Zhangjiajie's most comprehensive en-route guide
There are 14 prefecture-level administrative divisions in Hunan Province, including 13 prefecture-level cities and one Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Among them, Zhangjiajie City is the one with the smallest area, the smallest population, and the most recent establishment. Zhangjiajie City administers two districts and two counties, with a total area of 9,653 square kilometers and a total population of about 1.7 million, of which the urban population is less than 200,000. It was officially established on April 4, 1994. It is located in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, within what is commonly called the greater Xiangxi region, at the junction of the uplifted Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the subsiding Dongting Lake area. It borders Shimen County and Taoyuan County of Changde, Hunan to the east, Yuanling County of Huaihua, Hunan to the south, Longshan County of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture to the west, and Enshi Tujia Autonomous Prefecture of Hubei Province to the north. Zhangjiajie has a long history, with human activity dating back more than 4,500 years. However, due to harsh natural conditions, in ancient times Zhangjiajie was called a "southern barbarian wasteland" beyond the "Nine Provinces," where "sages let nature take its course." Its name also changed several times, successively known as Dayongsuo, Dayongwei, Yongdingwei, and Dayong County, until 1985 when it was named Dayong City, which is now our Zhangjiajie City.
At present, we are in Yongding District, one of the two districts of Zhangjiajie City. Yongding District is the main urban area of Zhangjiajie City, where some municipal government agencies and major commercial centers are concentrated. Hunan Province has many alternative names, such as Xiang and Xiaoxiang. In Chairman Mao's poetry there is also the line "The land of hibiscus is bathed in morning light," giving it the elegant name "Land of Hibiscus." Another alternative name is "Three Xiangs and Four Rivers." The Three Xiangs refer to Xiaoxiang, Zhengxiang, and Lixiang, which are three different sections along the course of the Xiang River. The Four Rivers refer to the four major river systems in Hunan Province: the Xiang, Zi, Yuan, and Li. The Li River is in Xiangxi. It originates in the primitive forest of Badagong Mountain in Sangzhi County, winds through many turns, and finally flows into Dongting Lake. The river you see now running through the city is the Li River, the mother river of Zhangjiajie. In the poem "Lady of the Xiang" by the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan, there is the line "The Yuan has its angelica, the Li has its orchids." The "Li" referred to here is the river we see. Upstream, there is a section of the river with beautiful scenery, its banks covered with thatch grass, hence the name Maoyan River, a nationally famous rafting route. The direction we are now heading is Wulingyuan District of Zhangjiajie City. Before the 1980s, that area was basically barren land, with only a small number of mountain people living there by slash-and-burn farming. It gradually developed only after the opening of Zhangjiajie Scenic Area in the early 1980s and became a district of Zhangjiajie. Now it is mainly focused on tourist attractions, and we will spend the next X days there.
The two counties of Zhangjiajie are Cili County and Sangzhi County. If any friends in the group are familiar with the history of the Republic of China period, you will know that there was a figure known as "China's Number One Bodyguard." In his youth, he studied in Japan and was unbeatable throughout the East. After returning home, he once served as Sun Yat-sen's personal bodyguard. Does anyone know who he was? Yes, Du Xinwu! In his early years, Mr. Du Xinwu was a figure who was both righteous and unorthodox. On the one hand, he helped Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, and others in their revolutionary activities; on the other hand, he was once one of the several elders of the famous Shanghai underworld organizations, the Green Gang and Red Gang, with an extremely high seniority. Chiang Kai-shek also joined the Green Gang in his early years, but he belonged only to the generation of Mr. Du Xinwu's grand-disciples. Mr. Du Xinwu was from Jiangya Town in Cili. It is said that the Dragon King Cave in Jiangya was where Du Xinwu practiced martial arts in his youth. Cili County has green mountains and clear waters, is basically mountainous, has little industry or mining, and has extremely high environmental quality. Smokers all know that Hunan has a cigarette brand called Furongwang, which many people like to smoke and which is a large enterprise with an annual output value of nearly 10 billion. So where does the tobacco needed for so many cigarettes come from? The main producing areas are concentrated in Xiangxi, and Cili, with its high environmental quality, also has large-scale cultivation and is called the "Number One Production Workshop." Careful friends will notice after entering Zhangjiajie City that many places selling local specialty products advertise "Zhangjiajie's Unique Eucommia Tea." Eucommia is a precious Chinese herbal medicine. Its main concentrated production areas nationwide are in Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. In Cili County of Zhangjiajie, the planting area reaches 400,000 mu, making it the county with the largest eucommia forest base in the country. On March 26, 1995, Comrade *** passed through Cili County, Zhangjiajie, and had lunch at the Cili County Government Hotel. The Maotai and Jiugui liquor on the table were not opened, but he did drink some eucommia wine and even said, "Eucommia wine is quite good!" Since then, it has been used as an advertising slogan. Everyone, look at the intersection on your left. This is the entrance to the Zhangsang Highway leading to Sangzhi County. Sangzhi County gets its name from planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms. It is a place that both makes Zhangjiajie people proud and makes them blush. It makes Zhangjiajie people proud because Marshal He Long, one of the Ten Marshals, who once started a revolution with two kitchen knives, came from here. It makes Zhangjiajie people blush because, even today, it remains a nationally designated poverty-stricken county, and every year the central government must allocate 30 million yuan to sustain the financial needs of the entire county. In our Xiangxi, many beautiful folk songs are passed down, and Sangzhi County is especially known as the "Home of Folk Songs in Hunan." On November 23, 2003, when Hunan girl Song Zuying held a solo concert at the Golden Hall in Vienna, she sang a typical Sangzhi folk song, "The Horse-Sang Tree Twines Around the Lampstand Tree." The horse-sang tree is a vine plant, while the lampstand tree is a tall tree, and "twines around" means entanglement, symbolizing the lingering affection between a young man and woman.
