One day, Sue sent me a message, which was a tourist promotion picture about a 2-day itinerary in Shaoguan. When I saw Nanxiong Ginkgo written on it, I got excited. Isn't this the place I've always been thinking about? When she asked me if I wanted to go, I agreed without even reading the detailed itinerary! Maybe this is a trip that just goes without any hesitation.
Regarding Nanxiong Ginkgo, I saw it in a travel tweet in 2016. Her description was quite good, and I have been waiting for the opportunity. Now the time has come! Set off immediately.
So we gathered at Baoan Center at eight o'clock on Saturday as agreed and started taking the bus to Shaoguan.
After driving for five hours, we finally arrived at the first stop "Shixing Red Desert". The scenic area is mainly a red basin, purple in color, mostly exposed hilly areas, shaped like a desert, and is commonly known locally as "Huangsha River". The academic name is "Nanxiong Red Rock". This is the official introduction. I don’t know much about this place and have never heard of it before. This place is not big, but the scenic spot charges tickets.
When I walked into the gate, I saw an open space with walls built around it and flags placed on it. It looked like an ancient city wall.
After we walked around the city wall, we followed a dirt road to the "Red Desert" attraction.
After walking on a dirt road for about a few minutes, we passed several abandoned mud houses. Finally, we arrived at the Red Basin, which really looked like a desert. If a real desert is compared to the Milky Way in the sky, the Shixing Red Desert here is equivalent to one of the planets in the Milky Way. When walking on this mini sand dune, your shoes will not sink into the soil. The soil is still very solid and the landform is very special. Because the place is not big, many people took pictures in various places. Regarding how to frame such a small place so that its most beautiful posture can be projected into my lens, I still painstakingly searched around to find a good location and a good angle, and I tried my best.
Later I walked further afield and found that the countryside here was pretty good.
At 16:40 we set off to the next stop "Hongli Village", which is a little-known Hakka village in Shixing County, Shaoguan. The highlights here are the compact Hakka buildings in the village and the Da'anping ancient village buildings that represent the ancestral culture.
When we got there, it was almost sunset and we took advantage of the last rays of sunlight. I want to take a picture of its entirety and then take a closer look at the surrounding buildings and ancestral hall.
The enclosed building has one door, and there are three doors. It is difficult for others to break in if there are foreign enemies. Of course, this method was only set up for the unstable times in the past, and the enclosed building itself is a defensive building. When you walk inside, the main source of light comes from the large "skylight" at the top of the house. There is a well in the atrium, and there are small rooms around it. They rely on small windows to get light. If there was no electricity in the past, the light would be seriously insufficient. of. There is a wooden staircase next to the door leading to the upper floor. This building has 4 floors. The structure of each layer is the same.
If you want to see other ancient architectural forms in China, you can go to Jiangmen. The watchtowers there are more unique in shape and more interesting. Attached below are pictures of the Jiangmen Fortress. These were taken when I went to Jiangmen on New Year’s Day in 2015. Of course, these buildings have their own characteristics and are indistinguishable.
Apart from the dazzling appearance from the outside, there is nothing new inside the ancestral hall. There are several rows of buildings going up and down. There was no one inside.
As the sun set, we prepared to take the bus to have dinner and then stay at a B&B at the foot of Danxia Mountain. When the car started moving, I realized how beautiful the sunset outside the window was. I wanted to take a photo, but I couldn't because there were many dirt and black spots on the windowpane where I was. This beautiful scenery can only be remembered with my eyes now. The sunsets in this season seem to be very beautiful, because these days, you can always see the stunning sunset in Shenzhen, but it is a pity that the high buildings block it and you cannot enjoy the panoramic view.
Early the next morning, we set out to see the ginkgo leaves. It also takes two hours to get from where you live to your destination.
On the way, I heard the tour guide say, Go to Xiaofangping first, because the leaves there have turned yellow. The leaves on the Golden Avenue are turning yellow now, and may not be fully yellow until the end of the month.
When we arrived at the destination, we purchased the tickets for the eco-car in the scenic spot by ourselves, and then waited at the ticket gate for the tour leader to get the tickets. In this way, we passed the ticket gate smoothly. We took an environmentally friendly car and entered the scenic spot. Along the way, you can see a canal next to it. The water surface reflects the trees on the hills on the shore, with varying degrees of yellow and green. It really feels like a small Jiuzhaigou.
After driving for more than ten minutes, the car stopped on the side of the road and reached its destination, Xiaofangping. As soon as I got off the car, I could see people taking photos under the ginkgo forest. Fortunately, the weather is nice today, and the blue sky with yellow accents is a good color combination. The weather never let me down. The temperature is already a bit high now, and I don’t want to take off the coat I wore in the morning. I don’t have any free hands to hold it. My left hand is a mobile phone and my right hand is a camera. It’s quite busy.
Now the ginkgo leaves here have turned yellow and some have fallen to the ground. of The scenery is not what I imagined. Now it seems to me that this time is more like the beginning of autumn. But no matter what, this trip is to explore the footprints of autumn, and capturing the figure of autumn is my mission.
We stayed in Xiaofangping for more than half an hour, and then continued to take the eco-friendly car to the next attraction "Golden Avenue". Sure enough, as the tour guide said, the leaves on the Golden Avenue were still green and were changing to yellow. If the leaves were yellow, this place would be more beautiful. I have already imagined the scene in my mind: there are yellow leaves on the trees and on the ground. No wonder it is called the Golden Avenue. This is a straight road with two rows of ginkgo trees on both sides. There are houses built beside the ginkgo trees on both sides. It looks like this house is quite old, but no one lives in it. We walked and took pictures. I record all the beautiful scenery in my eyes, which is something I never tire of.
At the end of the road, there was a dirt road that turned left. Someone was walking there, and we walked along the dirt road for a few minutes. As expected, we were pleasantly surprised. There were several clusters of flowers, red and yellow, at various heights. I became excited again, and took turns to take photos with my mobile phone camera.
The happy moments are always short-lived, and when the time to gather has come, we turn back to gather. Now I am finally satisfied and have completed my journey to find autumn. Looking forward to the next trip!
