There is a perfect place in Hunan—Langshan Town
If you want to experience the uncanny workmanship of nature, then you must come to Langshan. If there is a scenic spot that is much more beautiful and spectacular when viewed in person than in the pictures, then Langshan must be one of them.
Langshan is not only a beautiful scenic spot, the local pastoral scenery can also make tourists linger. Just tonight when I was writing my travelogue, I told Yuanyuan that if I had money, I could go live there for a while.
On our fourth and fifth day in Hunan, we came to Langshan.
As with previous travel notes, I don’t really like to write meaningless information such as the north latitude and east longitude of this place, where it lies to the south, and where it borders to the west. Because if you take a few seconds to look it up using Amap, it will definitely be more accurate and clear than what I can describe in words.
However, if you also want to go to Langshan after reading my travel notes, then I can tell you that not far from Langshan is "Mao'er Mountain", known as the highest peak in South China. In front of Maoer Mountain is the Longji Rice Terraces. If you have never been to Maoer Mountain and Longji Rice Terraces, and you have plenty of time to visit, I recommend spending 2 days to visit Langshan and another day and a half to Maoer Mountain (remember, you must choose Maoer Mountain when the weather is good) time), and finally spent a day and a half visiting the Longji Rice Terraces.
It would be best if you travel by car, because time is the most precious for everyone now. If you don’t have a car, you can only take the train to Yongzhou Station or Dong’an East Station and then transfer to the bus to Langshan Town. This will take a little longer, so it’s best to reserve two extra days for yourself.
As for accommodation, don’t worry about this. Even during holidays, there are abundant accommodation resources in the local area. And because Langshan is so niche and not well-known, even many people in Hunan have never heard of it, so fewer people go there to visit. There are few tourists, but there are many inns. These inns were renovated by local villagers whose houses faced the street. You don’t have to worry about poor quality accommodation, because competition is huge, most inns have good environment and sanitary conditions, and the prices are cheap. There is no need to book accommodation in advance.
Langshan tour sequence chart:
The entire Langshan Mountain is divided into several scenic spots. From front to back they are Zixiadong, Pepper Peak, Tianyi Lane, Fuyi River Drifting, and Bajiao Village. The distance between each scenic spot is quite large. Fortunately, you can drive inside, unlike other places where tourists have no choice but to buy tickets and take their sightseeing buses in the name of environmental protection.
If you arrive in Langshan in the morning, you can also take a bamboo boat ride on the Fuyi River to enjoy the scenery on both sides of the river. The source of this Fuyi River is "Mao'er Mountain", the first peak in South China that I recommend to visit. After visiting Fuyi River, you can have lunch at any local farmhouse, find an inn, put down your luggage, and go to Bajiao Village to watch the sunset in the afternoon. Here, I strongly recommend "Xiaoer Farmhouse", both the accommodation environment and the food are quite good (if the owner of Xiaoer Farmhouse reads this travel note, please remember to send me a red envelope) 
. When you wake up the next day, you can go to Tianyi Lane, Chili Pepper Peak and Zixiadong Scenic Area.
If you like hiking and have plenty of time, you can ask a few hiking friends with the same interests to hike in Langshan Town and hike from one scenic spot to another. The pastoral scenery in the town is also full of poetic and picturesque scenery.
But it was empty. 43: Boss, do you still have this thing? The boss loudly said yes, wait a minute. I asked what was this? He said it’s called mountain pepper oil, and that’s what they eat when eating noodles in Zhangjiajie, their hometown. He emphasized that this is the essence and soul.
It was the first time I heard about this condiment, so I picked up the bottle and took a whiff. There was a strong refreshing smell of wind oil essence and lemon oil at the mouth of the bottle. I couldn't accept why a bowl of good noodle soup should be dripped with this stuff. I jokingly said that putting a few drops on it would be good when I feel dizzy.
