and then there are large groups of geese flew over from the top of our heads, the open lake, drifting a sound of geese singing. Spotted dog is a black and white kingfisher, she was fixed in the air, like a helicopter outside the dazzling, a blink of an eye, it is gone, it turns out that she rushed straight into the water, pecked up a small fish, flew to the reeds to enjoy.
A little after noon, Zhang took us to Longwang Lake, which is an inner lake hidden in the reeds. Here we saw large flocks of marabou birds, herons, spoonbills, sandpipers and cranes, resting peacefully and contentedly.
"People go to high places, birds fly to prosperous places." Birds are spiritual, and cranes are often regarded as immortal in mythology, and are listed as heavenly objects in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Xidongting Lake has "poke the nest to catch the bird, a life of loneliness," the curse, the Chinese people since ancient times to children and grandchildren for the greatest blessing, the curse of the bird who cut off the children and grandchildren, although vicious, but with the love of birds and bird protection of the most primitive environmental protection in the beginning, there is a habitat, there are the people of the people's sincerity to care for the spirit of the sky to fly to the Xidongting Lake will be taken as a paradise.
Picking up the ancient on Fengyishan Mountain
After we finished photographing the birds, we came to the fishing village of Fengyishan Mountain, ate a meal of fasting in the temple of the Dragon King, kowtowed to the Dragon King, the priests took us to look for the ancient exhausts in the fishing village, the place where Tianxiang hid himself and the long and mysterious legend. In the Spring and Autumn Period, after King Hookjam of Yue Dynasty became the hegemon, Fan Li, the minister of Yue Dynasty, who did not love power and beauty, lived here in seclusion with Xi Shi. Fan Li, who was an official minister and a real hero, was willing to be a fisherman in Dongting Lake for the rest of his life. He was known as Tao Zhu Gong and lived on the mountain in the lake, which is now called Li Mountain. Women are like water, is there any connection between women and water? Xishi was a woman among women. What attracted her to come and live here until old age? After her death, she was buried in Meixi by the Canglang River. "Brother spreads fish nets in the river, sister washes her clothes by the river," this simple and sweet life is the home of their turbulent love, hidden between the mountains and the water, whether there is something here that connects with their spirit and soul.
Fenghuangyi Mountain in the lush forest, revealing a line of yellow cliffs, to be strolling under the cliffs, such as in the time tunnel through. The cliff section was so neat that I was sure it had been formed by the collapse that had flooded the ancient kingdom of Dongting. I saw more yellow soil than the Loess Plateau, no, it should be red soil, do not say that kind of red is not Xishi's lipstick color? It is so thick, that is to make people thrilled with the blood color of life.
Continuing eastward, strolling on the solid river bank, across the river, the ancient Li Mountain is in front of us, the collapsed section of the dusty history of the hidden show, torn monuments to prove that they existed. Further on, the bed of the withdrawing lake is strewn with pottery, and there is no lack of intact ones among the fragments. The resident introduced, nearby also appeared to hit the stone tools, is it the Miao people left?
Through the mountains, the forest came the sound of bells and drums, the original, the dragon is the totem of the people of the Lake District, in order to seek the wind and rain and set up temples to honor the. Fengyi Mountain is a piece of feng shui treasure, the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei to take the two Chuan, was stationed on the mountain. To the south of Fengyi Mountain is Tuqiao City, and Liu Bei once ordered Guan Yu to go to Tuqiao City to meet Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mei. After Liu Bei took control of the world, he made Guan Yu the Marquis of Hanshouting, with a salary of 10,000 households.
Jiangnan Water Margin
After 5:00 p.m., we left the mysterious Fenghuangyi Mountain and began to return to Zhujiazui. The lake is densely populated with continents and beaches, with countless harbors and branches, and as our boat passed by, Xiao Zhang told many stories.
"The reeds are deep and secluded, suitable for hiding, naturally attracting bandits to live in the harbor and rebels to gather. It is not difficult to deal with small-scale rebellions, and there have been jurisdictions in Huli in the past dynasties. In the Qing Dynasty, there is a Dongting Guerrilla Battalion in Yutang. Shrimp Gong kiln, fresh and beautiful in front of our eyes, the old society, there have been bandits here to stop the river to rob the passing merchant ships, named after the "kiln", there are nine places in the Dongting Lake District, there is a history of this matter. There is a big landlord, because of their own family dissatisfaction, when wrote "wife is not virtuous, son is not filial, 480,000 **** nine kilns," after all the family wealth dispersed kiln. Perhaps one day this wealth will see the light of day. If you come often, perhaps these riches will be found by you."
