Episode 2219: Wind God Lijiang, Elephant Trunk Hill with Water and Moon, Beautiful Lady Mirroring in Xingping Scenic Area

[Huang Jianbo's Travelogues and Shadows][The Complete Collection of Imperial Ancient Architecture]

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Deceive not the dead, owe not the living, feel no shame before the future.

Episode 2219: Wind God Lijiang, Elephant Trunk Hill with Water and Moon, Beautiful Lady Mirroring in Xingping Scenic Area

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The rain kept falling; the atmosphere was not harmonious.

On May 12, 2008, Wenchuan shook violently. Fan Meizhong, then a Chinese teacher at Guangya School in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan, was teaching first-grade International Baccalaureate Chinese when he abandoned his students and fled first, reaching the school playground. The dozen or so high school students in the class reacted later and came to the playground one after another.

On May 22, 2008, Fan Meizhong wrote an article titled "That Moment of Trembling Earth—Personal Account of the 512 Wenchuan Earthquake" on the Tianya community forum, describing his experiences during and after the quake, including this situation...

The article says: "In a moment of life-and-death choice, only for my daughter would I consider sacrificing myself. For others, even my mother, I would not care under such circumstances." Fan Meizhong said fleeing was his instinctive behavior at that moment, but it also reflected his weighing of the value of his own life versus others'. He did not believe that as a teacher, he had a duty to sacrifice his own life to save students.

Fan Meizhong was ridiculed by netizens as "Fan Paopao" (Running Fan). He was suspended by Guangya School. Principal Qing Guangya admitted that Fan was hardworking and had good relationships with students, who highly praised his unique educational philosophy and methods. In Fan's writing, the Wenchuan earthquake came without any chance to react; only earth-shattering sounds filled his mind.

There was no chance; relatives and friends nearby were crushed by huge rocks, even burying entire families who were eating.

After the earthquake stopped, countless civilians, soldiers, and volunteers from all directions worked together to initiate an epic in our country.

On June 25, 2008, I woke up to see rain still falling outside. I was in low spirits, worried that my Guilin trip plan might fall through.

Severe Typhoon "Fengshen" (Wind God) was upgraded and named on June 19, 2008, over the ocean east of the Philippines. Initially expected to move northward northeast of the Philippines, its actual path was continuously adjusted westward due to a stronger-than-expected subtropical high. It made landfall on the central coast of the Philippines on the afternoon of June 20, and soon experienced rapid explosive intensification in the inland seas of the Philippine archipelago, reaching the level of a severe typhoon (45 m/s) as determined by our meteorological bureau.

When Fengshen made landfall, the maximum wind near its center was 35 m/s (Force 12). It then continued moving westward, crossing the southern part of the island and skirting the northern part of Leyte Island, moving into the Visayan Sea. That night, Fengshen benefited from favorable upper-level divergence, allowing it to continue strengthening in the narrow waters of the central Philippine archipelago and developing a clear eye.

"Almost all towns were flooded, like an ocean. This is the biggest natural disaster here in history." At least 30,000 people in Iloilo City were stranded on rooftops due to flooding. Fengshen caused widespread flooding and landslides. Power and communication were interrupted in affected areas. In Manila, due to deep road flooding, traffic was nearly paralyzed.

During Fengshen's passage, a ferry carrying 862 people, "Princess of the Stars," ignored advice and set sail against the wind. It capsized and sank near Romblon Province in the central Philippines on June 20. A day later, besides slippers and life jackets floating on the coast, only 6 bodies and 4 survivors were found—the worst maritime disaster in the Philippines in 21 years.

In the following days, many bodies appeared concentrated along the coasts of the disaster area and four neighboring provinces. As of 18:00 on June 25, rescue workers and local residents had found at least 87 bodies. Rescue workers could not fully recover them ashore. According to later statistics, the Philippines had 1,371 deaths (including victims of the shipwreck), 87 missing, and 826 injured, with economic losses reaching 13.525 billion pesos.

