Travel Notes on Queen’s Mountain | Ice hanging and rime can also be seen in Guangdong

 

I thought the ice hangings I saw in Hengshan were already beautiful, but I didn’t expect the ones at Queen’s Mountain to be even more eye-opening. I thought that ice hangings and rime could only be seen in the high mountains and ridges of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and other places, but I didn’t expect that they could also be seen in Guangdong, and they were by no means inferior to other regions.

Some people would say that the ice hangings I saw on a certain river section in the northwest in winter were more spectacular than the pictures you posted today. But that's completely different, okay? Just like Wugong Mountain and Sanqing Mountain are both famous mountains in Jiangxi and are both 5A-level scenic spots, but their beauty is different. One is majestic and the other is full of mountains.

As someone who has been to hundreds of tourist attractions in Guangdong Province, I thought that even if I have never been to places, I have at least heard of them. However, I only learned about Queen’s Mountain this year.

From February 18th to today, it was the coldest few days in Guangdong Province in more than ten years. Even Guangzhou, which has a relatively high temperature, had an average temperature of only 5 to 9 degrees during these two days, with the lowest temperature in some areas being only 3 to 5 degrees. The latitude of Lianzhou City is higher than that of Guangzhou. The temperature there will reach zero degrees, and it can even reach several degrees below zero in high-altitude areas. This is the best time to see ice hanging and rime.

From the Spring Festival to now, Guangzhou has been cloudy or raining for 20 days. I feel like my whole body is going moldy.

In the early morning of the 21st, I stayed up all night. With my fingers frozen to the point of stiffness, I wrote an essay of more than 5,000 words exposing the fraudulent money gambling in our gaming circle. get up. I saw a few outdoor travel friends in my circle of friends post some activities, including Jinzi Mountain and Queen Mountain. The gimmick is to see ice hangings. Jinzi Mountain is too famous. I never like to go to places that are too famous. For no other reason than the mountain must be full of people.

 

I checked the weather forecast. It was cloudy and rainy in both Guangzhou and Queen's Mountain in Lianzhou City, where I was about to go. The next day, the 22nd, the temperature will be slightly warmer by 2 or 3 degrees, which may be the last day when freezing temperatures appear in the mountains. The next time freezing temperatures occur, it may be December.

 

Then sign up.

I found my friend Lance who was doing outdoor hiking in Guangzhou and wanted to sign up with her and take care of her business. But she didn’t reply to my WeChat message for more than an hour. It was only 20 o'clock at night. I probably understood what she was doing, so I stopped disturbing her. I found the customer service of Longji Outdoor to sign up. After the discount, the price was 138 yuan, plus the 50 yuan ticket, the total was 188 yuan.

I woke up after sleeping for more than an hour and never fell back to sleep. I thought to myself that it didn't matter, since it would take more than 4 hours to drive there, I could sleep lightly in the car for a few hours.

 

At 6:30, it was still raining outside, which made people reluctant to go out. The hands and face without clothes immediately felt the chill coming. After passing the breakfast shop, the steamer was filled with fragrant white steam. The female student with a graceful figure took the white plastic bag containing the buns with her right hand holding the umbrella. She held her schoolbag in front of her chest and walked forward quietly with her shoulders hunched. I really wanted to tell her, don't rush, lest you get your shoes wet. As I turned the corner and walked toward the subway entrance, I saw a lightly dressed female cleaner folding her arms and taking shelter from the rain and cold in the tool shed. She looked at me, and I looked at her. I quickly turned my eyes forward, not wanting her to think that what I saw was her embarrassment. If it were before, I would have felt pity for her. However, after I have seen so many tragedies and miserable situations in life, I know that a person is happy when he has a stable job and does not have to worry about food and clothing.