We should not just talk without practicing, so now Guide Chen will present this folk song, first to express sincere welcome for your long journey here, and second to let everyone get closer to Xiangxi.
(singing)
Earlier, when I was introducing Zhangjiajie's geographical location to everyone, we mentioned that Zhangjiajie falls within the broader region of western Hunan. When it comes to western Hunan, most people's first impression might be that there were many bandits there. Secondly, what comes to mind probably isn't the beauty of its mountains and rivers, because China is vast and rich in resources, with countless wonders of mountains and waters. As far as Guide Chen knows, in your hometown XX, there is XX, a place of breathtaking beauty. In fact, western Hunan is world-renowned for its rich and diverse local ethnic customs and its magical and splendid Wu Nuo culture. Take Zhangjiajie, for example—it clearly embodies the characteristics of western Hunan.
We just mentioned that Zhangjiajie has a population of over 1.6 million. This population of over 1.6 million has a very notable characteristic: the proportion of ethnic minorities is extremely high, accounting for over 73 percent, including more than 20 ethnic minority groups such as the Tujia, Bai, Miao, and Uyghur. In contrast, the Han population here is not large, with only over 300,000 people. All of you in our tour group, like Xiao Chen, are Han Chinese, right? Once you arrive in Zhangjiajie, you can call yourselves an ethnic minority. Because here the Han population is the minority, while ethnic minorities are the majority.
Among the many ethnic minorities, the Tujia are the largest local ethnic group. Out of the city's population of over 1.6 million, they account for nearly one million, making them the principal ethnic group of Zhangjiajie City. Nationwide, the Tujia population totals about 8 million, mainly concentrated at the borders of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces. The branch in Zhangjiajie is said to be descendants of the Ba people who settled at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou after the Qin Dynasty. Due to wars, they wandered to Zhangjiajie, put down roots, and multiplied and thrived. They call themselves "Bizika," meaning local people. In ancient times, the hardworking and brave Tujia people lived for generations in the mountains and wilderness, with extremely limited cultural development, and thus had no writing system of their own. However, under their long-term stable living environment, they developed their own unique language, passed down orally from generation to generation. Here, you will find many hotels, restaurants, and stalls bearing the name "Bizika"—their owners are Tujia people. With social progress and frequent contact with the outside world, fewer young Zhangjiajie residents can speak the Tujia language; only some elderly people in remote and backward mountain villages still maintain this habit.
Guide Chen knows a little and can teach everyone some simple phrases. Do you want to learn? If you want to learn, clap your left hand on your right; if not, clap your right hand on your left. The applause isn't warm enough, so Guide Chen can't remember. (Laughs)
First, I'll teach you how to greet the Tujia people: "Ni/Cha" means "hello." In the morning, you can greet someone with "Zao Gu Die/Cha," which means "good morning." Tomorrow when everyone gets up and meets each other, you can use Tujia to say good morning. Of course, if one of the young men in our group takes a fancy to a clever and skillful Tujia girl in western Hunan and wants to confess his feelings, he can also say "E A Ni A Chi," which means "I love you." Oh, if you're lucky enough to win the beauty's heart and bring her home, then congratulations—you've married a "Li/Ni Ga" and brought her home.
Let's have a guess – what does "Li/Niga" mean? (Encourage the guests to participate and liven up the atmosphere in the bus.) "Li/Niga" means "tigress." Just now, I only said half of the sentence. Apart from being ingenious and deft, the Tujia girls in Xiangxi are also sharp-tongued.
What I just mentioned only shows how the Tujia ethnic group differs from others in language, which is not enough to illustrate the rich and colorful local ethnic features. In fact, compared with other ethnic groups, the Tujia people also have their own characteristics in terms of festivals, marriage, and forms of address, with a strong Xiangxi flavor.
Some friends may have noticed that I just called the men in our group "A'ge," which is a typical Xiangxi way of addressing people. Men are called "A'ge," women "A'mei," and those older than you are called "A'jie." If they are locals in Xiangxi, they call each other in an even more affectionate and sweet way – "Ge'e~" and "Mei'e~" with the latter syllable drawn out very long, especially in some folk songs where it appears even more tender and lingering. We can see this Xiangxi charm in language at the folk performances in the evening. Men also have another form of address locally, called so-and-so Lang. Whatever the surname is, just put it before the surname. If the surname is Luo, he is called Luo Lang; if the surname is Li, he is called Li Lang. I wonder if there are any A'ge surnamed Tang or Zhang in our group. If so, they can be called Tang Lang or Zhang Lang. (Laughs) If there are, it doesn't matter. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. This form of address can be kept for these X days. After these few days, once everyone returns to XX, I won't be able to control it anymore.
It seems some friends in the bus were just muttering – if the surname is Se, should he be called Se Lang [homophone for "pervert"]?! Tang Lang and Zhang Lang are fine, but if there's a Se Lang, that would be a big problem. It's not me who would be in trouble – it's Comrade Se Lang who would be in trouble. According to the older generation in Xiangxi, in the past, if a pervert was caught in Xiangxi, he would be locked in a bamboo cage and thrown into the deepest part of the Lishui River. That was called "dunking the pig cage." (Laughs)
The second special thing about the Tujia people is that they have two festivals that are different from those of the Han people. The first festival is the New Year celebration.
The Tujia people celebrate the New Year, which is called "Gan Nian" (Rushing the New Year). What is Gan Nian? As the name suggests, Gan Nian means celebrating the New Year in a hurry, rushing to celebrate it, and celebrating one day earlier than the Han people. The Han people celebrate on the 30th day of the 12th lunar month, while the Tujia people celebrate on the 29th. If the Han celebrate on the 29th, the Tujia celebrate on the 28th—in any case, always one day earlier than the Han. Some friends might wonder: why would the Tujia, a small ethnic group, insist on beating the Han to the New Year celebration? Is there some deep-seated hatred between the Tujia and Han in history? If you think so, you are greatly mistaken.