Later, the typhoon crossed the Philippine archipelago and gradually moved northward in the South China Sea, making landfall on the morning of June 25 on the coast of Kuichong Street, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. The Pearl River Delta and other areas experienced heavy to extremely heavy rain, and some cities suffered severe floods. The typhoon affected 10 cities, 26 counties, affecting 696,400 people and 89,180 hectares of crops, with 13,700 houses collapsed.

The continuous heavy rain brought by the sixth typhoon of 2008, Fengshen, caused severe flooding in parts of Guangdong. Widespread heavy rain and localized torrential rain occurred across the province, with extra heavy rain in Zengcheng, Heyuan, and Zijin counties. Three river stations exceeded warning levels: Yingde Hydrological Station on the Beijiang River at 27 meters; Taipingchang Hydrological Station on the Liuxi River at over 17 meters; and Qilinzui Hydrological Station on the Zengjiang River in Zengcheng at 9 meters. The controlling stations of the four major rivers—the Xijiang, Beijiang, Dongjiang, and Hanjiang—all showed rising trends but were temporarily below warning levels.

The typhoon caused 37 deaths and 10 missing in our country, with economic losses of about 2.014 billion RMB. Although the No. 6 Typhoon Fengshen had weakened and moved away from Guangdong, the heavy rain it brought had already triggered many disasters.

I got up, dressed, and called my colleague to ask if we still had to work under the typhoon weather. Outside, the rapid rain beat against the glass; the community's landscaping trees had been blown down. I washed up and went out. The weather was gloomy, with strong winds. I struggled to the bus stop and luckily caught a bus. I saw the rain outside hitting the car window horizontally, and pedestrians were struggling with umbrellas. That was the price of living in Guangdong.

After getting off the bus, my pants were soaked immediately. Walking in the rain to Shekou, I saw water everywhere, with streets flooded. A tall beautiful lady got off with me. She wore denim shorts and flat sandals. The heavy rain splashed on her fair, long legs, and the strong wind made her buttocks dance like waves. I walked behind her gloomily, noticing she strolled through the water cheerfully. She wore sandals, so she wasn't afraid of the rain. I wore leather shoes. She turned her head and sneered at my disheveled state. I simply took off my shoes and socks and walked barefoot through the water.

Whenever a bus passed, the flooded streets surged with huge waves, majestic. My thighs were also wet. I walked to the company in a sorry state. First, I went to the restroom to wash my feet, then used the hot air dryer on the wall to dry my wet, stinky leather shoes, wasting a lot of time.

Today, the Japanese Nishimura was flying to Seoul, South Korea, for an exhibition. He had previously boasted to me that he didn't need a visa for Korea, but I needed to apply in advance, so that bastard didn't take me.

The beautiful Wu Xiaojuan had flown to Suzhou yesterday. Traveling in this typhoon weather was really tough. I coordinated work with the healthy and vigorous Jiangxi beauty Ye Xiayan. At noon, I lay on the desk for half an hour. When I opened my eyes, my left eye was blurry and couldn't see clearly—maybe from side-sleeping pressing my eyeball.

In the afternoon, I read an article shared by Peking University graduate Fan Meizhong, "That Moment of Trembling Earth: But this earthquake, while highlighting human kindness, also exposed ugliness to the world.

'I have never been a person willing to sacrifice. I only care about my own life. Don't you know? During the last midnight fire, I also escaped quickly!' Having said that, I later asked myself: 'Why didn't I organize the students to evacuate before I ran?' Actually, at that moment, the room shook so violently that I knew it was just instinct. I have strong crisis awareness; every time there is danger, I react quickly and escape faster...

Forget these infuriating words, why did I write this post? First, to leave a record of a period of my life. I didn't write anything during the year of military training and four years of college to record events and feelings at the time. So many interesting things have been forgotten! Not even a text to trigger memories! Second, to preserve a relatively truthful case record of this great earthquake. For that, I must speak without reservation! But without this explanation, it would still not be real enough because the fictional dialogue...