The boss said that what he bought was concentrated, and the market price was 160 yuan per pound. I said gosh, that’s much more expensive than pure peanut oil (I like to use peanut oil for cooking). He said that this thing has always been expensive, and he didn't have time to blend it when he bought it this morning. It needs to be blended before it can be eaten. Seeing that 43 was eager to eat, he brought over the unblended mountain pepper oil and reminded him repeatedly that it was concentrated, so don't put too much. 43 said it was okay. He had been eating this since he was a child.
Before dripping the oil, 43 still ate the powder. After pouring a few drops, he chewed it slowly. I already guessed that he probably put in too much oil, but I didn't say it out loud. I wanted to see how long he could last. For this concentrated form, only 1 drop is estimated to be enough. Just like sesame oil, adding a drop or two to the soup can add freshness and aroma. Adding too much will not only taste weird, but will also cover up the original aroma of the food. This concentrated mountain pepper oil has a weirder taste than sesame oil. It has a bit of spiciness and a head-turning aroma unique to cooling oil. After persisting for a few minutes, he told us that he had indeed put too much, the taste had become bitter, and he really couldn't eat it anymore. The boss and his wife laughed and said, "I just told you to take it easy." His mouth was filled with a strange smell, so he took a bottle of frozen mineral water to rinse his mouth in the store.
Two bowls of noodles and a bottle of mineral water cost 24 yuan in total. This price is not expensive, it costs about 30 yuan in Guangzhou.
After we drove to the hotel to pick up Sister Qiu, 43 suggested that there was a Baiyun Lake nearby. I heard the scenery was pretty good and we wanted to go there.
We drove there according to the navigation, but were forced to take a detour on a trail. The reason is that someone in the local area died, and his relatives built a temporary mourning hall as wide as the road to hold the funeral. At the intersection, there was just an unobtrusive sign saying vehicles were asked to take a detour. You can either block it completely with a fence so that cars can't get in. All the vehicles passing by here turned around only when they realized that illegal blocking of the road was being held inside.
I was thinking that I just couldn't live in a rural area and respect their customs and superstitions. I will definitely criticize them every day, and in the end I will be embattled on all sides. I know that these things are ignorant and backward and hinder the progress of human civilization. I cannot respect this old custom that the dead are the most important and influence others everywhere.
If there is no detour, it only takes about 20 minutes from Chengbu County to Baiyun Lake.
Baiyun Lake is part of Wushui. When we drove from Hongjiang City to Chengbu County, the river that accompanied us all the way was Wushui, and its source was in Chengbu County. It flows through the Gaoyi Ancient Village and Hongjiang Ancient City we have visited, and finally merges into the Yuanjiang River there, with a total length of 244 kilometers.
I discovered that most parts of Hunan are rich in rivers. The rivers brought fertile soil, and crops grew well, making it a land of fish and rice. Rivers can also nourish women. No wonder the girls I saw in Hunan have fair and tender skin, which is prettier than the girls in Guangdong.
When we drove to Baiyun Lake, it started to rain lightly, and the sky and the distant scenery seemed to be covered with gray fog. It was only 10 o'clock, and it was already as dark as evening here.
To go to Baiyun Lake, you have to go through several tunnels:
Perhaps because she had eaten and drank too much in the morning, Yuanyuan felt urgent to urinate and couldn't find a toilet nearby, so she went to the back of the second floor of a two-story house.
Due to the weather, we had no intention of staying here for too long, so we drove to Langshan in 15 minutes.
It took more than an hour to reach Langshan Town. We originally wanted to buy paper tickets as a souvenir, but the staff at the scenic spot said they didn't have them. Now we buy electronic tickets online and swipe our ID cards to enter. When we entered the scenic spot to play, we met a tourist who said he had a paper ticket and showed it to us. This proves that the scenic spot employees lied.
