Retired Couple's Self-Driving Travel Experiences - 9 (Overcoming Obstacles to Reach Wenxian)

Today is November 1st, the temperature in Changchang is 1-10 degrees, cloudy with a chance of clouds. Waking up in the morning felt a bit cold wearing a down jacket.

Yesterday's rain washed the ground clean, although the sky is still cloudy and overcast, the air is very fresh.

Today's goal is to depart from Changchang, through Wenxian to Qingchuan Ancient Town. Longnan is located at the junction of Gansu, Shanxi, and Sichuan provinces, and now the road traffic construction has made considerable progress, but even so, you can still feel the rugged terrain and winding roads here.

Longnan is a county-level administrative district (city) in Gansu Province, located at the southeast end of Gansu, bordering Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces to the east and south, and guarding the key passages of Shaanxi and Sichuan. Longnan has Wudu District, Kang, Wen, Cheng, Hui, and Li counties and two townships, Dangchang is a district, with an area of 2.79 square kilometers and a total population of 288.16 people (as of 2018).

Longnan has a long history and is the birthplace of Qin Dynasty and Qin culture. In ancient times, the names of places were often one character, which had a distinct historical characteristic.

There are few counties named after one character throughout the country, mostly concentrated north of the Yangtze River, with the most in Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan provinces, which indicates that this place has a long and prosperous history and culture. There are nine single-character counties in Gansu, of which five are in Longnan, which further confirms that this is a place with a rich cultural and historical background.

We drove from Changchang to Longnan City's Wudu District, following the 212 National Highway along the banks of the Min River. After about 54 kilometers from Changchang, we arrived at the two-river mouth, where the Minjiang and Bailong River converge, and then followed the Bailong River upstream to Fuxinquan County, so the two-river mouth is a very important geographical node.

We parked at the two-river mouth for a short rest, and there were some villagers selling walnuts and other crops on the roadside. The villagers looked quite honest, and greeted us warmly as soon as they saw us.

We continued driving and soon arrived at Wudu District. This city, located in the narrow valley of the Bailong River beside the White Dragon River, has a long history. From the southward migration of the Qiang people to Qin people, from Zhuge Liang's six expeditions to the mountains to Dai Em's surprising attack on Chengdu, and from the Tang and Tibetan conflicts to the Song and Jin wars, the Mongol wars, and the Red Army Long March, Longnan has been almost absent.

My wife and I enjoyed the winding and tortuous road in the car, feeling the twists and turns of the road. The green trees and mountains surrounded us, and our car went through the mountains and waters. My thoughts followed the beautiful mountains and rivers outside the window, and I seemed to understand the ethnic characteristics and rich history of this land.

After a while of winding mountain road, we arrived at Dongyugou Village in Wenxian at dusk. We originally planned to arrive in Qingchuan today, but because the road was winding and difficult to drive on, we only arrived at Dongyugou Village at this time.

At the three-way intersection of Dongyugou Village, if you go straight along the 212 National Highway for more than ten kilometers, you will reach Wenxian County, and if you turn right, you will go 60 kilometers to Sichuan's Jiuzhaigou County. There was a large sound system on the side of the intersection, and a projection video of square dance was playing on the walls of the shops, accompanied by lively music. A group of middle-aged and elderly women watched the projection and excitedly started learning square dance.

My wife was tired from driving and wanted to get out of the car to stretch her legs. When she saw the square dance, she immediately joined in and started dancing.

As the sky got darker, my wife and I didn't want to continue driving, so we had a simple meal at a nearby restaurant, and then found a small inn along the road to stay.