The attractions we visited today were rated as "Encyclopedia of Chinese Karst Cave" and "Karst Geology Museum". Moreover, I think this place is definitely more worth visiting than Huangguoshu Waterfall. It is also one of the national key scenic spots. It is the Jiudongtian Scenic Spot located in Maochang Town, Dafang County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province.
There is scenery along the way
I told Yuanyuan that it is best to go to most scenic spots as early as possible. Because there are fewer tourists early in the morning, it avoids crowding and is more conducive to taking photos. However, we worried too much because the "Jiudongtian National Scenic Area" was too remote and far away. When we left, there were probably no more than 100 tourists inside.
We went downstairs and checked out before 7 o'clock. The proprietress was sleeping on a folding bed inside the cashier, covered with a thick quilt and a small electric heater in front of her. She struggled to get out of bed, and was sleepily surprised that we left so early.
We planned to take a car there after breakfast and walked out of the hotel. It was dark outside. It was already 7 o'clock, but it was like 5 o'clock in Guangzhou. No shops were open. In Guangzhou, the streets are now bustling with people. I saw an aunt who was sweeping the floor on the street, and I asked her what time would breakfast be sold? She said it usually only comes after 8 o'clock.
Oh my God, am I dreaming? There is actually a county in the world where breakfast is only sold after 8 o'clock.
We waited for taxis at the gas station opposite the hotel and hailed several taxis. The fares were all very expensive, some priced at 400 yuan and some at 450 yuan. Readers may ask after reading this, why don’t we choose to take the bus? Because the scenic spots we went to were not only far away, but also the road conditions were extremely poor. It was 55 kilometers away and took 2 hours to drive there. Therefore, even the local county town does not have buses or tourist lines to go there.
Unpaid drivers:
I called a car through Didi on WeChat (Didi has been removed from the shelves now, thank God!), and a driver came who wore glasses and seemed to speak quite seriously. He said that if we took a taxi, the price would be the same. Similar, maybe even more expensive. Moreover, they had almost no return passengers there, so they had to pay for the gas and highway tolls when they came back.
We stuffed our backpacks into the trunk and got in the car. In a place like this, no one will remind you that you need to wear a seat belt. People who sit in the back seat often think that they are safe, or they think that there is no need for seat belts when sitting in the back seat. But because we have been traveling abroad for a long time, we have seen too many traffic accidents. In addition, I have also been injured in a car accident, so I pay more attention to safety and traffic rules than others. Every time after getting in the car, I would check if Yuanyuan and her mother had fastened their seat belts.
The fog this morning is no longer as heavy as yesterday, and has turned into a thin veil, appearing and disappearing in mid-air. I told the driver that when we first arrived yesterday afternoon, this place was shrouded in thick fog for several hours. This was the first time I had seen it. He said that due to its high altitude, abundant vegetation, humid air, and cold weather, heavy fog is prone to occur here. When I heard him talk about the high altitude, I turned on the compass on my phone and found that the altitude here was 1,700 meters, which was already close to the sea of clouds at Baihe Peak, the highest peak of Wugong Mountain. I have been to Wugong Mountain three times. Every time when I reach an altitude of about 1,500 meters, I can see the beautiful and colorful sea of clouds. I still can’t forget the excitement I felt at that time. And we are now in a county town with the same altitude as Wugong Mountain. After a while, we really saw the sea of clouds.
We stopped on the road to take pictures of the sea of clouds:
I told Yuanyuan, look, it’s so beautiful. Yuanyuan also exclaimed "Wow". The driver thoughtfully asked if he needed to stop and let us take a look. Did I say it’s convenient to be on the elevated road now? He said there weren't many cars on this road in the morning, so you can take a look. To be honest, if I were driving, I would definitely stop. But since we were taking an online ride-hailing ride, we were really embarrassed to say this, so I was grateful that he took the initiative to stop and let us admire and take photos.
Due to my poor photography skills and my dislike of post-processing, readers may think that the landscape photos they see are just average. In fact, what they saw and felt with the naked eye at the time was very beautiful, otherwise they would not have thought of stopping. Come down.
From listening to the driver's conversation, I knew he was probably a teacher, or someone with a high level of knowledge, especially in literature. Because the words he uses when talking are extremely precise, only people who have read and written a lot for a long time can have this kind of language ability. He said he was a teacher and only came to the sports car on weekends.
