I have seen Shen Congwen's Border Town before and know that the story happened in Hong 'an ancient town in Xiushan. This time, I was invited to attend the Wuling Mountain Commodity Fair in Xiushan, Chongqing, thinking that I just took time to visit the ancient town.

Xiushan is more than 400 kilometers away from the main city of Chongqing. Although there are highways connected, it takes four or five hours to drive. There is no high-speed rail by train at present. You can only take the green leather train from Chongqing to Xiushan, and it takes five and a half hours to drive. Although the green leather train is a little slow, there are still some scenery worth seeing along the way.

Xiushan is a county town far away from the main city of Chongqing. It is adjacent to Guizhou and Hunan. The junction of the three provinces and cities is Hongan Town, Xiushan County, 47 kilometers away from Xiushan County. Known as "one foot in three provinces", it is also the "first door in southeast Chongqing" in Chongqing.

Go to the scenic spot by car. The entrance of Hong 'an Ancient Town Scenic Area is on the Chongqing side of Yuxiang Bridge, and the center of the bridge is the dividing line between Chongqing and Hunan. Standing at the bridgehead, you can see the words "the first gate in southeast Chongqing" written on the bridgehead archway. The gate is a landmark building built in southeast Chongqing after Chongqing was directly under the central government, representing the new image of Chongqing in this area. On one side of the bridge, the words "Chongqing, Hunan and Guizhou Border Town" stand on the big stone, and on both sides are two rows of small characters "Miao, Han and Tujia people join hands to run a well-off society, and black tea joins hands to start a new starting point", which symbolizes the unity, harmony and common prosperity of all ethnic groups.

From the left side of the bridge, we entered the ancient town. Standing on the riverbank, we can see that the ancient buildings here are built by mountains and rivers, all of which are blue bricks and tiles, with unique shapes and Tujia Miao village customs. There are trees and trees here, and there are cruise ships in the rippling river, which is picturesque.

In Border Town, there is such a description of the beautiful scenery. "A stream flows down the river, around the mountain, and flows into Chadong River about three miles. If people walk across the stream and climb over the hill, they will reach the edge of Tea Cave City, which is only a mile away. The stream is like a bow, and the mountain road is like a bowstring. There is a slight difference between distance and distance. This stream is about 20 feet wide, and the riverbed is made of big stones. Even if the quiet river is too deep for mugwort to fall to the end, it is still clear and transparent, and the fish in the middle reaches of the river can be counted. Because the stream is a tunnel between Sichuan and Hunan, it is limited by financial resources and it is impossible to bridge, so the square ferry is arranged. " I used to know the beauty of the border town from books, but now I see it.

Hong 'an Ancient Town is separated from Chadian Town in Hunan by a river. The beautiful scenery described in the book, as a literary youth at that time, I have seen such a scene in my mind countless times. There lived a family by the clear river. The old man is a ferryman, the little girl is his granddaughter Cui Cui, and there is a yellow dog. They meet passers-by in the river every day and live a simple and quiet life. This story attracted me deeply. You can also say that I came from a dream.

In addition to the beautiful scenery here, the former site of the Second Battlefield Command of Liu Deng Army is also here. During the War of Liberation, Liu Deng's army marched to the southwest, and Hong 'an was the first stop in Chongqing. Sheriff Liu Deng was stationed in Fuxing Bank on the street to direct the battle. Today, a monument to March to the Southwest stands here with the inscription "March to the Southwest" by Deng Xiaoping. This should also be a famous old revolutionary base area.

In fact, the ancient town of Hong 'an is not big. It consists of dozens of rooms by the river. During the stone road shuttle, the stone ladder wharf extends to the riverside ferry. There is a diaojiao building by the river, where people live and open windows to dry clothes. In the early winter sunshine, there are not many pedestrians on the stone road, mostly tourists. Some small shops on the street are open for business, and the whole town is particularly quiet and peaceful. The boats in the river are sailing in the calm river. People living in ancient towns are so unhurried, far away from the noise and uncontested. Border Town is carefree in simplicity.

A small red tower stands on the stone steps of the riverside pier. I asked the locals curiously, and they told me that it was specially used to write quotations from Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution. They were also called Quotations Tower. People in the old red areas are so willful that they recorded that history in this unique way. This should be a rare red memory left over from the Cultural Revolution.

Crossing the wind and rain bridge, you will arrive at the three provincial pavilions of "stepping on three provinces and saving myself". The so-called "one foot in three provinces" means building a pavilion at the junction of the three provinces. You can hear cries from these three directions in this pavilion. This is the origin of "Crow Pavilion in Three Provinces".

There is also a strange island here, called "three no matter" island. Whether this island is a local unknown island or not. Before liberation, this island did not belong to Sichuan (now Chongqing), nor to Hunan and Guizhou. If the local people make an offer, they will all come here, no matter how dark it is, the three local governments will not ask. Over time, it has become a famous three-no island. Today, there are resorts on these three islands, which have become the largest tourist, dining, entertainment and leisure resorts in the border area of Chongqing, Hunan and Guizhou. If you have time, you must try some local food. Through careful cooking, the local people concentrated the fish produced in Hunan, tofu produced in Guizhou and kimchi produced in Chongqing into a pot called "one pot in three provinces". This kind of food, which symbolizes the harmony of the three places, is a must for local cuisine. I have to sigh the wisdom of ordinary people and their longing for a better life.

There are many places worth seeing in Xiushan, including Xiushan Ancient Town West Street, China Microfilm City, Phoenix Mountain Lantern Folk Tourist Area, Chuanhegai Scenic Area, Daxi Youshui and Wuling Mountain Scenic Area.

There are many delicious foods in Xiushan, such as millet, spicy rice and tofu, local chicken soup, tofu fish, Miao bacon, mung bean powder, bean curd, oil cake and so on. You must have a good taste when you have time.

Border town in the book, Xiushan in the painting. In a word, it summarizes the picturesque scenery of Xiushan, which deserves to be called the most beautiful rural landscape in China.