Regarding the origin of "Gan Nian," many well-known legends circulate among the Tujia people. These legends may differ in story or plot, but most are related to Tujia history and warfare. The most widely circulated one is the story of the Tusi King of Xiangxi leading the Tujia army to the southeast coast to fight Japanese pirates, and thus celebrating the New Year early.
During the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates—the Japanese marauders of that time—repeatedly invaded the southeast coast, burning, killing, and looting, committing every evil deed. The Ming emperor was enraged and ordered troops to be conscripted to go and suppress them, with a deadline by which they must reach the designated coastal defense front. What was the situation in Xiangxi at that time? Xiangxi operated under the Tusi system, a special political system in feudal society whereby local leaders in ethnic minority areas were granted hereditary official positions to rule the local people. In Xiangxi, the Tusi system began with the Battle of Xizhou during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and ended in the late Qing Dynasty, lasting over 800 years in Xiangxi. The Tusi King had his own palace, court, civil and military officials, and army, and could even privately mint local coins. He also held the power of life and death over the local people, enjoying a very high degree of autonomy—a veritable "state within a state." Near the urban area of Zhangjiajie, there is a Tujia Folk Customs Park dedicated to displaying Tujia history and culture, which the locals also call Tusi City. It was restored according to the appearance of the former Tusi King's city and contains the world's largest cluster of stilted buildings. Although the Tusi King had a high degree of autonomy, nominally he had to submit to the central court's rule, mainly through two means: paying tribute and providing conscripts. The tribute items were all local products, such as cloth, tea, rock ear fungus, medicinal herbs, cinnabar, and many other kinds. During the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Peng Tusi King of Xiangxi once presented nanmu wood as tribute to the court and received rewards. To this day, the large nanmu wood sent as tribute from Xiangxi still supports the palaces in Beijing. Providing conscripts meant that whenever war broke out, the Tusi King had the responsibility and obligation to supply soldiers to the court. Xiangxi was thousands of miles from Beijing. In the past, communication was not as advanced as it is now—you could notify someone with a single phone call. In ancient times, the emperor's edict had to be relayed by fast horses through post stations, one after another. When it arrived, it was just the day before the New Year. The imperial order could not be disobeyed, and the war was urgent, yet the New Year was imminent. There was no other way. The elders decided to cook the radishes, tofu, and cured meat prepared for the New Year in one pot and celebrate Gan Nian one day early. This also gave rise to a local specialty hot pot, Sandixia (Three-Down Pot). This custom has been preserved ever since. To this day, whether in mountain villages or urban areas, Tujia people always celebrate the New Year on the evening one day early. Even now, a poem still circulates in Xiangxi: "In the eighth month comes Mid-Autumn, before the hall we muster troops for Suzhou. In the right hand I raise a knife, in the left I lift a pirate's head." Inside the Tujia Folk Customs Park, there is also a plaque inscribed by a Ming emperor reading "First Merit of the Southeast."
This is the origin of Gan Nian, the first festival of the Tujia people. Next, Guide Chen will tell everyone about the second distinctive festival.
Everyone knows that Westerners' Valentine's Day is on February 14th of the solar calendar, and Japan also has a White Valentine's Day on March 14th. The 7th day of the 7th lunar month, the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the magpie bridge, is our own traditional Chinese Valentine's Day. So, when is the Tujia people's Valentine's Day? Can any friend guess? (Question)
Let me tell everyone, it's on the third day of the third lunar month. You must remember this well, especially the young guys in the group who haven't yet found a wife. At the folk evening party and by the earthly paradise of Baofeng Lake, sometimes the young maidens will ask everyone, which day is the Tujia people's Valentine's Day? If you answer correctly, the young maiden will go home with you. Guide Chen is telling you now, letting you get a bargain for nothing. Of course, those who brought their wives along shouldn't be greedy for this bargain—be careful you don't bite off more than you can chew. (laughs)
Now that we've finished talking about Tujia terms of address and festivals, next I'll tell everyone about the Tujia people's uniquely distinctive marriage customs, and how Tujia young men and women court and fall in love. There are mainly three ways for Tujia young men and women to get to know each other: matchmaking by go-betweens, antiphonal singing of folk songs, and stepping on the foot to become engaged. The first way is fairly common—it's still the case in most rural areas across the country. The second way is nothing surprising either; in many ethnic minority areas across the country there's the custom of using songs as matchmakers, such as in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and other places where it's very common. The third one—stepping on the foot to become engaged—is quite out of the ordinary. You may never have heard of it, because this custom is passed down only in the areas of western Hunan where the Tujia and Miao people live. Here, Guide Chen must seriously remind all the young men and guys in the group: when walking in Zhangjiajie, you absolutely must be careful—don't step on the heel of some young maiden's foot, especially those dressed a bit rustically, who at a glance are young maidens just come to town from mountain villages—especially don't step on theirs, otherwise you'll be in big trouble! (puts on a deliberately mysterious air)
In western Hunan there's also the custom of going to market, which the locals also call "going to the xu." The character "xu" is the "earth" radical plus the "xu" from "modestly asking for advice." Western Hunan is mostly mountainous, and the mountain people live rather scattered—a few households here, a few households there—making it very hard to form towns, and buying or selling anything is extremely inconvenient. So the custom of going to market came into being. On specific days each month, buying and selling are concentrated in certain specific places, rotating in this way for the exchange of goods, which is much more convenient. At the market fair, in a somewhat out-of-the-way spot, there's a rather special place—what's it for? It's a place specifically for Tujia young men and women to get to know each other. When a young man reaches the age to take a wife, as soon as there's a market day he'll go to the fair—to do what? Neither to buy nor to sell anything; his eyes just sneakily fix on the young maidens' heels. If he thinks a young maiden is as beautiful as a flower and stunning enough to overthrow a kingdom, he'll walk up behind her and secretly step on her heel—this means "I, the young man, have taken a fancy to you." The young maiden turns to look; if you look like Zhao Benshan, she'll definitely turn away, and a fiercer one will even scold you: "You damn ghost!" If she takes a fancy to you as a rather handsome young man, or one who's come from the big city, she'll blush all over and step back on you—stepping on your toes means she's willing to commit, stepping on the instep means she looks forward to developing things, and stepping on your heel—congratulations, you've become a son-in-law of western Hunan! The young maiden will surely coax, trick, drag, and haul you up the mountain to be her "fortress-settled husband." This is western Hunan's "stepping on the foot to become engaged."
