My Graduation Wanderlust #36: Puhehei, Yunnan
Leave for Puhehei, heading towards the coast, with beautiful scenery along the way, watching white egrets taking flight, inexplicably recalling the line 'White egrets under Mount Xixi,' though the meaning is flawed, it lingers on persistently.
Puhehei is a beautiful name, transliterated as 'Anlu Shangge,' a bit cumbersome to pronounce. The area is a National Scenic and Historic Interest, a National Level AAAAA Tourist Attraction. It belongs to the south-southeast Yunnan Karst rock area, featuring typical karst rock formations. It's renowned for its 'waterfront pastoral landscapes, lake-shore peaks, (Yi water towns), karst wetlands, lotus world, and migratory bird paradise' – six major attractions. In 2013, the first season of Hunan Satellite TV's family reality show 'Dad Where Are You?' was filmed here.
It was the off-season for tourism in Puhehei, and online inquiries to many guesthouses yielded no results. Finally, a young doctor agreed to arrange accommodation, initially stating that there would be no food. Okay, just the accommodation was sufficient. However, the doctor was still on duty, so we had to wait in Chubi Town. He was very courteous and took us along a small path. The doctor's first floor was also a pharmacy, and the second floor was his clinic. He asked if he might mix up people's medicine with animal medicine, and he said it was impossible, as he'd been practicing for many years since graduating from the local medical school, and had a good reputation in the area. Indeed, a short while after he returned, several patients came to seek his treatment. But a good person doesn't necessarily mean good accommodation. Upon climbing the stairs, we found that the bedsheets hadn't been washed in a long time, with small black insects. The doctor suggested staying at a neighboring house, where an elderly (Sani) matriarch was living, who didn't understand Chinese well and was anxious to see someone arrive. She probably meant that her son wasn't home, and there was no hot water and no food provided. It was originally 80 yuan per night, now 60 yuan. We agreed, as just the accommodation was sufficient. In the evening, our son returned, hot water was supplied, and we said it was still 80 yuan, and they insisted on 60 yuan. We were touched. When we were leaving, I gave the old woman a (jin – a unit of weight) of Suzhou West Mountain Bikoloong tea, which probably wouldn't know the price is ten times its value. I ask for my own peace of mind.
While returning to the hotel on the road, I chatted with an old man who smoked long cylinders. Because I had smoked this type before, we had a lively conversation.
Most of the attractions have built new-style buildings; it's estimated that these old houses are the remnants of the past.
We started circling the Puhehei scenic area in the morning's sunlight.
Fishermen were starting their work early.
The morning sunlight cast a bright color on the golden crops and straw, enhancing the atmosphere of the scene.
The red earth was also strikingly visible.
A small electric pump station, surrounded by fields of climbing plants, was present.
An old, red-brick house was abandoned, presumably used as a warehouse or similar.
We didn't find the cave, but we found a lake surrounded by dense trees, a good place for barbecues.
We also found some cao ling (high-quality clay) but the roads on the side were pitted and uneven, making it difficult to traverse.
We circled the area and eventually headed towards Guangxi, arriving at the Detian Waterfall. We passed through Xiaile Town, where it was bustling with activity, and quickly bypassed it. Later, watching the evening news, we learned that this was the last day of the Guangxi Zhuang Daiyun Frost Festival, commemorating the victory of Xu Wenying, the chieftain of Letao, and () against the Japanese invaders in 1676. It would have been a very meaningful experience if we had participated – a story for another time, all due to our inadequate pre-trip preparation and regretful hindsight!