I didn’t get off the subway station immediately. I crossed the street and went to the FamilyMart convenience store to buy two boxes of Guangming fresh milk, two Wanweike cheese sausages, a pack of Danish toast, a salt-baked chicken leg and a piece of Orleans sausage. This is the food for my trip today. I poured a carton of milk into the instant black coffee I had brewed, and drank it after I got out of the car, hoping to refresh my brain after only sleeping for more than an hour.

The meeting point was at Exit A1 of Zhujiang New Town. After leaving the subway station, it was still raining outside. Today is Tuesday, but I didn’t expect that there are several outdoor companies here waiting for guests to gather. I have never heard of the outdoor organization called “Let’s Travel Together” that I am going to today. I know all the others. But it doesn’t matter to me whether I’ve heard of it or not. I'm too lazy to make friends with others, so for me, it doesn't matter how many people come today, who they are, or what outdoor company they are, as long as they can take me there.

The leader is a girl about 25 years old, named Ajuan, about 1.65 meters tall. Even though she was wearing a mask, I could tell from her delicate features that she was a pretty woman. Her voice is clear and soft, and she is the most comfortable-speaking female leader I have ever met. The team leaders I met in the past either thought they were instructors or were like idiots. I was often surprised that the threshold for becoming a team leader was so low.

Our team leader on the right:

We took a 56-seater bus today. Only 9 people went to Queen's Mountain, and the others went to Jinzi Mountain. After listening to the tour leader’s introduction, I learned that Queen’s Mountain is right behind Jinzi Mountain, 8 kilometers away.

At 8 o'clock, the train had not yet departed. Two people were late and were still on the subway on their way. She arrived more than 10 minutes late, and other tourists on the bus were full of complaints. I think I can still understand it in about 10 minutes. But when I returned in the afternoon, I was annoyed by a few other people who were more than an hour late...

Sitting next to me were two young girls. They saw the camera I hung and asked me excitedly, as if they had found a free photographer, are you with us today?

God, I was praying in my heart that they didn't go to Queen's Mountain with me. I said I was going to Queen’s Mountain.

"Oh, no, we are going to Queen's Mountain." The girl sitting next to me said to the woman leading the seat.

It's like the relief you feel when you hear distressing bad news and are immediately told that it was just a joke. I never like taking photos of people when traveling, for no other reason than it’s a waste of time. Because when you travel, you need to spend time enjoying the scenery and taking photos. This is not like a free trip, this is a group trip. The departure and return times are strictly controlled. You must not waste too much time on strangers who have nothing to do with you. I'm not telling you to be indifferent to others. If someone has difficulties or is in crisis, it's okay for you to help out, even if it's just a little bit. But things like taking photos for others are not difficult at all. They are just dispensable personal needs, and you can decline them politely. If you don't have a girlfriend, and she's beautiful and charming, then of course you can take this opportunity to pick up girls.

After the car started, I closed my eyes. I didn't pay attention to what the tour leader said. There was nothing to pay attention to in this simple trip. I just feel my eyes are dry and my head is dizzy. I want to close my eyes and rest for a while. I usually take off my mask as soon as I get in the car, it helps me breathe easier. But I know that a person looks funny when sleeping. In order to prevent others from seeing my ugly appearance, I put on a mask and exposed my nose to breathe. Soon, I fell asleep and woke up when I almost reached the service area. The mask has been soaked with saliva and has a sour smell. I looked at my phone and it was only 10 o'clock. Then I go to the toilet after getting off the car, and I can sleep for more than 2 hours when I get back to the car.

---

Enter the scenic spot

Dual carriageway becomes car park:

(The altitude here is only over 500)

Looking from a distance, the top of the mountain is already white:

We were forced to wait in the Jinzishan parking lot:

We wasted a lot of time today waiting. When we set off, we had to wait for more than 10 minutes because two people were late. When we came to Jinzi Mountain, due to irregular traffic management in the scenic area or a serious shortage of parking spaces, many vehicles simply parked on the side of the road, causing the originally narrow two-way lane to become a one-way lane. Passengers who did not get the news in time continued to use the same lanes when returning, causing serious congestion. The traffic police and local security guards have been directing this man-made chaos, and due to their careless command, a bus hit a car, causing the single lane that had just returned to smoothness to be once again blocked by the bus.

