Gongcheng Si'an Village Wuhaitang Tun, an ancient village rich in natural landscape beauty and Yao ethnic customs

On the morning of March 13, 2021, I drove to Wuhaitang Tun of Si'an Village to capture the peach blossoms. Wuhaitang Tun is situated in Jiahui Town, Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County, Guilin City. I had heard that every March, the hills of Daling Mountain in Gongcheng are covered with blooming peach blossoms, dyeing the mountain red, and that spectacular sight had long flooded social media. But when the car arrived at Wuhaitang Tun, the peach blossoms had already withered and gone—I heard they bloomed early this year. So I didn't get to see the blossoms in full bloom. The peach blossoms had escaped, but the place where they bloomed remained!

Si'an Village, Wuhaitang Tun, Jiahui Town, Gongcheng County, Guilin, is home mainly to the Yao and Han ethnic groups. The Chajiang River flows along the village, with an 18-li (9 km) waterway. It is an ancient village rich in natural landscape beauty, woven with historical threads and Yao ethnic customs.

In recent years, Si'an Village has taken rural revitalization as its goal, focused on poverty alleviation, and led the village's party members and cadres under the guiding principle of 'Red Leading · Panoramic Si'an' party building work. This has brought about a path of rural revitalization that is industrially prosperous, ecologically livable, with civilized rural customs, effective governance, and prosperous living.

Si'an Village has been honored with titles such as 'Advanced Collective' in the autonomous region's poverty alleviation campaign, and 'Beautiful Guilin' model village in Guilin City.

Entering Wuhaitang Tun, I saw persimmon trees planted along village roads, at house fronts, and backyards. The Gongcheng moon persimmon is a high-quality variety among Chinese persimmons, and the dried persimmons made from it are famous across China and well-known overseas. Jiahui is renowned for 'the wind of Jiahui,' which makes it the best place for making moon persimmon dried fruits, giving rise to a long history of persimmon drying. Nestled by the mountains and rivers, Si'an Village is one of the earliest villages in Jiahui Town to produce dried persimmons, producing generations of persimmon-peeling experts.

Moon persimmons have always been the main industry of Si'an. Every autumn, every household dries persimmons, creating a beautiful scene of golden persimmons set against green trees.

The village still retains the most primitive appearance of yellow mud walls and green tiles.

Three-wheeled hand tractors, long obsolete in cities, still run transport here.

Adjacent to the village, the Chajiang River flows gracefully. The green hills and clear waters mirror each other like a mirror, and occasionally egrets skim across the surface. From the dock, I boarded a bamboo raft and drifted downstream along the Chajiang, watching egrets and bamboo groves along the way.

A large number of egrets inhabit this area. The villagers love and protect the birds, setting up promotional billboards.

A villager was making brooms from bamboo tips.

I was deeply attracted by the small courtyard in front of me. It was the ancestral house of the grandfather of a demobilized soldier (younger brother). The interior has been decorated as a guesthouse, named 'Ruyi Xiaozhu' (Little House of Wishes).

Passing visitors stopped to take photos with their phones. In summer, this is a comfortable retreat for escaping the heat and relaxing.

The newly built winding mountain road is about one meter wide, all brand-new pavement. Even on rainy days, it is not slippery. Green pigment was added during paving, making it look like a green carpet from afar, pleasing to the eye. On this day of spring drizzle, it added even more greenery.

The steps are not steep; after climbing fewer than 20 steps, one can see the distant mountains, rivers, and landscape stretching out before the eyes. The season of peach blossoms had passed, so there weren't many visitors. The mountain road was not crowded at all, allowing for free framing and photography. Unfortunately, due to the rain of the past few days, the river water was not very clear, so the photos didn't turn out well.

Dense woods interspersed with the Chajiang River, along with the rolling mountains in the distance, created another kind of scenery. If it were sunny, the blue sky and white clouds would truly prove that Si'an Village's reputation as a beautiful countryside is not undeserved.

Standing on a high point, I looked out at Guangxi's unique karst landform—clusters of peaks, majestic in their grandeur.

This is a pavilion on the northern side of the mountainside.

Standing in the pavilion and gazing into the distance, the landscape here differs from what one sees at the foot of the mountain.

Another pavilion on the southern mountaintop.

'When I reach the summit, I shall see all mountains at a glance.' As I ascended to the mountaintop, the view opened up before me: the beautiful Chajiang River winding along the foot of the mountains. I lingered on the mountain for about ten minutes, then took a different path down, returning to the foot of the mountain.