Hubei Wind-Chasing Journey Day 4 (Part 1): The 'Ten Lookbacks' of Thousand-Mile Fang County, Encountering Two Cycling Young Men

2021.02.26

Yesterday, that is, February 25. We wandered around, starting from Danjiangkou City in the morning. Over the course of the day, we were forced to give up the Danjiangkou Dam Scenic Area and Canglanghai Tourism Area in the morning, and Mount Wudang at noon, all for various reasons. The only thing that cheered us up was the Guanshan Reservoir we passed on the road, right next to the national highway. Its water was clear and emerald green, stretching forward like a green ribbon along the road, and the adjacent Guanshan Mountain was also beautiful.

Originally, we planned to stay overnight at Yeren Valley Town, but because of the bad weather over the past two days—constant heavy fog and light rain, along with a temperature drop—Zhang Shaoruan started getting carsick on the road and began showing symptoms of a cold. So we changed our route again at the last minute and decided to stay in Fang County.

So our route for yesterday was like this:

PS: If you're interested in my earlier travel notes, feel free to check them out. Here are the links:

Hubei Wind-Chasing Journey (D1): Coordinates in Hubei, a spontaneous trip, sleeping at a service station on the first day?

Hubei Wind-Chasing Journey D2 (Part 1): Braving the rain to explore Danjiangkou, there's even a fighter jet here!

Hubei Wind-Chasing Journey D2 (Part 2): The grand head of the South-to-North Water Diversion, this fish is really delicious, burp~

Hubei Wind-Chasing Journey D3 (Part 1): Accidentally wandered into a military zone…

Hubei Wind-Chasing Journey D3 (Part 2): Missing Mount Wudang, staying overnight in Fang County, feeling extremely low

After recounting the past, let's start today's travel notes!

By the way, today I planned the route like this, then spend a day visiting nearby scenic spots, leaving two days for Shennongjia:

Because of the miscalculation of the weather, my companion's thin clothes gave him signs of a cold. For the sake of my companion Zhang Shaoruan's "life safety," I chose to take him to stay in Fang County last night. The hotel was next to a hospital, and there was a pharmacy downstairs. When traveling, all arrangements must prioritize personal safety.

But this guy started getting excited as soon as he got into the elevator. I said, "Are you faking it?"

Actually, all this preamble is just to talk about the dinner we ate in Fang County. We're both foodies, so naturally we have no resistance to good food.

The hotel we stayed at was right next to Fang County Tang City Plaza, next to a river. The road along which Tang City Plaza lies is called "Shijing Avenue." Truly a thousand-year-old city, even the road names are so poetic. It's no exaggeration to say Fang County is a thousand-year-old city; in ancient times, it was called "Fangling."

It started raining when we left the hotel, and the weather was terribly cold, so I wasn't in the mood to take photos. Maybe because it was near the river, the road beside Shijing Avenue had the most barbecue restaurants. After wandering around in the rain for a while, we picked this one and hurried inside.

I also noticed something different from restaurants in our Zhengzhou: the menu was directly on the wall, simple and direct. You could see exactly what dishes you were ordering. It felt very lively and down-to-earth, warm and bustling.

We stood in front of the menu wall, "pointing out our orders"—this one, this one, and that one... Waiting for food is torture for hungry people. Zhang Shaoruan started munching on the broad beans the shop brought out.

Without further ado, let's fast forward to the dishes being served...

To take care of Zhang Shaoruan's stomach, we didn't order any beer, so here's what we got:

Since we hadn't eaten noodles for three days, I really wanted some noodles. But unfortunately, by the time the noodles were about to arrive, we were already full. I have to praise the boss: he readily helped us cancel the noodles. Many restaurants would say, "They're already in the pot," but here they were honest. I had to mention that.

When we left the restaurant, the rain had turned to snow. Thinking of our experience at Mount Wudang that morning, we looked at each other with bitter smiles. Finally, we agreed: see what tomorrow's weather is like. If it clears up, we'll continue our trip; if it snows heavily, we'll head back to Zhengzhou, because at the same time, it was also snowing heavily in Zhengzhou...

