Gaoligong Mountain: Wandering on the edge of Yunnan - New Year’s Eve trip in 2017 (3)

1

Heading from Dali to Gaoligong Mountain, it was a boring high-speed drive. Shuanglang went all the way west. The road started winding up the mountain from the high-speed exit to the provincial highway. Because it was located on the border, fighter jets roared across the sky. We also found a car wash opened by the Burmese. As the car washed away the dust along the way, we drove up to Gaoligong Mountain cleanly. Following the winding road of Gaoligong Mountain, we arrived at Baihualing Village in Baoshan. Leaving the Hangrui Expressway from Lujiang Dam, Provincial Highway 230 runs along the Nujiang River. The large forests of coffee, papaya, banana and other tropical plants show the characteristics of the Nujiang River Valley.

The gang party made a sharp 180-degree turn, climbed up Gaoligong Mountain, and arrived at Datang Village in Baihualing. I met the enthusiastic Mr. Liu and his wife by chance: an ultra-modern small courtyard was in front of me. I went in to communicate with the boss. It turned out that he was from Hubei. Because he liked Yunnan, he gave up his job in Shenzhen and settled here with his whole family. They built this house and B&B. , and told us that there were natural wild hot springs in the forest. We immediately got up, packed up our things, and ran towards the forest.

We tasted Yunnan arabica coffee and homemade desserts in the glass house designed and supervised by Mr. Liu.

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The locals built a natural hot spring pool of 200 square meters according to the terrain where the hot springs flow. The waterfall in the upper reaches roars, and the ice water of the waterfall rushes down and mixes with the geothermal water to form a flowing hot spring with a suitable temperature. The water is clean and steaming. Thumb-thick vines hang from towering trees, forming a natural swing. Under the dense forest waterfall at an altitude of 1,500 meters, there is such a place to enjoy life. Gaoligong Mountain's shelter for the people of Baihualing is enviable. Baihualing in Baoshan is a bird-watching resort. During dinner, I met several bird-watching friends who work at the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan. They generously invited us to have dinner. We all had many guest meals along the way, so we had to find opportunities to repay everyone.

Sitting in the small courtyard at night, I silently watched the twinkling stars. In the small courtyard where I stayed, I casually used my camera to take pictures of the twinkling stars in Gaoligong Mountain for half an hour.

3

The Tengyue Ancient Road is also known as the Southern Silk Road. Burmese and Indian goods cross the Gaoligong Mountains from Tengchong (anciently known as Tengyue), are exchanged with domestic goods in Baihualing Old Street, and then cross the Gaoligong Mountains and leave Myanmar to India.

Walking on the thousand-year-old road, the stone steps that have lasted for thousands of years are still firm, and the road is wide enough for horse teams to cross each other, giving it the appearance of an ancient national highway. The precipitation in the Nujiang River Basin nourishes the primeval forest of Gaoligong Mountain. The primeval forest blocks out the sky and the sun, with thick moss, entwined roots, aerial roots, and vine branches. The roots are exposed for dozens of meters. The vitality of the ancient trees is still strong. The high altitude in the dry season. There are no terrible drought leeches or poisonous snakes in Mount Ligong, only butterflies flying and birds singing in the stream. As the mountain loops turn, you occasionally encounter open areas. Through the dense forest, you can see the mountains in the distance, and there are layers of white clouds billowing on the mountainside under the blue sky.

Mr. Dong, the guide of Baihualing, said that this ancient road has always been the shortest route from Baoshan to Tengchong. In the 1980s, when he was young, he often spent 7 hours traveling from the Tengyue Ancient Road over Gaoligong Mountain to play in the bustling areas of Tengchong. If we were to take this ancient road to Tengchong, it would take us an estimated 15 hours to cross Gaoligong Mountain. Guide Dong could tell at a glance that our ability to cross mountains was seriously lacking.