Yuanyuan's brother-in-law works as a teacher in Shunde City, and his salary and conditions are very good, so we thought he must be good too. He said that first-tier cities must have good wages, but it is much worse here. Teachers in many local schools have not received wages for several months. Not only are they not getting paid, teachers are not allowed to go out to make extra money. He said that he had no choice but to pay for a car to run on Didi. He had to repay the car loan every month. He could only run on Saturdays and Sundays, and he was worried about being reported. He said that a teacher was reported to Didi last month. But he still has to take risks because he wants to live and because he wants to provide material security for his children.
Yuanyuan and I were angry after hearing his miserable situation. Yuanyuan said angrily that no one's salary could be delayed, but the teacher's salary could not be delayed. Teachers are a profession of teaching and educating people. If their livelihood is not guaranteed, how can they still have the energy to teach?
He said that he was okay, but some teachers had been delayed for several months and their salaries were not high to begin with, and now they had problems eating. Then, he told us about the dirty information of the local authorities, lamenting that he was just an ordinary citizen and could do nothing against them.
I have forgotten what he looks like. Even if I go back there again and see him again, I won't recognize him. But I still remember a lot of what he said. I feel sad and angry for him and the local teachers who are being owed wages. It's been two years and I hope this matter has been resolved and will never happen again. We are already the second largest country in the world in terms of GDP. Isn’t it a joke to tell people that some teachers in mountainous areas here are owed thousands of dollars in salary every month?
Pretty cloudy town:
We drove to a beautiful mountainous and cloudy town at 8:30. It should be said that there are mountains all the way here. Did the driver ask me if I needed to stop and take a photo? Of course I said yes. There are many places that you may visit once and never come back again. If you have the chance, stop, take a good look, and take some photos. The following three photos were taken when I got out of the car.
The car passed a market in a small village with crowded roads. I saw that the fruits sold at the stalls were all very small. I thought it was because the fruits did not grow well here because of the mountains and high altitude. Judging from the color, style and fabric of the clothes worn by passers-by, they are all extremely cheap and outdated, indicating that the local consumption level is very low. We stopped and bought some drinks in a store to avoid having to go to the scenic spot and pay more for them later.
Why does it take 2 hours to drive for only 55 kilometers? Because Guizhou is a mountainous province, especially the Jiudong Tian Scenic Area we are going to. After entering Maochang Town, it is almost impossible to see straight roads, as if they were paved for racing. After driving in a place like this for a long time, your skills must be top-notch.
Arrive at destination:
After two full hours, we finally arrived at the "Jiudongtian National Scenic Area". The fare was 344.34 yuan. Tickets are 60 yuan each, plus 60 yuan for the boat ticket, which is 120 yuan for a package. Of course, you don’t need a ferry ticket. However, I strongly recommend that you really must buy the ferry ticket and don’t save the money. You traveled thousands of miles and went through all the trouble to come to such a remote scenic spot, and you missed out on the best cave experience just to save 60 yuan. Yuanyuan’s mother is older and does not need tickets, so we only bought two tickets.
If you are someone who likes to keep souvenirs, then I think there is nothing more worthy as a souvenir than tickets. I suggest that you don’t need to book tickets online. You can buy tickets at the attractions. This way you will get paper tickets that you can keep and come in handy when writing travel notes like me in the future.
Our tickets:
There is a restaurant in the B&B area of the scenic spot. We first had three bowls of noodles in the restaurant. I thought that the food in the scenic spot would only be enough to fill our stomachs, so there was no need to expect extravagant taste, but surprisingly it was pretty good.
The scenic area was deserted and there were no other tourists. First of all, today is already the 5th, the New Year's Day holiday has passed, and most people have to go back to work. The second thing is that this place is really remote. Even the locals in Bijie City still have many people who have never heard of it. Thirdly, Jiudongtian is really not famous. None of the outdoor organizations and travel companies in Guangzhou have recommended any attractions in Bijie City. Many people in the south don’t even know that there is a big one in China. The city is called Bijie.
Although it was deserted, the staff were very enthusiastic, which surprised me. Why the surprise? Often in places with few tourists, the staff inside are also slack, and they will become dissatisfied when someone comes in and disturbs their tranquility.
The food tastes good, the tickets are not expensive, the staff are friendly, well, I like it here.