Many people may not understand that some dare to write their true selves even if it offends the world, and they make various speculations, thinking I might have psychological problems! Because in their thinking, writing such an article is simply not worth it. Some of my friends even worry it will affect my work...

If I ever thought I was a benchmark, that was my mistake! And this kind of honesty is a quality that the vast majority of Chinese writers and thinkers do not possess or are not as thorough as I am. To put it another way, this is also one of the important reasons why I prefer works by European and American writers and thinkers over those of most Chinese writers and thinkers.

Of course, I haven't achieved absolute honesty in fully revealing my soul in writing, and I believe no one in this world can. But it is possible to completely reveal oneself before God in the depths of one's soul. Through this incident, I reaffirmed that only trusting in God is the fundamental salvation for this people and this country, even though trust is for the salvation of the individual soul rather than a means to save the nation, but objectively it has such an effect.

In the evening, I argued with a colleague from the Northeast over Fan Meizhong. I disagreed with Fan Meizhong, but my colleague said Fan was a talent.

At night, I rushed home in the rain. After arriving at Apple Peach Garden, I met Li Yaqing and invited her to a noodle shop for beef Paomo and ramen. On the way back to Meilong Town, I met Zhao Yazhi. While having coffee with her, she talked about her roommate Mei Caifeng.

The tall beauty Mei Caifeng, 178 cm tall, was very promiscuous while studying at an art college. As graduation approached, she became hysterical and messed around everywhere. In the last month before graduation, she had several boyfriends and even brought them to the girls' dormitory to fool around, eventually discovered by Zhao Yazhi, causing a rift between the two close friends.

On June 26, 2008, it was still raining in the morning. Fortunately, the typhoon had just left, and the rain became lighter. I went out as usual. Just after boarding the bus, it started raining heavily again. Luckily, by the time I reached my destination, the rain had eased. I saw a damaged manhole cover and a sewage geyser. At the office, I turned on the computer and found the Shanghai Composite Index still hovering around 2800 points. The sky was still overcast, and it rained all day.

Li Yaqing took the bus back to Yantian to work. The prices for two new residential developments in Nanshan, Leizhen 0755 and Zhonghai Kangcheng, were 9,800 RMB per square meter, with some even lower. In Beijing, many people were demanding to cancel their housing purchases.

(Postscript: Huang Jianbo has been watching the housing price of Zhonghai Kangcheng for over a decade: in May 2016, 20,000; May 2017, 36,000; 2018, 38,000; 2019, 39,000; May 2020, 43,000; June 2021, 62,000. An increase of 210% in five years, an annualized increase of 42%.)

In the afternoon, I chatted online with a neighbor surnamed Lin, a wealthy apartment owner. He bought a two-bedroom apartment. Although he was an office worker, he felt satisfied.

From 10:30, I started chatting online with a client from Japan's Mitsui Yumen, and chatted until the end of the workday. The client kept complaining about product quality, which was frustrating. In the evening, while checking customer emails on the computer, I became so furious that I smashed two bowls.

Today I realized I never knew how to distinguish counterfeit bills. Since 2003, when I learned from Miss Zhang Ailing of Shenhui how to identify fake 50-yuan notes, I had used her method for the past five years. But now Zhang Ailing's method was outdated; new banknotes required new anti-counterfeiting techniques to identify. On Thursday, when buying ginger candy at Xiangyue Xiaochu in Pingguoyuan, I discovered the 50-yuan note was counterfeit, making me upset. I didn't buy anything while shopping.

On June 27, 2008, Friday, I spent most of the workday downloading exhibition materials from the internet and constantly editing proposals. Since the Japanese manager went on a business trip to Korea, no one was managing the files, and the office atmosphere was oppressive.

I worked obsessively browsing contract information until 17:50, reluctantly turned off the computer, and followed colleagues onto a bus to Shenzhen International Airport. It was still raining in the morning, but by evening the rain had stopped. Besides over 20 colleagues, there were the driver's family members Gan Liling and little girl Huang Junheng, and Qiu Lvyu and elementary school student Liu Aixing.