Oh my, I see all you young men in the group beaming with delight and glowing with joy—are you thinking of getting off the bus in a while and giving it a try? Don't even think about it! If any of you is taken a fancy to by a young maiden, you can only stay in western Hunan and put down roots. When, X days later, the other friends return to XX, you'll have someone pass word back, asking your family to help transfer your household registration over. If you want to leave—that's possible too, but first you have to get through three stages. Primary and middle school students have nine years of compulsory education; we Tujia young maidens have one here too, specifically to deal with those who step on a foot and then refuse to acknowledge it: for the first three years, you first chop firewood for the young maiden's family for three years. Her family cooks with firewood and eats cured fish and cured meat, so every morning you sharpen the hatchet well and chop plenty of firewood to bring back to smoke the cured fish and meat for her family. For the middle three years, you go out to do hard labor for three years and earn the young maiden's dowry money. If you don't want her anymore, she still has to marry someone, so this dowry money has to be earned by you. As for the last three years—that's simpler. You don't have to get up early and stay up late chopping firewood in the mountains, nor go far away to do hard labor. You just need to pour a basin of foot-washing water every night and carry it into the young maiden's boudoir. As for whether you want to come out, whether you can come out, whether you'll be able to come out—that's your own business! (laughs)
Some guys may be rather strong-willed and are still thinking of trying the foot-stepping and then secretly running away. You definitely won't be able to escape—the young maiden has her own clever plan to deal with you. What clever plan? Guide Chen will tell you in a little while.
It is well known that the reason this place, Xiangxi, is said to be magical and mysterious is mainly because some strange phenomena circulate here that we cannot explain scientifically, yet as phenomena they truly once appeared on this land of Xiangxi. Putting these strange phenomena together, they form the three great unsolved ancient mysteries of Xiangxi: driving corpses, Chenzhou talismans, and poison sorcery.
"Driving corpses"—in most people's impression, it probably conjures up a scene like this: under the bright moonlight, on a remote country path, a Daoist priest in front beating a gong, another Daoist priest behind scattering yellow paper, and in the middle several corpses with talisman-inscribed paper stuck to their foreheads, their arms stretched straight out, hopping forward one bounce at a time. This is the corpse-driving in many people's minds. So what was real corpse-driving actually like? Guide Chen tells everyone (pause), Guide Chen does not know either! Guide Chen only knows why this phenomenon of corpse-driving arose. In the past, many people in Xiangxi went out to work and make a living, and some died away from home. The mountain people of Xiangxi had very strong clan and native-place ties. They believed that "after death one must not occupy another person's fields" and stressed that fallen leaves should return to their roots, so the corpse had to be transported back and buried in the hometown. But in the past, transportation conditions were very backward. If one hired a cart or boat to transport the body, the cost was very high, and ordinary poor mountain people could not afford it. Thus the profession of corpse-driving emerged in response to the times. There were people who specialized in helping others transport corpses, and they were called corpse drivers. In the old Xiangxi, two professions were relatively sought after: one was to join the army and become a soldier, go out to fight, render great service, and return home in glory; the other was corpse-driving. Corpse drivers were respected and their income was relatively high. Although corpse-driving was a popular specialty, not everyone could learn it. Old corpse drivers were very strict in taking on apprentices. First, the parents had to sign a written pledge, with life or death not to be disputed. Then you also had to meet three conditions: first, good health. Corpse-driving required long-distance travel, eating in the wind and sleeping in the open, so the person doing it needed a strong constitution to be equal to the work. Second, great courage, because corpse-driving generally meant sleeping by day and traveling by night, setting out at nightfall and only stopping at dawn when the rooster crowed to rest in special corpse inns, and the routes generally taken were remote mountain paths. As for the third condition, I think none of our fellow tour members here meet it, and that is that one had to be somewhat ugly, and the uglier the better. There is a saying among the people of Xiangxi that when a person is ugly, even ghosts fear him by three parts. Only when all these conditions were met could an old corpse driver take you as an apprentice.
Likewise, old corpse drivers also had requirements for the corpses to be driven. Only these three kinds could be driven: those who had been beheaded, those who had been executed by hanging, and those who had died standing in a punishment cage. The reason is that they all died under compulsion, were unconvinced by their deaths, and both longed for their hometowns and worried about their relatives. Magic could be used to summon their souls, talismans and incantations could be used to seal them within their respective corpses, and then magic could be used to drive them over mountains and ridges, even onto boats and across rivers, to return to their old homes. These three kinds could not be driven: those who died of illness, those who drowned themselves in rivers or hanged themselves by choice, and those struck by lightning or burned by fire with incomplete limbs. This was because the souls of those who died of illness had already been seized by King Yama, and magic could not call their souls back from the gate of the underworld; while the souls of those who drowned themselves or hanged themselves had been entangled by "substitute" souls, and they might even be in the process of handing over. If a new soul were summoned, and the old ghost had no substitute, would that not affect the old soul's reincarnation? In addition, those who died by lightning strike were all people of grave sin, and those burned to death by great fire often had incomplete skin and flesh. These two kinds of corpses likewise could not be driven. This was called "three to drive, three not to drive."