Fortunately, the next day was sunny, and even the rain and snow from last night had dried up!

As agreed, we decided to continue our journey.

Good weather lifts the mood, and the trip started to become happy again. Putting on Xu Wei's songs, we set off again, continuing along National Highway 209 toward Shennongjia.

The hotel we stayed at last night didn't have breakfast. We planned to eat breakfast on the road, but who would have thought that just a short way down Shijing Avenue from the hotel, we reached National Highway 209 without seeing a single breakfast shop. Remembering that we had some mixed congee with us, we took it out and heated it in front of the air conditioner vent. The Fang County yellow wine by the roadside caught our attention...

Thinking that we had traveled so far and hadn't bought any local specialties except for a few boxes of "pine cone" pastries at the foot of Mount Wudang, we randomly stopped at a roadside shop.

Getting back in the car and continuing forward, we began to approach Shennongjia. The mountains grew higher and higher, and the scenery got better and better. Because it had snowed the night before, the high mountains on both sides of the road were covered in white. Under the sunlight, against the snowy mist, it felt like a snowy mountain landscape in the western regions.

It felt like we were about to enter a magical realm. Here the sun was shining brightly, ahead there were snowy mountains on both sides flanking the road, and mist obscured the sun. When we reached the foot of the mountain and saw a parking area at an inn, we decisively got out to take photos.

Getting back in the car and continuing, there were more and more mountain peaks on both sides. The houses started to have a unique flavor of southern mountain villages. The weather was nice, and I felt carefree. At this point, it felt like any random shot by the roadside would be a masterpiece, and my phone's shutter couldn't stop.

Not far ahead was a valley surrounded by high mountains on both sides, with a parking area by the road. It was here that I took the character introduction photo for this travel note in my first post. Truly beautiful—I couldn't resist showing it off again.

After taking the check-in photos, we moved on. Not far ahead was Fang County's famous "Ten Lookbacks." This is actually a winding national highway that climbs the mountains, a section of G209. When we first started climbing this road, we only felt how steep it was, with one sharp turn after another, no less than the legendary "Akina Mountain."

Going uphill, every few bends there would be a sign on the roadside telling you which "Lookback" you've reached. Thousand-mile Fang County, each time you look back you can see its beauty. To summarize:

First lookback: Walking through thousand-mile Fang County;

Second lookback: The wild man waves;

Third lookback: The road is nice to travel;

Fourth lookback: The road travels in a painting;

Fifth lookback: Wind comes over the mountains and water, beautiful;

Sixth lookback: Scenery everywhere;

Seventh lookback: No need to fear the steep mountains;

Eighth lookback: Speed limit, safe waiting;

Ninth lookback: The road is beautified;

Tenth lookback: Good scenery stays in the heart.

(PS: Please forgive me—because we were constantly climbing, the mountain road was slippery, and to ensure safety for passing vehicles, I didn't stop to take proper photos. All were taken hastily from the car with my phone. Please ignore the composition; just get the idea!)

These "Ten Lookbacks" are truly very steep. Fortunately, we were driving uphill, otherwise it would have been very strenuous.

When we reached the top of the slope, we finally saw a parking area. I had wanted to stop halfway up to take photos and fly the drone, and now we had the chance. In the distance, we saw two young cyclists resting there.

I said to Zhang Shaoruan with admiration, "Amazing! They're out cycling in this weather. Look at us, even driving we complain about the cold and exhaustion..." As I spoke, we got out and greeted them...

Unconsciously, I've written over 3,000 characters again, and my fingers hurt from typing. So let's stop here for today...

As for travel notes, I think I'll just write as the mood strikes. The story of the two young men we met on the road—I'll save that for the next installment.

Finally, here's an aerial shot for you. Many people might have photographed the Ten Lookbacks in summer, but in winter, I might be one of the few.

Remember to come back and read my travel notes. I'm waiting for you~