We arrived at the airport and checked in. We were to take Shenzhen Airlines flight Zh9837, departing at 20:15 for Guilin. The flight time was 50 minutes. I originally had seat 20F by the window but gave it to the old driver Jia Shifu, who was flying for the first time at age 55, while I had flown many times.

This time I specifically used the airplane bathroom once; it felt small but advanced. We arrived at Guilin Liangjiang Airport, designed in a landscape style. We took a shuttle bus to Osmanthus Fragrance Hotel. The hotel is a four-star tourist hotel located on the bustling section of Zhongshan South Road in Guilin, 150 meters from the train station and 200 meters from the bus station, with convenient transportation.

The four-star Osmanthus Fragrance Hotel in Guilin has 228 rooms in a fresh and elegant style, equipped with broadband service. It also has a large parking lot, shopping center, Chinese and Western restaurants, multi-function conference hall, large sauna health center, business center, and travel services. The hotel integrates tourism, sightseeing, leisure, entertainment, dining, shopping, and commercial activities, making it an ideal place for domestic and foreign tourists to stay.

After queuing to check in, I strolled through Guilin streets with Wang Meihua, Li Huiqin, and others. We passed by Heji rice noodle shop, hesitated, and didn't go in. There were many tricycles on the road. I noticed the river level had risen, caused by the typhoon from Guangdong.

There were many landscape trees on Guilin streets. This was my second visit to Guilin. The streets were bustling with people; it was a leisurely small city. Later, I went with several colleagues to a hotel to eat porridge with fish, costing dozens of yuan per person. Then we returned to the hotel. My room was a one-bedroom apartment. I showered and went to bed.

On June 28, 2008, Saturday, cloudy with brief light rain. For breakfast at the Osmanthus Fragrance Hotel, we had Guilin rice noodles, which tasted mediocre. Later, we took a bus to the confluence of the Taohua River and the Lijiang River. During my 2005 visit to Guilin, I didn't enter the scenic area. This time, I fulfilled my wish and entered the Elephant Trunk Hill Scenic Area. The water was very clear, like a floating moon under the water, with rocks extending into the water.

Elephant Trunk Hill is located at the confluence of the Lijiang River and the Taohua River in Guilin. It resembles an elephant drinking from the river, hence its name. Its unique shape and long history make it the emblem of Guilin. Inside the Water Moon Cave between the elephant's trunk and body, over 50 cliffside inscriptions survive, a key cultural relic protection site in Guangxi. The famous line by Tang Dynasty poet Han Yu, "The river is a green silk belt, the mountains are like jade hairpins," is carved in the cave.

Elephant Trunk Hill is famous for its miraculous appearance. First, its shape is lifelike. Second, between the trunk and legs, a crescent moon shape over the water creates the "Elephant Trunk Hill with Water and Moon" spectacle. Elephant Trunk Hill is the city emblem mountain of Guilin and has been a symbol of Guilin tourism since ancient times.

It sits at the confluence of the Lijiang and Taohua rivers in central Guilin, shaped like a giant elephant. Between the trunk and legs is a round cave of about 150 square meters, through which the river flows, like a moon floating on water. The Elephant Trunk Hill Water Moon on the west bank faces the Chuanyue Rock on the east bank of the Lijiang, one hanging in the sky, one floating on the water, forming the unique "Lijiang Double Moons" landscape.

Main attractions at Elephant Trunk Hill include Water Moon Cave, Elephant Eye Rock, Puxian Pagoda, Yunfeng Temple, and the Mass Site Memorial Hall inside the temple. Nearby is the only remaining stupa from the Sui-Tang Kaiyuan Temple. Water Moon Cave is close to the river, with the Lijiang flowing through it, like a floating moon, and rocks extending into the water like an elephant drinking, creating a beautiful scene. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, it has been a tourist attraction. The Song Dynasty poet Jibei Chushi wrote in "Verses Matching the Water Moon Cave Rhyme": "At the bottom of the water, there is a bright moon; above the water, a bright moon floats. The water flows, but the moon does not go; the moon goes, but the water still flows." This vividly depicts the scene.