So, how exactly was corpse-driving done? Now it is no longer known; otherwise it could not be the first of the three great unsolved ancient mysteries of Xiangxi. But as a phenomenon, it truly did exist in the history of Xiangxi. Even on the eve of Liberation, on some mountain paths in Xiangxi there were still corpse inns built of thatch and wooden boards specifically for corpse drivers to stay in. In 2006, the CCTV Channel 10 program "Approaching Science" broadcast an episode titled "The Walking Corpse," using one to two hours to introduce Xiangxi corpse-driving, and also visited many elderly people on site who were said to be people in the know, but in the end it still could not explain clearly exactly how Xiangxi corpse-driving was done. Therefore, the authenticity of Xiangxi corpse-driving lies not in the technique of corpse-driving, but in the fact that this profession and this phenomenon truly once existed. If we want to understand these past phenomena, only through certain artistic performances can we understand what Xiangxi corpse-driving really was.
The second great ancient mystery of Xiangxi is called Chenzhou talismans. Chenzhou was the name used for greater Xiangxi during the Song Dynasty. "Talisman" actually refers to witchcraft: through methods such as drawing talismans, chanting incantations, and performing rituals, plus certain props, one attains some kind of supernatural ability beyond that of ordinary people. Witchcraft was quite prevalent in Xiangxi. Even Mr. Shen Congwen, the father of world regional literature, who was born in Fenghuang Ancient Town in Xiangxi, wrote in his prose "The People of Yuanling": "The place of Chenzhou is famous for Chenzhou talismans, and among the legendary miracles of Chenzhou talismans, corpse-driving is the most renowned." This shows that witchcraft in this place, Xiangxi, was indeed quite famous. It is said that even now, in some backward mountain villages in Xiangxi, when people fall ill, what they think of is not going to the hospital for treatment right away, but finding some witch or ritual master in the village to draw talismans and chant incantations. The methods of these witches and ritual masters are incredible. Sometimes a bowl of water is given to the patient to drink, or a talisman is drawn on the patient's face with ink, and the illness can be cured without injections or medicine. In Xiangxi there is also a kind of witchcraft called treading the fire plow, in which several plows used for plowing fields are put in a fire and heated until red and glowing. After the performing witch invokes the gods and chants incantations, he can walk slowly barefoot over the fire plows without suffering the slightest injury. In Wulingyuan XX there is such a program, with the witch performing every day, calmly treading barefoot over the red-hot iron plows amid the shouts of one or two thousand people. You cannot help but believe it. This is the incredibly miraculous second great ancient mystery of Xiangxi, Chenzhou talismans.
Before discussing the third greatest ancient mystery of Xiangxi, Director Chen would like to ask everyone a question: does anyone know what martial art the character Blue Phoenix in Mr. Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer is best at? (Asking) Correct, it's gu poison! Practicing gu is the third unsolved ancient mystery of Xiangxi. Gu is a kind of insect, a poisonous insect of unusual origin. In the old traditional Chinese characters, "gu" was written with three "insect" characters on top and a "vessel" character below. This is a typical associative compound character, clearly telling us how gu comes about: the person who cultivates gu catches poisonous creatures such as centipedes, leeches, venomous snakes, and wasps and puts them into a jar, letting them kill one another, and the last one left, the most powerful and most venomous, is the gu insect. The gu cultivator either keeps it alive or kills it, dries it in the wind, and grinds it into powder — this is gu poison. Director Chen has read books specifically introducing Xiangxi gu poison, which describe hundreds of kinds of gu poison, all manner of strange and bizarre varieties. In the hands of someone who knows how to use gu, anything can become gu poison, making it impossible to guard against. One kind of gu poison is especially interesting and has a very beautiful name: love gu. Love gu is used by the young women of the Tujia and Miao peoples of Xiangxi specifically to deal with fickle and faithless young men. In the past, before the young men of Xiangxi went out to do hard labor, the young women would serve them good food and wine, and secretly put gu into the food and drink. When the love gu is first eaten, nothing happens; it takes effect only when the time limit arrives — sometimes ten days to half a month, sometimes a year or so. If the young man makes money and prospers out there and does not want to come back, then he is asking for trouble. After being afflicted with love gu, at best he falls ill, at worst he loses his life. So no matter how far the young men go, they must obediently return, just like a kite in the sky: no matter how far it flies, the string is still held in the hand of the young woman.
After the young men in our tour group have finished the foot-stomping, whatever you do, don't run away. If you run back to XX, you'll still have to pay for the trip to come back, which isn't worth it! Of course, if any of the young women in our group want to learn love gu, you can also sign up with Director Chen first, and when I finally learn it someday, I'll come back and tell you all. (Laughs)
Earlier we talked about several ways Tujia young men and women get to know each other. After they meet through these ways and establish a romantic relationship, they continue to see each other, meeting at the border market on market days. When the time is about right, the young man goes to the young woman's home to propose. If the young man's family is poor and cannot afford gold, silver, jewels, fine silks and satins, that's all right, but there is one thing that absolutely cannot be omitted. What is it? A pig's hind leg. Xiangxi has the custom of slaughtering a pig at the end of the year and smoking bacon. At the end of the year, when the young man's family slaughters the New Year pig and smokes the bacon, they keep one pig's hind leg to smoke and cure. Curiously, it must still have the pig's tail attached. The locals call this custom "proposing with a pig's tail." When the young man goes to propose, he carries the pig's hind leg there in a bamboo backpack. The people of Xiangxi are warm and hospitable; no matter what the young woman's parents' attitude is, a guest at the door is a guest, and they will treat the young man to a sumptuous Tujia meal. Dishes like rock ear fungus stewed with chicken and smoked bacon stir-fried with kudzu starch noodles are famous Xiangxi specialties. When the young man leaves, the young woman's parents give him a small black cloth bundle. If inside the black cloth bundle are two red eggs, it means they agree. If they do not agree, what do you all think happens? (Asking) It's very simple: they take a pair of scissors and, with a snip, cut off the pig's tail and let the young man take it home. The bacon is delicious, so we'll keep it; you take the pig's tail home with you and drink it down when you're feeling gloomy. Director Chen often brings friends from all over the country, and they like to joke, saying that if I had a beautiful young woman at home, then all year round there would be no end of free bacon to eat. On market days, we'd send the young woman to stand at the border market, and the young men would spring into action, swarming over like flies. Then at the end of the year, we'd just sit at home collecting bacon and hind leg meat — but we wouldn't leave a single pig's tail! (Laughs) Of course, this is obviously a joke, because the young women of Xiangxi take marriage very seriously, as can be seen from the custom of crying marriage.