We first ate at a restaurant called "Langlian Farmhouse" outside the scenic area. Since I have experienced that they have ordered too many dishes in the past few days, I decided to order at noon. The dishes I ordered were very simple, but they were all very satisfying, and they were quick and easy, so I didn’t have to wait long. I think this is how traveling should be. If you want to taste local specialties, you must go out of your way to find an authentic restaurant with a good reputation, which is more time-consuming. I ordered fried pork with chili pepper, fried fish and shrimp with pickled pepper, farm tofu and stir-fried water spinach. With rice, it only cost 108 yuan. All the vegetables and rice were eaten, and nothing was wasted. This is something I am very happy to see.
It is said that the scenery of Zixiadong is similar to that of Chili Pepper Peak Scenic Area, so we skipped Zixiadong and went to Tianyixiang Scenic Area. Because the mountains in Langshan belong to the Danxia landform, the mountains are not high. It only takes an hour from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. If it is faster, it may not be necessary.
Without further ado, here are the pictures:
This alley, the best in the world, goes straight up all the way, with a total length of 284 meters, the widest point is 0.8 meters, and the narrowest point is only 0.33 meters. For a person with broad shoulders and a fat body, with bulging front and back, even if you walk sideways, it will feel like there are two huge stone slabs sandwiching you. I felt uncomfortable all over and wanted to leave here quickly, but you can't walk any faster. At the narrowest point, you have to hold your backpack in your hand and bend sideways to pass carefully. If you are not careful, your clothes and exposed skin will definitely rub against the stone wall. What's worse is that it has rained before, and water keeps dripping from the cracks in the rocks. It is like rain, and it is covered with water, making you feel uncomfortable and stuffy.
There is a huge rock in the Yixiantian Scenic Area, which has been eroded by running water for many years to form layers of rock troughs. I don’t know who named it "Seven-story Rock". Walking up to the seventh floor, you can see several farmhouses not far away. There is an aunt who runs a stall in the scenic spot and lives there. She uses bamboo poles to carry drinks, food, and fruits to a spacious place 15 minutes' walk away every day to set up a stall. 43 I bought some slices of watermelon here for everyone to eat. The aunt said that the business is not very good, and she has to pay more than 1,000 yuan in rent every month, so she can just make ends meet. But I think that for people who like a quiet and quiet life, selling some things in this mountain and reading when there are no customers is also a very comfortable life without competing with the world.
Because it had rained and the sky was cloudy, my Xiaomi Mi 6 phone was unable to capture the beauty of the scenery here in this weather. Readers will definitely feel this when looking at the pictures. However, as I introduced at the beginning of this article, Langshan is the kind of place that looks average when you look at pictures, but you can feast your eyes on seeing it in person.
It was only 15:00 after we finished visiting the Yixiantian Scenic Area, and we were hesitant in the car not knowing where to go next. Later I learned that we should go straight to Bajiao Village. It was exactly 16:00 when we arrived there. The light from then to 18:00 was one of the two most suitable hours of the day for taking pictures. But because we were inexperienced, we thought it would take several hours. In fact, almost all the mountains in the Danxia landform are not high, and it is generally very easy to walk. It can almost reach the top of the mountain in half an hour to an hour .
When we were approaching Bajiao Village, we saw many simply decorated inns and hotels on the roadside in a village called Huangbei Village. One of them looked very unique and attracted Yuanyuan. There was a little boy in front of the inn, seeing our car slowing down, he ran up to us and greeted us warmly, saying that accommodation and meals were available there. But when we asked about the price, he was silent for a while and then turned around and ran away. I feel bad about the little boy's impolite behavior and don't want to live here.
We drove to the Fuyi River again. A long fence was built in the scenic area to prevent tourists from going down. It seems to be for the safety of tourists, but in fact they are forcing tourists to pay for tickets to ride on their bamboo boats. I don’t really like taking a boat, I prefer to walk along the shore and take pictures. After sitting in front of the ticket office for more than 10 minutes, we drove away.
At this time, everyone was discussing where to stay tonight in the car, and happened to pass by the small inn that had just attracted Yuanyuan's attention. We stopped to visit and inquire about the price.