The hill covers an area of 118,800 square meters and is a karst natural landscape area. It is named for its resemblance to a giant elephant drinking river water. It became a famous tourist destination as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, with over 1,000 years of tourism history.

Afterward, we walked along the river to watch bamboo rafts and parrots flying and pecking at lines. Then we walked to Ronghu Lake to visit the Golden and Silver Twin Pagodas and took group photos.

The Sun and Moon Twin Pagodas, located at the "Two Rivers and Four Lakes," include the Sun Pagoda, the tallest copper pagoda in the world. The copper pagoda sits in the center of the beautiful Shanhu Lake and is China's first all-copper pagoda, standing 42 meters tall with nine stories, made of 600 tons of copper. At the bottom of the lake, a 10-meter-long underwater tunnel connects it to another seven-story pagoda. The twin pagodas complement each other, making them a highlight of the Two Rivers and Four Lakes.

This copper pagoda has nine floors. The ninth floor has an area of 20 square meters and can accommodate ten people for meetings—having a meeting there gives a feeling of being high above, overlooking everything. It's suitable for corporate high-level roundtable meetings. Originally, the HR department asked me to book the pagoda for a meeting, but I gave up because the quoted price was too high.

The Golden Pagoda and Silver Pagoda have traditional shapes, but their materials and tones were crafted with care. The Golden Pagoda is entirely cast in bronze, while the Silver Pagoda is decorated with bluestone and ceramics.

We then took a tourist shuttle bus, taking several hours to reach Xingping Ancient Town in Yangshuo. The town of Xingping was established as the seat of Xiping County during the Wu Ganlu period of the Three Kingdoms, governing the Yangshuo area. In the Sui Dynasty, the tenth year of Kaihuang, Xiping County was abolished and Yangshuo County established, with Xingping falling under its jurisdiction.

Within its territory, attractions like Jiuma Huashan (Nine Horse Paint Mountain), Luosi Mountain, Lotus Rock, Tianshui Village, Lingbao Pavilion, and the Ming Dynasty Tengjiao Nunnery attract domestic and foreign tourists to follow in Huang Jianbo's footsteps.

Xingping is a brilliant pearl on the Lijiang River, located northeast of Yangshuo County, 25 km from the county town. The reverse side of China's old 20-yuan banknote features the scenery of Xingping. Many brick-and-tile ancient buildings are well preserved. Southeast of the ancient street, Shizidan is the site of Xiping County town. The outline of the city wall is still visible, with fragments of ancient bricks, tiles, and ceramics everywhere. But the bustling county town of the past now presents a quiet atmosphere of green mountains and a few houses.

Remarkably, an ancient banyan tree, said to be planted when the county was established and requiring ten people to encircle, still flourishes. Its roots have swallowed five Buddha statues and a huge rock weighing about 20 tons, as if telling people of the town's historical vicissitudes of over 1,740 years.

We took an electric car to the dock, then a boat to a small beach in the river for sightseeing and photos. Last time I came to Guilin, I took a big boat. This time I had the chance to ride a bamboo raft. I shared it with three female colleagues to enjoy the scenery of Xingping Fishing Village. The small bamboo raft could only seat four people. The guide assigned me and three beautiful ladies to one raft. It really was "a hundred years of cultivation to share a boat crossing"—a kind of fate. Now, the four of us have gone our separate ways and have no news of each other.

The Xingping section of the Lijiang bamboo raft tour is located within Yangshuo and has been rated by domestic and overseas people as the essence of Guilin's landscape. As the saying goes, "Yangshuo's landscape is the best under heaven, and the best of Yangshuo is in Xingping." There are more than twenty scenic spots, including Jiuma Huashan, Huangbu Daoying (Yellow Cloth Reflection), Sengni Xianghui (Monk and Nun Meeting), Chaoban Mountain, and the 20-yuan note background scene.