What is crying marriage? When Han Chinese girls get married, they may cry too — after all, they can't bear to leave family, relatives, and friends — but compared with the young Tujia women of Xiangxi, that is minor. The young women of Xiangxi sing while they cry, and these songs are called crying-marriage songs. Their forms are varied and their content rich: some express missing parents, relatives, and friends, and some scold the matchmaker, saying the matchmaker does no good and insists on separating them from their family. Scolding the matchmaker is the most interesting part of crying marriage. The young women are sharp-tongued and scold people indirectly, with great skill. In Xiangxi there is a saying: "A girl who cannot cry will not marry well." The elders of Xiangxi use the young woman's skill at singing crying-marriage songs at her wedding as the standard for measuring a woman's chastity and virtue. So in order to perform a little better, young women in Xiangxi begin practicing crying-marriage songs from the age of twelve or thirteen. On the night before the wedding, there is a very grand custom called "accompanying the ten sisters." The bride-to-be finds another nine unmarried sisters about her age to accompany her in singing the crying-marriage songs. As the saying goes, three women make a drama; just imagine how grand the scene is when ten women cry together. What's more, all these young women must dress up formally, with headscarves wrapped around their heads, festive clothing of their own ethnic group on their bodies, handkerchiefs they embroidered themselves in their hands, and embroidered shoes on their feet.
Crying marriage is the most solemn custom in Tujia wedding traditions, but unfortunately, as the Tujia people's contact with the outside world has expanded, while it has brought progress in material civilization, some of the Tujia people's precious indigenous culture is slowly being lost. Crying marriage is now rarely seen, and can only be found in some relatively backward mountain villages or at folk-custom performances.
The Tujia people's forms of address, festivals, and marriage customs that Guide Chen mentioned earlier, including the three great ancient mysteries of Xiangxi, are all part of Xiangxi folk culture. The more ethnic something is, the more universal it becomes. It is precisely because of the Tujia ethnic group and all these mysterious and peculiar things that this land of Xiangxi is a distinctive Xiangxi, a unique Xiangxi. To truly understand a place, we should not simply look at its waters and mountains, but understand its local culture. That is why Guide Chen has introduced this part about Xiangxi folk customs in greater detail, in the hope that everyone can gain a deeper understanding of Xiangxi.
Ahead we are about to enter the Laomuyu Tunnel. It is 2,094 meters long and, when it was completed in 1999, was the longest highway tunnel in Hunan Province. Now it is the only route in and out of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area from the city. After the tunnel, in another ten minutes or so, we will arrive at the Wulingyuan Scenic Area. Next, Guide Chen will give everyone some basic information about the scenic area.
The Wulingyuan Scenic Area covers a total area of more than 390 square kilometers, of which the core scenic area is 264 square kilometers. It is divided into four major parts: the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Scenic Area, the Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area, the Suoxiyu Scenic Area, and the Yangjiajie-Yuanjiajie Scenic Area. Wulingyuan Scenic Area opened to the public relatively late. It was not until 1982 that the first section, the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Scenic Area, opened to the public. Yet after only a little more than twenty years of development, it has ranked among China's first-class scenic areas with its unique scenery and is one of the golden travel routes during every Golden Week. In 1982, it established China's first national forest park. By early 2007, China had 660 national forest parks, with more than 20 in Hunan Province alone, and Zhangjiajie was the first in the country. In 1992, it was listed as one of China's first batch of World Natural Heritage Sites. In 2001, it was selected by the Ministry of Land and Resources as one of China's first batch of national geological parks, and in 2004 it was upgraded to become one of China's first batch of world geological parks. In 2007, the China National Tourism Administration selected 66 5A-level scenic areas from among China's countless scenic spots. Hunan had only two: one was Mount Heng, one of the Five Great Mountains, and the other was the Wulingyuan Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie. Within the scenic area, the mountains are magnificent and the waters beautiful, with lush trees. It is renowned throughout the world as having "three thousand verdant peaks and eight hundred glassy waters," blending mountain peaks, forests, caves, and waterfalls into one, and combining elegance, seclusion, wildness, and steepness in a single place. It can truly be said that "every five steps offer a view, every ten steps a new heaven." Its steep and beautiful scenery has won endless praise from domestic and international tourists, who affectionately call it "an enlarged potted landscape, a reduced fairyland," and praise it as "the original model of Chinese landscape painting."
