A Loss at Dawn, a Gain at Dusk: A Journey to Zhenghe and Pingnan
A loss at dawn, a gain at dusk – that was the greatest takeaway from this trip to Zhenghe and Pingnan. In the past, the journey from Xiamen to Zhenghe was long and arduous, so even though I knew about the ginkgo trees in Daling, I never dared to go. Now that the Quzhou–Ningde Railway is open, with good connections it takes only four and a half hours from Xiamen to Zhenghe, and the fare is cheaper than going to Nanping. The ginkgo trees in Daling are as famous as those in Youxi Longmenchang and Shunchang Shangpingtou – they are the three best places in Fujian to admire ginkgo. Daling is inconvenient to reach, hidden deep in the mountains of Tieshan Town. Although it's only about ten kilometers away, the road winds over mountain passes, and there is no public bus. We managed to get a Didi from the county town to Dalingtou for just 60 yuan – much cheaper than a taxi (taxis here negotiate fares: 50 yuan to Nianshan Rice Terraces, 100 yuan to Dalingtou). Dalingtou Village is the seat of the Daling Village Committee. At the entrance parking lot, a golden ginkgo tree greeted us right away, but little did we know it would be the yellowest ginkgo we saw on this trip. The dozens of households in Dalingtou are all elderly; the adults and children live down in Tieshan Town or the county seat, and many young people work in other places. A few ginkgo trees in front and behind the houses were still green, but one tree by the temple behind the village had turned yellow. After asking where the ginkgo king was, we left our bags at an old person's house at the village entrance and set off on foot. First we saw a peculiar tree that had wrapped around bamboo – several bamboo stalks rose proudly from a hole in the tree trunk. The bamboo was green, and the old tree was also lush green; each had changed a little but neither hindered the other's growth. It took only half an hour round trip from the tree-wrapped-bamboo to the ginkgo king, and the path was flat – dirt, but especially easy. Along the way, one side of the slope was covered in bamboo, a sea of green that was a feast for the eyes. We saw a few ginkgo trees with slightly golden leaves. The ginkgo king stood in a hollow: a 600-year-old ginkgo, with another several-hundred-year-old ginkgo a dozen meters away, but unfortunately they were not yellow enough. That evening we had a meal with the old man, who picked some greens himself. Since we had brought a tent, we declined his offer to stay in his room and set up our tent at his doorstep. The starry sky in Dalingtou that night was exceptionally bright, with countless stars twinkling.
There is a villager's minibus in Dalingtou that carries passengers daily from Tieshan Town, and it goes down the mountain around 7 a.m. We hitched a ride to the Banling junction. Because the road is narrow, winding, and steep, no vehicles except motorcycles can enter; you have to hike about 2.5 kilometers from there. The ginkgo trees in Daling are mainly concentrated from the Banling junction to Banling Village – dozens of hundred-year-old ginkgo trees dot the front and back of houses, as well as fields and ridges. The innermost village is Banling, with only a few households, usually uninhabited. When the ginkgo leaves turn yellow, or on holidays, the villagers return from the town and run farmhouse restaurants. The dozen or so ginkgo trees at the entrance of Banling Village and on the back hill are all centuries old, growing along the slope. Most of the famous photos of Zhenghe Daling's ginkgo are taken here. When the ginkgo is yellow, tourists flood in, especially from Fuzhou. Although we didn't come at the best time, we already saw Fuzhou outdoor tour groups arriving in six buses. They parked at a parking lot near the Banling junction and walked in. Both Dalingtou and Banling have farmhouse accommodations, but camping here is even better. There is an ancient trail from Daling to Xibian Village, which is very well preserved. Walking on it feels like traveling back in time to an era without cars, when you could only walk. Recommended itinerary: On the first day at noon, charter a car from Tieshan Town to Dalingtou, then camp or stay overnight. The next morning, take the Dalingtou–Tieshan Town minibus and get off at the Banling junction, hike into Banling, then on your way back, call a vehicle from the junction to take you to Tieshan Town.
After Zhenghe, we went to visit ancient villages in Pingnan, choosing Tangkou Village and Jitou Village – both accessible by public bus. We planned to stay overnight in Tangkou Village, which belongs to Tangkou Town. There are homestays and guesthouses, some exquisitely decorated and quite expensive. The bus from Pingnan Railway Station to the bus station passes through Jitou. The driver seemed to have drunk Red Bull and wanted to promote the Longji Flower Sea, dumping all passengers there. The flower sea looked quite large, but the weather was bad and, more importantly, there were too many tourists. So we decided to visit Jitou first, then Tangkou, hoping to shoot clean flower fields before the crowds on Sunday. Jitou Village is an ancient village with over a thousand years of history. Its most famous feature is the Carp Stream. The Carp Streams in eastern Fujian are a local specialty. The most famous ones are in Zhouning Puyuan Village, Pingnan Jitou Village, and Zhenghe Yangyuan Village. Looking at pictures, you can hardly tell them apart: all have a winding stream, earthen houses on both sides, and huge carp raised in the water. Among them, the Zhouning Carp Stream has the longest history, dating back to the Song Dynasty. The carp streams in eastern Fujian were likely influenced by it, but Jitou's has a long history too. Jitou Village was first built during the Tang Dynasty and is also a thousand-year-old village. It was renowned for its literary culture, ranking first among Pingnan's four great book villages. There are quite a few large mansion-like houses in the village. The village's Farming Culture Museum holds many artifacts and is worth a visit. The local delicacy in Jitou is biandun (wonton). The century-old shop at the village entrance has been featured on TV and in newspapers. But I preferred its pig head meat.
The next day the weather cooperated, and the tourists came late, so we got to see the most beautiful and grand flower field in Fujian. The Longji Flower Sea covers more than 25,000 mu (about 1,667 hectares). It's a flower industry demonstration park that integrates flowers, traditional Chinese medicine cultivation, and tourism. The entrance fee is 30 yuan. Chrysanthemums are the main attraction, covering 600 mu of various varieties. When I think of chrysanthemums, I recall the melancholy of Jay Chou's "Chrysanthemum Terrace"; in southern Fujian chrysanthemums are mainly used to honor ancestors. But here, the vast sea of chrysanthemums was stunningly beautiful, with no sadness at all – only a feeling of competing beauty. The park also introduced many trendy elements, allowing visitors to enjoy themselves and take photos.
Leaving Jitou Village, we took a taxi to Tangkou Village. Both Jitou and Tangkou belong to Tangkou Town, but the taxi must go through the county seat to get there. The scenic spots in Tangkou Village are clustered around Qiansheng Bridge, a nationally protected covered bridge. First built in the Southern Song Dynasty, the current structure was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. It is 62.7 meters long and 4.9 meters wide, built with granite as a single-pier, two-span structure. Long planks on both sides serve as benches for rest. In the middle is a shrine dedicated to the Five Manifestations Emperor (Wuxian Linggong Dadi). One end of the covered bridge leads to Xiangfeng Ancient Temple, where several homestays offer top-notch environments. The other end leads to the ancient village of Tangkou, where there is a chaste widow archway, an octagonal pavilion, a Lin Gong Temple, and Mirror Lake. The most prominent sight in Tangkou is the monument to the 6th Regiment of the New Fourth Army's northward march to fight the Japanese. In February 1938, led by Ye Fei, the Red Army that had persisted in guerrilla warfare in eastern Fujian for more than three years assembled in Pingnan and was reorganized into the 6th Regiment of the 3rd Detachment of the New Fourth Army, heading to the anti-Japanese front. The bus between Tangkou and the Pingnan county seat also departs from here.