Throughout history, the beautiful mountains and waters of Xingping have intoxicated countless poets and artists. Along the Xingping Lijiang River, one can also enjoy the picturesque Xingping Scenic Area, Huangbu Daoying, Llyu Tiaolongmen (Carp Leaping over Dragon Gate), Chaoban Mountain, Luosi Mountain, and the extraordinary scenery of Meinv Zhaojing (Beautiful Lady Mirroring).

The Yangdi section of the Lijiang bamboo raft tour is a must-do when visiting Guilin and Yangshuo. Beautiful Yangdi is an important part of Guilin tourism and Guilin's landscape. A hundred li of the Lijiang River, "each mountain and each water a poem," is like a color ink landscape scroll with poetry in the painting and painting in the poetry.

The Yangdi scenic area covers about 18 kilometers of river, the golden water section of the Lijiang. Taking a bamboo raft from Yangdi Dock, drifting downstream, the scenery is beautiful—Jiuma Huashan, Huangbu Daoying, each breathtaking. This river section twists and turns, with clear water meandering, many scenic spots, reflected peaks, and lush bamboo and trees.

During the May Day or National Day holidays, the sheer number of bamboo raft boats on the Lijiang makes it look like a scene from the Battle of Red Cliffs from a distance, very spectacular.

The Hubei beauty Xiong Aiwen, about my age, and Miss Zhang Jiaolei sat in the front. I sat in the back with Wang Meihua, who is as tall as me. Actually, a woman as tall as me would already have a killer figure. Wang Meihua was well-rounded and kind-hearted. I saw mosquitoes had bitten several bumps on her fair thighs, and I regretted not bringing mosquito repellent.

Three women and one man quietly enjoyed the Lijiang landscape. In the distance were ancient villages and rolling mountains, making us linger. On the riverbank, we touched the clear Lijiang water. I hadn't seen such clean water in a long time. The three female colleagues excitedly took photos, and I acted as photographer, taking pictures for them.

On September 24, 2023, today I took my parents to Guilin for a trip. We left late and almost got stuck in traffic. Got on the bus. Mom's ID number had changed, so she couldn't get in with her ID card. It was a big hassle. We had to run everywhere. Old people use senior cards, causing trouble for both parents. We sweated a lot. If my parents had come alone, they wouldn't have managed.

It didn't work. The person at the gate wouldn't let us through the turnstile. Finally, we found a young man who let us into the high-speed rail station, but we lost a bag. The high-speed train seats were so empty, yet we were assigned to different seats, not even together. At night we arrived in Guilin and stayed in a two-bedroom one-living-room homestay for 226 yuan per night, averaging over 70 yuan per person.

On September 25, 2023, I accompanied my parents on a boat ride on the Lijiang. The water was very shallow, and there were many people.

Our parents' generation experienced three years of famine, so they mostly love meat. Many elderly Chinese see eating meat as a symbol of prosperity.

But in California, eating meat is a sign of being poor. Being able to eat fresh vegetables is the real symbol of prosperity.

There is a hierarchy when dining out in the US: if you want vegetables, it's hard without 100 RMB. Fast food under $100 (in USD?) is inevitably junk meat (fried chicken).

California's ongoing drought is expected to affect the prices of major vegetable crops, leading to higher food inflation for consumers. In California, vegetables are sometimes more expensive than meat. Chinese immigrants in the US keep their habit of growing vegetables. Zhang Chonghe, granddaughter of Zhang Shusheng, a second-ranking figure of the late Qing Huai Army, was skilled in poetry, calligraphy, painting, and Kunqu opera. In her later years, she was known as "the last talented woman of the Republic of China." From 1962 onward, she began growing vegetables in her backyard. The more she grew, the more skilled she became, and she was proud of her harvest. This habit continued into old age. In the US, she often complained that vegetables were expensive and tasted bad. "Speaking of vegetables, you people back home don't understand; it's not worth mentioning. When we housewives meet, we immediately talk about vegetables—where they are good and where they are cheap."