Over the next X days, Guide Chen will take everyone on a journey through this landscape painting. The places we will visit include several natural viewing platforms in the Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area, such as Helong Park, Fairy Presenting Flowers, and Imperial Brush Peak; the Huangshizhai route and the Golden Whip Stream route in the Forest Park Scenic Area; and in the Suoxiyu Scenic Area, which is a bit more scattered, the West Sea Ten-Mile Gallery and Water Around Four Gates, which are included in the main entrance ticket, as well as the separate Yellow Dragon Cave, known as the "Underground Magic Palace," and Zixia Mountain, a Taoist sacred site in Xiangxi. There are also other scenic spots in the Suoxiyu Scenic Area that our itinerary does not cover, and I will introduce those as well. If you want thrills and excitement, you can go for a whitewater slalom run. That place is the designated training base for Chinese athletes in the whitewater slalom event for the 2008 Olympics. Normally the athletes train there in closed sessions and it is only occasionally open to ordinary tourists. Better early than lucky, and everyone has caught it during its opening period. If you want something poetic and picturesque, you can take a boat trip on Baofeng Lake. Of course, you will not be swimming yourself; an electric boat on the lake will take you around. The entire lake sits atop high mountains, with an average depth of 72 meters and the deepest point reaching 119 meters. Only giant salamanders can swim in it; ordinary visitors cannot. Baofeng Lake is the place in the Zhangjiajie Scenic Area where mountains and waters are most beautifully combined. Otherwise, Song Zuying, a woman from Xiangxi, would not have chosen it as a location for her MTV shoot. In November 2006, Guide Chen ran into Song Zuying there while she was filming the song "Xiangqing" to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Marshal He Long's birth. Later, when everyone sees this song broadcast on television, you can pay attention: there is a shot of Song Zuying standing on a bamboo raft singing, and it was filmed on Baofeng Lake. Within the Baofeng Lake Scenic Area, below the lake you can enjoy Baofeng Flying Waterfall, the location where the exterior scenes of the Water Curtain Cave in Journey to the West were filmed. A waterfall pours down from the mountaintop, making your heart surge with emotion. On the lake, while you enjoy the lake and mountain scenery, the authentic mountain songs of the young men and women will also stir your heart. The young men in the group should take note: the young women at Baofeng Lake have a rule. If you can match three mountain songs, the young maiden will follow you back to XX with all her heart. (laughs)
Perhaps some attentive friends have noticed that the only scenic area Guide Chen has not mentioned is the Yangjiajie-Yuanjiajie Scenic Area. This scenic area was developed the latest, and its tourist paths were not fully completed until 2005. At present, visitors there are mostly Koreans, Taiwanese, Hong Kong residents, and some European and American tourists. Considering factors such as time, cost, and the scenic area's ongoing development, ordinary domestic tour groups do not include it in their itineraries. Friends who visited Anhui's Huangshan before 2005 should know that it was impossible for group itineraries to include Tiandu Peak, Huangshan's most perilous peak, and Lotus Peak, its highest peak. Why? People need rest, and scenic areas also need to recuperate. Some scenic routes adopt a rotation rest system to ensure that the environment is not damaged. The Yangjiajie-Yuanjiajie Scenic Area is probably in a similar situation. It is estimated that at least five more years may pass before travel agencies are allowed to include it in itineraries. In fact, this scenic area can be said to have some of the more outstanding scenery among the major scenic areas, especially the Yuanjiajie section, which Korean groups visit more often and which is famous for three "number ones under heaven."
Which three are the world's number ones? The world's number one ladder, the world's number one bridge, and the world's number one village. The world's number one ladder is the Bailong Elevator. With a total investment of 180 million yuan and a height of 326 meters, it took three years to bore through the mountain from bottom to top. It holds three Guinness World Records: "the world's tallest, highest-capacity, and fastest fully exposed outdoor sightseeing elevator." What does 326 meters mean? The tallest building in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, is the Hunan International Financial Building, which is only 181.8 meters tall. The Bailong Elevator is almost twice its height. The world's number one bridge is a scenic spot in Yuanjiajie Scenic Area. A long time ago—so long ago that humans might still have been monkeys in trees—two mountains were originally connected together, but later a section in the middle collapsed, forming a natural bridge spanning between two peaks. Its relative height is more than 350 meters, and its span reaches about 50 meters. It is currently the natural stone bridge with the highest relative height discovered in the world, so it is called the "world's number one bridge." The world's number one village is a thousand-year-old ancient village on the sheer cliff of the Yuanjiajie core scenic area. Due to deteriorating natural conditions, this village was cut off from the outside world for hundreds of years. Only after the scenic area opened did it become the only remaining village in the entire Wulingyuan core scenic area—Yuanjiajie Village. According to folk legend, the ancestors of this village were descendants of the Tujia rebel army led by Xiang Dancheng at the end of the Qin Dynasty. After Xiang Dancheng led the uprising, one of the troops was suppressed by the imperial court and was almost completely wiped out. A few young children who survived by chance were carried up the cliff by apes, survived by eating tiger's milk, and then multiplied and reproduced, forming a stable village. From then on, they stayed away from war and kept aloof from the world. To thank the apes and tigers for their kindness, they recognized the ape as their father and the tiger as their mother, and all changed their surname to Yuan. The village also established rules: humans, apes, tigers, and other animals must never harm one another and must live in peace. At present, this place mainly displays Tujia customs and Tujia farming culture.
