Chenxi
From Mayang to Chenxi by bus is very convenient—a fare of three to five yuan, the time of two cigarettes. On the way you can see the Mayang River, which meets another large river at Chenxi. Chenxi county town sits at the confluence of these two waters. Reading Mr. Shen Congwen's "Western Hunan," I learned that Chenxi is a place rich in coal. But back then coal was so cheap no one wanted it...
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
From Mayang to Chenxi, traveling by car is very convenient. It costs three to five yuan in fare, and in the time it takes to smoke two cigarettes, one arrives.
On the way there, one can see a Mayang River, which at Chenxi converges with another large river. Chenxi county town sits right at the place where these two waters meet.
Reading Mr. Shen Congwen's Xiangxi, I learned that Chenxi is a place rich in coal. But at that time the price of coal was very low and no one wanted it; with so much coal, people often worried about finding a market. Now this resource should have been fully developed and utilized, for example, the power plant built on the outskirts of the county town using coal to generate electricity is clear evidence.
Reading historical materials about Xiangxi, one can know that in Chenxi during the 1920s and 1930s of the Republic of China, an important munitions factory was once built. In its arsenal were stored tens of thousands of guns. Before the imminent liberation of Xiangxi, a battalion commander named Zhang Yulin guarding this arsenal took the opportunity to rebel, and overnight seized all the guns and ammunition in the arsenal, and used these weapons to arm the young and strong men of the whole county into an army. Zhang Yulin transformed himself from a battalion commander under Wang Yuanhua into a self-promoted army commander. But a motley crowd is after all no match for a single blow; after defeat, Zhang Yulin later fled to Hong Kong, China and Taiwan.
Because my book Romance of Greater Xiangxi involved the incident of Zhang Yulin robbing the arsenal, as soon as I arrived in Chenxi County this time, I wanted to look for that mysterious arsenal. Because it was near evening that day, I and the photographer traveling with me, Luo Zhaoyong, settled into a guesthouse. After dinner, we went to look at the bandit-suppression memorial hall in the county martyrs' park, and thanks to the guidance of several elderly people, learned that the guesthouse opposite the martyrs' park was the site of Zhang Yulin's army headquarters in those years. And in the seventh year of the Republic of China, the famous scholar Zhang Taiyan passed through here and had a poetic exchange with Tian Yingzhao and other Xiangxi leaders and the poet Tian Xingliu. We went in and took a few photos, strolled around the streets a bit, and then returned to our room to rest. Early the next morning, we took a car to look at the Kuomintang arsenal from those years. From the county town to that arsenal was about twenty or thirty li. After more than half an hour by car, a huge natural cave appeared ahead, with a stream flowing out from it. The car drove into the cave, and only after a few minutes did it emerge from the opening on the other side of the mountain. Going further, at the foot of the mountain on one side of the highway, one after another dark cave openings were exposed. It is said that those were the places where the Kuomintang stored munitions in those years. Going forward another two or three hundred meters, I saw surrounding mountains embracing the area, with a basin in the middle, many old brick and stone houses hidden among green trees, and a small stream passing through this flat land. The environment was fresh and quiet.
After wandering outside the factory buildings for a while, I learned that this place is now a state-owned enterprise producing electrical appliances and the like. At the factory gate I met an enthusiastic old worker, who took us to look outside the cave opening where the arsenal had been hidden in those years, and also sent us to the large natural cave to stop and look, saying that on the rock wall there were inscriptions by famous figures of past dynasties, but though we shone our flashlights back and forth, in the end we did not see the inscriptions he mentioned.
After bidding farewell to this enthusiastic old man, we rented a car again to return. Not far out of the cave, it began to drizzle, and the asphalt road was as smooth as if oil had been poured on it. When turning a bend downhill, the small passenger-cargo dual-use vehicle we were riding and an oncoming car met and "kissed" each other, and as a result smashed the glass of both vehicles to pieces. Fortunately, the brakes were applied in time, and no one on either side was seriously hurt. After the fright, we hurriedly got out of the car and stopped a minibus to return to the county town. Then we went to the station, bought other tickets, and hurriedly went to Yuanling.
This trip to Chenxi was around early November 2001. Although what I did was only a quick, cursory look, the impression was relatively deep, so I make this record in particular.