From the outside, this is just an ordinary small inn. When you walk in, you realize that it is very big inside. Not counting the parking lot outside, it covers an area of at least 1,000 square meters. It consists of two three-story buildings, with three rooms on each floor and a living room that is larger than the room. There are balconies in the front and rear of the living room. The front balcony can see the small rural road, and the back balcony is full of green hills and countryside.
To enter the inn from the parking lot, you have to walk down a staircase lined with hydrangeas and railings. The railings are equipped with lampshades to illuminate the road at night. These small details are enough to show that the store owner is a thoughtful person. It is also from this small detail that I know that the boss must be a clean and hygienic person, and living here will definitely make people feel comfortable.
After shouting a few times, the proprietress walked from the yard into the lobby on the first floor. She took me up to the second floor to visit the room. Only then did I see from the balcony that the entire backyard was very large, and there was a terrace-style restaurant in front facing the fields. I thought there couldn't be a more elegant inn nearby, so I decided to stay here tonight. I asked about the price and finally negotiated with her for 151 yuan per room. As for why it was not 150 yuan but 151 yuan, I can no longer remember.
I went downstairs and found 43. I said it was 151 yuan for a room. I just saw the room and was very satisfied. Can you accept the price? He said he had no problem and didn't know how Sister Qiu was doing. So I found Sister Qiu again, and she said yes, as long as the accommodation is comfortable.
I went to find Yuanyuan to move my luggage, and I called her for a while before she showed up. It turned out that she was secretly picking loquat fruits from the loquat tree next to the yard, and she grabbed a few and brought them to me. I didn't want to eat at this time, but thinking that she had picked them specially for me, I reluctantly tasted a few. She said it is not sweet enough now and will not be delicious until the Dragon Boat Festival. But I felt that the taste at this time was sour, which was just what I wanted.
When moving the luggage, there was a fresh piece of dog poop next to the rear wheel of 43, which must have been pooped just now. Sister Qiu also came over to pick up her luggage. I thought she would be able to see such obvious shit, but I didn’t expect that she would step on it. I mentally blamed myself for not reminding her just now.
The boss came up and saw me packing my luggage in the room. He greeted me and told me to close the door to prevent mosquitoes from entering. Only then did I realize that this was a rural area, and there were waterlogged farmlands in front of it, so there must be a lot of mosquitoes. I immediately closed the window.
I chatted with him and he said that you look very good. You have a mole in the middle of your chin and you will be a person who will do great things in the future. As I said, I still haven't accomplished anything yet. He is about 1.68 meters tall and strong, with a look on his face that shows he is not afraid of hard work and dares to work hard. He said that there are two buildings here, the one in front belongs to his brother, and this one belongs to him. The two brothers run the business together and do not distinguish between them. He also said that if he wanted to eat here tonight, he should order early because the county leaders would also come here for dinner soon. I thought to myself that even county leaders can come to this small inn to eat, which means that the reputation of the boss and this place has become famous far and wide.
I went down to the backyard again, and Yuanyuan pulled me to admire the succulents on the outer wall of the kitchen. There were probably more than 50 plates of succulents placed on the two rows of shelves, and all of them were as fat and strong as Yuanyuan. The proprietress said that she raised these all by herself, and she had to turn over the soil plate after plate and take good care of them, which took a lot of time and effort to raise them so well. It was the first time for Yuanyuan and I to see such a big succulent, and we secretly admired the patience of the landlady. It was already 18:00 in the evening, and it was always cloudy today, so I didn’t bring a camera with me. Even using the HDR mode of my phone in a dark corner, it was difficult to take good pictures, so I didn’t leave any images of them.
We saw people eating in the lobby on the first floor. Several dishes were served on the table. One of them looked very tempting. The lady boss said it was fried dried fish. I said we would also order one later. Considering that Sister Qiu doesn't like spicy food, I also ordered a fried pork with bitter melon. 43 ordered stir-fried Beibei pumpkin shreds and stir-fried green bamboo shoots with dried vegetables. I thought 4 dishes were enough for 4 people. 43 said he wanted to order an extra steamed pork rib. He also said he would pay for the pork ribs and beer himself and asked me not to tell anyone.