It takes more than 10 minutes to get off the bus from where we are blocked and walk to the Jinzi Mountain Scenic Area. However, it will take at least 2 hours to walk from Jinzi Mountain to Queen's Mountain. Because there is still 8 kilometers away from Jinzi Mountain. Also, due to slippery roads, it may take longer than usual.

There were only 9 of us left in the car. Some women became impatient and even complained to the innocent tour leader. They said they would not go to Queen’s Mountain but to Jinzi Mountain. The team leader asked everyone for their opinions, and it seemed that everyone agreed to go to Jinzi Mountain. Of course I didn't want to go to crowded places, but I didn't express my opinion. She asked me if I agreed to go to Jinzishan instead? I responded to her casually. I wonder if she can hear my reluctance.

The bus hit the white car behind:

(Because it is a WeChat video, the picture is blurry)

On the way from Jinzi Mountain to Queen Mountain:

(WeChat video recording)

I sighed in my heart, why do I encounter a lot of bad things every time I go out.

Even if you want to go to Jinzi Mountain, it doesn’t mean you can go right away if you want to. We have to wait for the team leader to report the situation to the company and wait for the boss to negotiate and agree. We were delayed like this for 50 minutes.

50 minutes later, we still don’t know where to go next. At this time, the road became clear again and the bus drove over. Time was wasted like this for 50 minutes. Now that cars can pass, let’s continue to Queen’s Mountain.

It was already 13:50 when we arrived at Queen’s Mountain. We thought we could take the scenic car up the mountain right away when we got here, but we didn't expect that because there were too few scenic cars, and most of them were battery cars that could only seat about 10 people, we had no choice but to wait here for more than 30 minutes.

We could have arrived at the scenic spot around 13:00, but this time we arrived at Queen's Mountain at 14:30.

It was already afternoon, and the sky was still filled with misty rain.

Queen's Mountain in Yusong

The scenery outside the car window already urged me to get out of the car quickly, because I had never seen an ice hanging that looked like a man-made prop.

Any object here can be covered with ice, as crystal clear as glass, without any impurities. If you have never been here but saw the pictures here through other people’s Moments, you would think that these are all man-made artifacts.

Like raindrops wrapped in glass:

Withered branches and rain:

Sakura ice hanging:

There was a young man who seemed to want to follow me, but I deliberately avoided him and walked in another direction. There is no other reason. I just want to quietly feel the beauty and strangeness here.

There are four districts in Queen's Mountain. District D is the least crowded. It should be said that there are no people. I wanted to walk in a direction where there was no one around, but I couldn't go up after walking for a while. The road ahead was blocked by broken branches and pillars, and the road further up was icy, making it impossible to walk without crampons. I can only go back to the lively area B.

Area D

 

They did not wither and fall, but were broken by the heavy rain:

Ice hanging like amber:

Like a Christmas tree:

Like staring through a glass window:

At the foot of the mountain:

Area B

 

Like the hanging needle in Chinese calligraphy:

Here, everything can freeze. Some readers who cannot tell the difference between snow and ice may ask, why do my articles always mention rain but not snow? Since it doesn't really snow here, all the stuff you see that looks like snow isn't snow, it's ice. It is a crystalline object formed when water vapor or rainwater in the air hits the surface of an object below zero. If it doesn't rain but the air humidity is high, the fluffy ones hanging on the top of the trees are called rime. If you want to see the glaze-like raindrops, it must be on a rainy day. This kind of weather is often seen in humid and rainy southern mountainous areas.