The processing and transportation costs of vegetables account for a large proportion in the US, becoming a major reason for price increases. As energy prices rise, the fuel costs for agricultural production also increase significantly, leading to higher processing and transportation costs. Additionally, the distance for transporting agricultural products has increased. Since the US is a large country, the supply chain for vegetables across regions is long, increasing transportation costs.

Extreme weather conditions such as drought, floods, and hurricanes can destroy crop growth environments, reducing vegetable yields. Farmers have to raise prices to compensate for losses. Moreover, climate change can alter crop growth cycles, affecting planting timing and yields, further driving up vegetable prices.

On May 4, 2024, Saturday, the rainy season had lasted a month. Having lived in Guangdong for so long, I felt intense resentment for the first time at weeks of continuous heavy rain. I had originally planned to travel during the May Day holiday, but because of the heavy rain, I was stuck at home, feeling like I wasted the holiday. But thinking of the highway collapse in a Guangdong mountain area that killed 48 people, I also realized that traveling during the crowded May Day holiday would be disrespectful to the victims' families.

Today, I originally wanted to go hiking outdoors, but it rained all day, and there were lightning storms at noon.

I used to complain that the weather in North Africa was too dry, but after experiencing the annoying spring and summer rainy season in Guangdong in recent years, I started missing the blue skies of North Africa.

I used to hear bullshit like "You can't control the weather, but you can change your mood; you can't have everything go smoothly, but you can try your best; you can't change injustice, but you can show a smile; you can't change tomorrow, but you can seize today." Actually, humans are animals; our emotions are indeed affected by weather. Long-term rainy weather can greatly damage a person's positive energy.

Since ancient times, the period from April to May in Guangdong has been flood season, with heavy rains every year and strong convection every year. Since April this year, heavy rain has been frequent in Guangdong, with localized extremely heavy rain in Shaoguan, Qingyuan, and Guangzhou, and the earliest major flood since meteorological records occurred on the Beijiang River.

Since April, the subtropical high has been stronger than normal, favoring the transport of water vapor from the South China Sea and Bay of Bengal to southern regions. At the same time, plateau troughs and southern branch systems have been active, leading to frequent heavy rainfall in southern regions with extended precipitation duration. Additionally, temperatures in Jiangnan, South China, and other areas have been significantly higher than normal, with abundant atmospheric moisture and high unstable energy, leading to vigorous convection and high rainfall intensity, with multiple areas recording historical April precipitation extremes.

Guangdong's flood season is divided into two parts: the pre-flood season and the post-flood season. The pre-flood season is further divided into two stages: the first stage and the second stage, which is the Dragon Boat Water stage. April is in the first stage of the pre-flood season. Since the southwest monsoon hasn't yet burst, water vapor is insufficient, so although heavy rain and strong convection occur, they are mostly small-scale, short-duration, localized, and fast-moving strong convective storms, distinct from the large-scale persistent heavy rain of the Dragon Boat Water stage.

However, the April 2024 heavy rain in Guangdong had both the characteristics of strong convective storms (torrential rain and strong winds) and the characteristics of the large-scale persistent heavy rain of the Dragon Boat Water stage—a superposition. In April 2024, during the decay phase after El Niño, the westerlies easily shifted southward, but the surface warm air was particularly strong, creating an unstable configuration of high-altitude cold air and low-altitude warm air heating the sea surface. This easily led to various extreme weather, especially strong convective weather.

In mid-April, a once-in-a-century extreme rain occurred along the Persian Gulf coast. Dubai saw 160 mm of rain in 24 hours, breaking its historical record, paralyzing all transportation by water, land, and air. Oman had a maximum process precipitation of 302 mm, reaching a thousand or even ten thousand times the average April precipitation, or even infinite multiples. In March this year, I was also traveling in Oman in the Middle East, and a heavy rainstorm gave me a rude awakening—like a typhoon in Guangdong, almost blowing away the glass door of my hotel.