Small Zhang also spoke. "the side of the couch, will not allow foreigners to sleep soundly ...... "Song Dynasty, Yang Missy, Zhong Xiang gathered in Dongting, raised the flag of righteousness, responded to countless people, forming a huge force, rebel against the Southern Song Dynasty, Yang Missy disciplined, commanding, in the lake construction of water fortresses, to build warships. Drill sailors, fishing and hunting for food and wages, the army quickly captured most of the Dongting Plain, the establishment of the Dachu regime. The Southern Song Dynasty repeatedly siege failed, only to transfer Yue Fei from the front line of the anti-Jin Dynasty to Dongting Lake, "the heroes meet the hands of heroes, who hold the tip of the spear, a generation of famous generals only used eight days, will be destroyed by Yang Missy.
The history of that period of jingo and iron horse, blood and rain, has been dusty in front of our eyes under these blue grass clear continental beach. The black poplar green barriers cover the wind, this picturesque scenery, quiet quarrel, peaceful, where there is the shadow of the war. Wang Tachou is the year Yang Missy town, drums on the continent, has not heard the booming drums before the battle. Shandong Liangshan Song Jiang Uprising to the end of the recruitment. Yang Yang's revolt, Gan brain headland, death, who is more dominant?
The large-scale war campaign in the western Dongting Lake there is another time, Jin Woodruff chased Yue Fei hit the Dongting Plain, due to poor water warfare, a defeat, only to use gold to buy local natives to guide the mouth of the Yangtze River from the coupled pools, fled back to the border.
We in the magic and legend unknowingly returned to the mouth of the will be home, this time is already eight o'clock in the evening, a day trip to the West Dongting Lake, let us feel, this is a fishing and hunting paradise, fishing and hunting in the West Dongting Lake has not only is a kind of ancient and modern circulation of production activities, which contains a rich connotation, is full of philosophies of life, the formation of a unique culture of fishing and hunting.
We feel the charm of this culture in Xidongting Lake. Wupeng boat is a wooden boat, soaked full of tung oil Wupeng boat, dark and shiny, gimlet weaving shed cover on the boat, it is the fishermen's home on the water, it looks so tone soft, so kind. I really want to live in the boat, what a flavor it will be!
The Yangtze River, Yuan Shui, Li Shui, Canglang water into the dongting, water stagnation in Li Shan can only be slowly released, Li Shan north and south of 60 miles long, like a spun humorous lock in the west, south and east of the dongting between the rich material accumulated here to become a meal for the fish, this is the paradise of the fish is also a paradise for fishing and hunting.
In Xidongting Lake, many fishermen still keep the primitive way of fishing. The "bias boat", the hemp cover, the casting net, seems to be stupid, but there is a lot of wisdom in it. "Partial boat" fishing is full of magic, "partial" is a nearly 20 meters, narrow and long wooden boat, tail warehouse people allow fishermen to live in the canopy, there is a rowing radius, in addition to nothing else, the fisherman does not do anything, waiting for the fish to jump up on their own. Jiang Ziya fishing without bait has been strange enough, and "partial boat" fishing mystery who can crack?
Life as a hunter, the fisherman's life is not to compete with the world, "the old fishermen do not care about human affairs, drunkenness, long song wear moon sleep".
Our trip to the western part of the dongting is like wandering in a picture, like walking in the long river of history. "Wetlands are the kidneys of our planet, which nurtures life and carries on the civilization of mankind.
Travel Tips
Traveling in Xidongting Lake should pay attention to the prevention of schistosomiasis, schistosomiasis in the winter with the ding-snail to the bottom of the lake dormant, will not be infected with people, so don't worry about it. But spring to go to the lake, you must be careful, the best way is not to go into the water, if you go into the water to rub on the prevention of schistosomiasis ointment, or wear waterproof pants, as long as the proper precautions, don't worry about this problem.
Chartering a small motorized boat usually ranges from 120-160 yuan a day. Accommodation in the town's family hotel, this hotel is very clean, single room, double room are 50-60 yuan, a hotel basically has 4 to 9 rooms, 40 square meters, the living room on the street is the hotel's main desk, but also the hotel's teahouse and nightclub, sitting in a chair with a cup of tea and chatting on the night as long as the 5 yuan, and give you a plate of melon seeds for free. In the street beauty salon to wash a hair and head massage is only 5 yuan. Eating goes without saying, and all in all these prices are so cheap that they are hard to find in the country.
There is convenient transportation here, with a direct shuttle bus to Changsha City every morning. If you transfer to the town of Junshanpu, there are buses all day and night, and the fare is only 33 yuan for a two-hour trip. It is also very convenient to Changde City and Hanshou County.
If you want to photograph migratory birds, you'd better bring a 600MM lens and a tripod, and don't wear bright and colorful clothes and hats.
When traveling in the lake, you'd better hire a good local guide like Xiao Zhang, because Dongting Lake is so deep that it's hard for you to see anything without an explanation, or else you'll be annoyed after a long boat ride. If you are not a local, you can call in advance to ask Xiao Zhang to package the tour for you.