Although rainstorms are beautiful and rare, they are very destructive. Because it is much denser than rime, and once attached to the surface of an object, it is not easily lost. Just like barnacles adsorbed on the back of a turtle, they tend to form more and more knots, causing the object to be overwhelmed and break or collapse. Today I saw a lot of plants destroyed by the ice on Queen's Mountain and on the way here.

I suddenly remembered the Xuanming Divine Palm in Jin Yong's novels.

This is called rime:

(Taken in Hengshan in 2019)

Tea trees in Queen’s Mountain:

tea tree:

tea tree:

tea tree:

Lanterns can also be hung on ice:

The lampshade is also helpless:

The faucet is not spared either:

The pavilion in front is the Queen Pavilion:

Rainbow bridge:

Once you get to the Sky Gate, you can't go up unless you have crampons.

Important things to say three times, never buy crampons from scenic spots, never buy crampons from scenic spots, never buy crampons from scenic spots.

Because the crampons in the scenic area are not only of poor quality, but also have poor anti-slip effect, making them look like they are not worn at all. I also fell down here.

Don't rush through with a lucky mentality. This is not a question of whether you will fall or not, because no matter how good your balance is, even if you learn the "Lingbo Weibu" of the Xiaoyao School, there is nothing you can do.

My suggestion is to buy crampons with nails that are not too long. Those that are too long are generally only suitable for high mountain snow areas. For mountains like Queen Mountain, Hengshan Mountain, and Wugong Mountain, it is best to choose ones with broken claws, which will make walking easier.

This claw nail is too long:

This is more appropriate:

Our itinerary is to meet at 17:00, then drive back, and arrive in Guangzhou around 21:00. But when it was time to gather, there were still a few tourists from Jinzi Mountain who had not come down from the mountain. We waited for them for 70 minutes. I was so angry that I asked the male tour leader in the car, why did they make so many of us wait for them for an hour? Why? What if it takes them 2 hours to get down? What about 3 hours? Do we all have to wait here for them?

I told them in the car again that when they came later, everyone would send a 100-yuan red envelope to the group. I would not order it and let others order it. They later also gave out red envelopes, but I heard many people on the bus say they only received a few cents, and some people received a few cents.

These people really make me sick to my stomach!

Jinzishan’s male team leader is also responsible. At least before setting off or getting off the bus, I didn’t hear him emphasize the concept of keeping time. Before departure, two Jinzishan team members were already late. At this time, as the team leader, you should ask the late team members to apologize to all members after the car starts. Then the team leader will emphasize the importance of time concept to everyone, and they will not wait any longer after a certain amount of time.

But the male team leader said nothing. I should have checked which outdoor club it was in Guangzhou. When I met them later, I refused to sign up and even asked for a refund.

So disgusting, so disgusting! Especially those people who were 70 minutes late.

Don't say I'm too harsh. This is not a place for hiking, this is purely a leisure tourist attraction. It is not like the hiking routes you take on Chuandiding, Wugong Mountain, Chayanding, and Jiucailing. It is understandable that some people walk slowly. But there are cable cars and scenic cars here. Before departure, the team leader had told them that there was not much time and it was recommended to take the cable car. In order to save some money on the cable car, the few of you chose to hike, far exceeding the designated gathering time. This is selfish and shameless!

I'm furious!

Damn, I forgot to see what they look like. Otherwise, I can choose to withdraw from the trip next time I meet them. At worst, I won’t pay the registration fee of one or two hundred yuan. They were so angry that they spent more than this amount to buy Danshen Dropping Pills.

It was past 22:00 when we returned to Zhujiang New Town Station.

 

If you are interested in Queen's Mountain after reading my itinerary and want to see the crystal clear raindrops here, be sure to check the weather forecast in advance. For example, check the weather forecast in Lianzhou City. If it shows that the temperature is around 3 to 6 degrees and it rains, then there is a high possibility of rain smog appearing on the mountains. Because for every 100 meters of altitude increase, the temperature will drop by 0.6 degrees. The altitude of the scenic tea garden on Queen's Mountain is about 800 meters.