These 5 dishes are pretty good, all made by the boss himself. 43 also ordered 2 cans of German beer. Before, he and I would drink at least 10 cans each. But now, for the sake of health and a better quality of life, I have given up drinking. They all said that the steamed pork ribs tonight tasted very good and tasted the taste of pork. They lamented that the pork ribs sold in the market in the city could not taste this kind of taste. I think the pork ribs are also well cooked, but I really can't taste any difference from the pork ribs in the city. I even think the Cantonese steamed pork ribs taste better with a little Yangjiang black bean sauce. But in order not to offend them, I echoed that it was indeed the case.
After dinner, it was only 19:30. Everyone had nothing to do and it was impossible to go to bed so early, so I decided to go down to the already dark fields to enjoy the scenery. I asked them to wait for me and went upstairs to bring the flashlight down to light the way. There are two floors below the verandah-style restaurant, and you can reach the fields by walking down the slope. We saw a dead chick, which we thought was a bird. There were bursts of frogs in the field that I couldn't name. I used to think that frogs were frogs and frogs were frogs, but they told me that frogs were frogs. At this time, I remembered the jokes that I didn’t understand about rural areas and many traditional things in China. For example, before I was 18 years old, I thought August 15th was a festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was another festival. It wasn’t until I went to Beijing when I was 18 that I knew that August 15th was the Mid-Autumn Festival. It wasn’t until much later that I learned that New Year’s Eve was also part of the Spring Festival, and that I regarded wheat as weeds.
I walked cautiously on the narrow field road. The water in the field was glowing with the moonlight from the sky and the orange light of the inn. A few dogs barked in the distance, and an insect chirped from time to time in the grass. At this time, I wanted to recite a poem by Wang Wei or Tao Yuanming, but I couldn't even recall the title.
We walked onto the small road from the fields. Only the inn where we stayed had the brightest lights, and everything else seemed quiet. Walking back along the small road, there was a young girl standing on the side of the road looking for customers. We stopped to talk to her. She said she was currently working outside and came back to help after the holidays. She took out her mobile phone and actively showed us the features of her inn, which made me feel a little apologetic. Because we may not do it a second time in this life. That said, her efforts to recommend may be in vain. I called 43 and added her WeChat account, saying that I would go back to Guangzhou in the future and if any friends came here, they could recommend staying at your inn.
The girl sincerely thanked us for our kindness. We continued walking forward for less than 10 meters when we heard them saying that they would definitely not live here for more than 200 yuan. I felt extremely embarrassed. I knew the little girl could definitely hear their discussion. I seemed to be able to see the disappointed and sad eyes of the little girl behind me. I really want to blame them, why can't I just go further? But I fell silent again.
We went back to the restaurant of the inn and sat drinking tea and chatting. I was worried about not sleeping well at night, so I only drank boiled water. We accidentally chatted about traditional Chinese medicine, which is rated as "the number one topic when friends fall out and break up friendships" in Chinese social circles. I wanted to tell them the dangers of traditional Chinese medicine using various data and a large number of failure cases since the founding of New China, but I couldn't remember the words. In order to refute me, even the religion and bride price that I have always opposed, they also defended them because of the Chinese medicine side. In the end, everyone just argued based on their emotions. Yuanyuan and Sister Qiu became angry and left their seats without saying a word and went back to the room.
43 also felt embarrassed and tried to explain and change the subject in a gentle tone. I know that it is necessary to cite a large amount of data and examples in the form of an article to be convincing, so I have no intention of discussing it further.
I returned to my room, still feeling unhappy. I regret that I didn’t memorize the large number of notes I took at the beginning, which resulted in only the image of an angry youth being left in tonight’s debate.
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