Peach Blossoms Red on Wucun Ridge
The peach blossoms on Mount Wucun are red, dyeing the Wucun Ridge from front to back, dazzling the eyes.
Written by Zhou Xiangdong
In late March, the peach blossoms on Mount Wucun are in full bloom, covering the mountains and valleys in red, dyeing the Wucun Ridge from front to back, stunning onlookers and captivating hearts.
It’s the season when peach blossoms are fragrant, more vibrant than the rapeseed flowers in Shanan, more eye-catching than the white snow on Taibai Mountain, and more affordable than the Jiuzhaigou scenic area, far away from Hainan Island, this is the root of Chinese culture, the Wucun Ridge of ancient Chuoyang.
On the 21st, Saturday, a pleasant weekend. Together with ‘’ (tourists), we climbed Mount Wucun and traversed the Wucun Ridge.
Mount Wucun was once the battlefield of King Ji and Lord Wen, a dragon vein mountain of Chuoyang. Before liberation, the Fengshun North Mountain Guerrilla Command secretly operated as a base, a secret channel for transporting guns, bullets, cotton, cloth, medical supplies to the Shanqin border region.
Legend has it that during the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was an old Taoist named Zhou, who made pots and pans from clay and lived by selling them. When someone was in trouble, he would give them pots and pans to help, so this mountain was named Wucun Ridge. Master Zhou was a pioneer in poverty alleviation, and Wucun Ridge is a source of poverty alleviation and charity.
As a Fengshun native, I was over 60 years old and it was my first time climbing Wucun Ridge. As a child, I knew ‘The clouds stretch out to the horizon, mist hangs low in the morning; stars turn, countless sails dance. In the spring, flowers bloom, birds do not disturb; come, birds do not disturb.’ These ancient poems and songs, I’ve always loved to climb mountains.
My uncle’s village is at the foot of Wucun Ridge, I used to visit relatives and friends there, and life was difficult, often short of food and clothing. I remember that my parents used to take a wooden cart to and from this winding dirt road in the 1960s, leaving behind sweat after sweat. I remember my neighbors going up the mountain to plant grain, it was difficult. There were few people, wild rabbits and wild chickens ran all over the mountain… After the reform and opening up, some people made a living by mountain products, exploded mountains, sold stone chips and white ash, the air was hazy, the mountain was covered with ‘sunken eye’ (lichen). At first glance, it was a bleak and desolate landscape.
Today’s impression is that we drove north from the county seat, passing through Yaojia a rural forest village and then Wucun Ridge. The road is paved with cement, wide, and at the places where there are mountain gullies and cliffs, there are green guardrails. The quarries and white ash plants are all closed, the ground is covered with soil, the soil is fresh. On the mountainside, the vegetation is lush and green, the air is fresh… It’s incredibly refreshing.
Wucun Ridge is the highest peak of Fengshun, with overlapping mountains, dense vegetation, a natural oxygen bar; at winding corners, small streams flow along the way, with rare flowers and herbs, bees and butterflies flutter around…
When climbing this mountain, I couldn’t help but think of Qin Junqiang’s ‘Wucun Ridge Reflections’, praising: ‘Green peaks and birds sing, long shadows linger; take a step, admire the clouds, fragrance fills the air. Outside the body, fame and fortune are just dreams; the song of a homelan echoes in poems.’ ‘Many literati climb mountains for leisure, the peak is blue, enjoy the singing. Clear and bright caves, intoxicated by the beauty of painting, more exquisite; Wucun Ridge has great momentum, the rainbow is full of joy. Clear tea and warm words summon people, the fragrance of the mountains and flowers is in full bloom, echoing and inviting... ‘Overlapping green peaks and peaks on a sunny day, spring breeze invites guests to smile.’
In 1976, to solve the water supply problem, local people, under the leadership of Communist Party members, over 200 people, with the spirit of moving mountains and rivers, fought for 4 and a half years, like soldiers attacking, blowing the horn of challenging heaven and fighting the earth.
Wucun Ridge was the main battlefield of the ‘Great Steelmaking’ in the 1950s, and also a battleground for the ‘Fushenghui Ridge’ – Wucun Ridge diversion project in the 1970s, a classic masterpiece created by Zhang Zhixiao, Party Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the People’s Commune, and Chen Lin, Vice Secretary and Director. Starting in 1976, the whole commune mobilized all its strength, mobilized, dispatched workers, fought battles, adopted methods of man-powered shoulder carrying, chain pulling and carrying, and worked day and night, fighting for 4 and a half years, drilled 1107 meters of mountain channels, of which the inlet tunnel is 250 meters, the outlet tunnel is 807 meters, built 6300 meters of canals, laid 7500 meters of high-voltage lines, completed 4-8 million cubic meters of earthwork, 3.4 million cubic meters of stone, worked 18.4 million man-hours, total investment of 47.6 million yuan, of which 44 million yuan was state investment, and 2.9 million yuan was self-funded, effectively solved the ‘water shortage’ problem for farmers and foresters in mountainous areas, and was hailed as ‘life-saving water’ . It was called the ‘Three Major’ projects, which were determined to be great, resolute, and impressive; the spirit of the Fushen people was firm, the eyes of the eye on Wucun Ridge, familiar to everyone, known as Wucun Ridge spirit.
Before, people dug wells, and after, people drank water. People still drink mountain spring water from Wucun Ridge. In 2009, August 7th, the agricultural commune held a grand meeting to commemorate the drilling and extraction of water project, to promote the spirit of Wucun Ridge Red Flag River, and to erect monuments for Secretary Zhang Zhixiao and others who had benefited.
Now, many wild boars, mountain goats and chickens and ducks are raised on the slopes of Wucun Ridge, with mountain products supporting mountain products, and the integrated development of green and organic tourism has been developed.
As ‘’ (tourists), we climbed Mount Wucun, one behind the other, walking along the ridge, some sang and responded, some took pictures. We started at 9 am and crossed the route from Wucun Mountain to Four Mouth Mountain to Lin You County Anshuang Forest Farm. By 12 pm, we were almost at Four Mouth Mountain, most ‘’ (tourists) started to show signs of difficulty and couldn’t hold on, they turned back. ‘’ Wang Laoshi (teacher) said: ‘Today let’s be like a bear, don’t be a dog, let’s be a hero!’ I thought, she’s a female comrade with such firm will, we can’t disappoint male comrades!
Turned around and continued, finally only 6 of us were left to set off: 74-year-old guide Han Junwu, Guo Duo Wu and others. At 13:45 pm, we arrived near Four Mouth Mountain and cheered excitedly. The mountain scenery is quite special, connected together like a row, really formed four mouths!
More surprisingly, we actually found the geological drilling site of the Lin Yao Expressway Construction Project. We knew from the news that recently they had started piling and laying lines, carried out the clearing and surveying of farmland and ground attached to the land relatifs, and then we saw that it was a construction site.
After 9 hours of crossing, at 6 pm, we finally arrived at Lin You County Anshuang Forest Farm.
On March 23, 2020, written in Fengshun County
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