Jiudongtian, as the name suggests, there are nine caves in this scenic spot. We entered from the first cave, which is called Yidongtian, also known as Daguantian.
towering cave
Yuanyuan taking a souvenir on the plank road in the cave
Glass walkway under construction
There are many places in the scenic area under construction, and plank roads are being built in caves and on the overhanging sides of the mountains. I lamented that we came early. If we come back in a few months, we can feel the scenery of the river and mountains on the thrilling plank roads.
After walking for half an hour, we entered a small, cramped artificial tunnel. In some places, we had to bend our backs to move forward. In my impression, caves are often cooler than outside, but we were sweating all over after walking inside. We stopped, took off our down jackets and linings, stuffed them into our backpacks, and walked forward quickly, hoping to finish this uncomfortable tunnel as quickly as possible.
Stepping out of the tunnel, you will see a deep space in front of you. The gray-white rock walls are uncarved, with strange shapes and ever-changing shapes. Off-white stalactites hang from the ceilings of some caves. There are projections of various symbols and totems everywhere on the rock walls, making the atmosphere in the cave even more ever-changing. Under the plank road is the undercurrent of Liuchong River, the largest tributary of Wujiang River, which is as calm as lake water. A woman's laughter sounded in front of the submerged stream. Looking forward, there was a ferry carrying several tourists floating in the dark and unknown place. I told Yuanyuan that the boat we were going to take would probably pass by here soon.
Narrow cave:
When you walk out of the cave, you will see canyons, sinkholes, and the light that shines through the mouth of the crater after leaving the mysterious cave, making you suddenly feel enlightened. I have been to Wanhua Rock in Chenzhou City, Hunan Province before. I was amazed by this cave at the time, but I didn’t expect that Jiudongtian would be better than it. Yuanyuan and I both said that this cave alone is worth visiting here.
Walking up the curved railing, you will reach the outside of the cave. This is the entrance and exit of the three caves, also called Yunxiaotian. This is where tourists take cruise ships.
These were taken after leaving the cave:
We are unlucky today because some scenic spots are closed due to construction reasons and tourists are not allowed to go there. Therefore, there are several holes in Jiudongtian that we have no chance to enter. After wandering around the valley for a while, we returned to the pier to take the boat.
Without further ado, let me just let you look at the scenery inside.
The following pictures were taken during the boat ride:
Video I recorded while on the boat:
We arrived at 9 o'clock and left at 12:30, and spent 3 and a half hours in a hurry. Fortunately, we usually exercise regularly, are in good physical condition, and walk at a fast pace. Otherwise, it might take an hour longer than others.
There are two scenic spots worth visiting in Dafang County. One is Zhiga Aluhu, which is also known as the first lake in Guizhou. My Bijie friend told me several times on WeChat that I would leave on Monday and that he could drive us over for fun. But we were pressed for time and couldn't follow his schedule. The other is the Baili Rhododendron Scenic Area, where from late March to May every year, the world's largest and most numerous azaleas bloom all over the mountain. It is an excellent place for viewing the scenery and hiking. I told Yuanyuan that we should come back later when the flowers bloom.
There are many interesting places in Guizhou, but we are too short on time and are not rich, so we cannot enjoy leisurely travels like some wealthy people. We went back to the restaurant where we had breakfast and had lunch. The boss heard that we were going back to Bijie city to take the train, and said that a friend happened to be sending someone out, and we could take his car, and the fare would be cheaper than taking a taxi. I thought that was fine, because you definitely couldn't get a taxi in a place like this, and it was even harder to hail a taxi online. I was still thinking about how to get back to the city later. Our luck was so good. After negotiating the price with the driver, the cost was 300 yuan, which was more than 40 yuan cheaper than when we came.
The round trip fare alone cost us 644.34 yuan today.
We took a taxi from Dafang County. The distance was 55 kilometers and took 2 hours. The train station from Jiudongtian back to Bijie City is 63 kilometers away, but it only took a little more than an hour. You can imagine how winding and narrow the road was. But there are beautiful views all the way here, and I think these beautiful views alone can feast your eyes. If readers want to follow our itinerary in the future, they must set out early in the morning, because some scenery must have such clouds and light at that time. Under such clouds and light, all the surrounding scenery can interact with each other. set off.
We bought a train ticket from Bijie to Guiyang, because we would take the train from there to Congjiang Station in the afternoon and reach the Zhaoqing Dong Village that we have longed for in the evening.