What I have just introduced to you is the main composition of the entire Wulingyuan Scenic Area and the most essential part of it. As the saying goes, hearing is not as good as seeing. No amount of flowery language can compare with seeing it once for yourself and experiencing it firsthand. There are too many beautiful sights and limited time. XX is also XX kilometers away from Zhangjiajie. You cannot keep running back and forth again and again, so if there is anywhere you need to see, you must bring it up in time. That way, Guide Chen can arrange the time well for everyone, so that you can see it all at once and see enough at once. What you cannot see enough of on the mountain, we will see below the mountain; what you cannot see enough of below the mountain, we will see at night. What do we see at night? During the day we see mountains and waters, and at night we see folk customs! Everyone knows that Hunan's entertainment culture is among the best in the country. Programs like "Super Girl," "Happy Boys," "Happy Camp," and "Who Is the Hero" all come from Changsha, Hunan. The ethnic characteristics of our Xiangxi region are especially rich, so the two naturally combine like a handsome guy and a beautiful woman to form a folk custom evening show. Some friends may say, I have been to many places, and I am tired of folk custom shows. They are basically all similar and not worth watching. If you think that way, you are greatly mistaken! In 2006, the tourism industry selected three folk custom evening shows most welcomed by tourists: "Impression Liu Sanjie" in Guilin, "Lishui Jinsha" in Lijiang, Yunnan, and "Charming Xiangxi" in Zhangjiajie. Guide Chen has seen all three. "Impression Liu Sanjie" was planned by Zhang Yimou, and its scenes are grand. "Lishui Jinsha" is called China's "Broadway" and is highly artistic. The greatest feature of our Zhangjiajie's "Charming Xiangxi" is that it combines Hunan's entertainment culture with local ethnic characteristics. It has both popular entertainment and highbrow art, so it appeals to both refined and popular tastes and can truly reflect that tourism is essentially entertainment.
The program of "Charming Xiangxi" has the following three parts. The first part shows the ethnic characteristics of Xiangxi, mainly through folk songs and dances. Customs such as driving corpses and crying marriage that Guide Chen mentioned are all expressed in an artistic form. In particular, the corpse-driving program was once designed to be so gloomy and terrifying that it frightened a Korean elderly woman into a heart attack, and later it had to be revised. There is also a male singer from Guzhang County, Song Zuying's hometown, who imitates a female voice and sings very convincingly. This part also includes some participatory programs. Audience members can participate for free and perform on stage with the little A-mei. As long as you go on stage, you will receive a mysterious gift. The second part is Xiangxi witchcraft and qigong. You can see the witchcraft of stepping on a fire plow that Guide Chen mentioned. Of course, besides that, there is also a hard qigong performance in Xiangxi called Ghost Valley Divine Skill. The performer is the 28th inheritor of Ghost Valley Divine Skill, nicknamed "Mountain-Drilling Leopard." To invite him to perform, the producer visited him three times but was refused each time, because before his master died he gave special instructions: "Qigong and witchcraft must not be used for paid performances, but they can help one's brothers." He strictly followed his master's teaching and for many years never participated in any commercial performance. Many people came attracted by his fame and offered him large sums, but he was unmoved. In the end, the owner of the Charming Xiangxi theater burned incense and became his sworn brother, and only then did he go on stage to perform. Ghost Valley Divine Skill is said to have been created by Guiguzi, the famous strategist of the Warring States period, when he lived in seclusion at Tianmen Mountain, and it has been passed down from generation to generation. Zhangjiajie has long had the reputation of being the Zhang family of hard qigong. As early as the 1980s, a Ghost Valley Divine Skill qigong performance accompanied Hua Guofeng twice on visits to seven Western European countries and caused a sensation. The third part is acrobatic performances. Hunan TV has a highly rated program called "Who Is the Hero," hosted by the local Changsha comedian Dabing. The contestants on the program are talented and extraordinary people recruited from all over the country. Each has special skills, and the program is known for being thrilling and exciting. The "Charming Xiangxi" evening show invites some of the outstanding contestants here to perform their special skills live. The performance is absolutely brilliant, making your heart pound and making you scream.
It can be said that every program in the entire evening show has been carefully selected, and the performers are even more impressive. Most of them come from the Hunan Provincial Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe. The predecessor of the Hunan Provincial Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe was the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Song and Dance Troupe, and Song Zuying once came out of this troupe. Because the performances of Charming Xiangxi have received a good response and more than 300,000 people watch it every year, now a second show has had to be added, making it two shows. Each show, including extra seats, can only hold more than a thousand people. The first show starts at 6:30 and ends at 8:30. The second show starts at 8:30 and ends around 10:30. It lasts two hours and is divided into indoor and outdoor parts. One ticket lets you watch two shows. Song and dance and acrobatics are watched indoors, while qigong and witchcraft are watched outside. If you are interested, be sure to contact Guide Chen in advance. The earlier you book, the better your seat. If you book late, you can only sit among the extra seats in the aisle. The price is not expensive, only XX yuan. Compared with the ticket price of more than 200 yuan for "Impression Liu Sanjie," it is really extremely cheap. It is just the price of drinking a few cups of tea in a teahouse, but by watching the "Charming Xiangxi" performance you are tasting a rich cultural feast of Xiangxi.
Alright, we are about to arrive at the entrance of the scenic area. Finally, Guide Chen will explain a few precautions to everyone. First, the scenic area ticket is a magnetic card with an individual fingerprint record, so do not exchange it casually. The magnetic card is valid for two days, and you can enter and leave the scenic area freely. Today and tomorrow, you must carry it with you at all times. Once someone loses or breaks it, to enter the scenic area again you will have to buy a new ticket. This time Guide Chen buys it; next time it is your turn to buy it yourself. 245 plus 3 yuan for insurance, not one cent less. Second, pay attention to personal and property safety. When we get off the bus in a moment, please carry your valuables and necessities with you. Please stay close to the group while sightseeing in the scenic area. When viewing, follow the principle: "When walking, do not look at the scenery; when looking at the scenery, do not walk." When buying and selling things in the scenic area, pay special attention to price and quality. When taking a sedan chair, negotiate the price clearly to avoid unnecessary disputes. Third, the scenic area is a top-level fire prevention zone, and smoking is strictly prohibited. Please, all smokers, be patient for a while. Only when you see designated smoking points can you puff away. Fourth, the parking lot ahead is almost here. Please bring your own belongings and bring other people's wives, and get ready to get off the bus.