Doupeng Mountain: The Pride of Xiangxi
Doupeng Mountain is the main peak of Badagong Mountain, with an altitude of 2003 meters, ranking first among the high mountains in Hunan. On a spring day more than ten years ago, accompanied by two or three friends, I climbed to the top of Doupeng Mountain. The afternoon before the trip, we took a bus from Sangzhi City for about three hours to the foot of Badagong Mountain, and stayed overnight at the township government. Early the next morning, with a township cadre as our guide, our group of four began walking toward Doupeng Mountain. After a few…
Doupeng Mountain is the main peak of Badagong Mountain, with an altitude of 2003 meters, ranking first among the high mountains in Hunan.
On a spring day more than ten years ago, accompanied by two or three friends, I climbed to the top of Doupeng Mountain. The afternoon before the trip, we took a bus from Sangzhi City for about three hours to the foot of Badagong Mountain, and stayed overnight at the township government. Early the next morning, with a township cadre as our guide, our group of four began walking toward Doupeng Mountain. After a few miles, we saw patches of Coptis chinensis planted on the hillsides along the way, covering over a thousand mu. The guide said this was the largest Coptis chinensis production base in the province. In addition, the cultivation of various medicinal herbs such as Gastrodia elata, Eucommia ulmoides, Chinese gallnut, and papaya was quite famous. Most of the local farmers' income came from growing medicinal herbs. Badagong Mountain has few households and a vast forest area. Halfway up the mountain, there is a small forestry farm where several people live, guarding this well-preserved primeval forest year-round.
After more than two hours, we began to enter the mountainside. The vegetation along the way became denser and denser. From time to time, we saw patches of soil dug up by wild boars. The guide said there were many animals on this mountain, including wild boars, black bears, five-step snakes, and so on, and told us to be careful while walking. We became cautious, feeling somewhat nervous. The guide then said: "With me, you don't need to be afraid. There won't be any problems." Then he told us that this primeval forest was once the frequent haunt of the Xiangxi bandit leaders Peng Jiaolüzi and Qu Bojie. Before Peng Jiaolüzi died, he "lay low" in Badagong Mountain for several months. At that time, Qu Bojie urged him every day to come down from the mountain. Peng Jiaolüzi initially had misgivings because a fortune-teller said that year was the Year of the Dog, and Peng Jiaolüzi was born in the Year of the Tiger. Dog and Tiger are incompatible; the Dog was in ascendancy, and the Tiger should be careful. If he came down from the mountain, the Tiger would fall to the plains and be bullied by dogs. So Peng Jiaolüzi should not make a move that year, and if he did, he should avoid the third, fifth, and ninth months to succeed. In the end, Peng Jiaolüzi could not resist Qu Bojie's persuasion and left the mountain in April. When he reached Wentang in Dayong, someone advised him again, saying that a donkey cannot see Wentang (hot soup). Peng Jiaolüzi did not believe it. He crossed the river to Kexi and was shot dead by a hail of bullets from militia hidden in a mountain fort. If Peng Jiaolüzi had not died, the Kuomintang would have had difficulty capturing him, and perhaps he could have become a great figure! From the guide, we also learned many legendary experiences of Peng Jiaolüzi's activities around Badagong Mountain. For example, in a chance encounter at Maoziya in the 36th year of the Republic of China, Qu Bojie's troops even burned to death a deputy security commander of the Kuomintang's Yongshun Prefecture! When Peng Jiaolüzi and Qu Bojie raised their forces in Xiangxi, they had at most more than 19,000 people. Badagong Mountain was once their paradise for hiding and "lying low." With high mountains and dense forests, and winding paths leading to secluded spots, finding their traces in this primeval forest was truly harder than finding a needle in a haystack!
As we listened to the guide tell the legendary stories of the bandit leaders along the way, before we knew it, we had reached the top of Doupeng Mountain. Although it was called a summit, all we saw around us were patches of trees. Those trees were ancient towering ones, each trunk requiring four or five people to encircle. The guide said that the largest tree on this mountain covered an area of four or five mu. There was also a very precious dove tree on this mountain, whose flowers look like doves and are extremely beautiful. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we could not go deep into the area to see it. One day's trip was far from enough; it was impossible to see all the scenic spots of Badagong Mountain. However, having climbed the main peak of Doupeng Mountain, I felt a sense of satisfaction. From the mountain scenery I saw at the main peak, compared with famous mountains elsewhere in China, Badagong Mountain seems to have a unique charm, and that charm is the richness and primitiveness of its forests.
It can be said that so many ancient trees growing on the top of Doupeng Mountain are not found on Mount Emei, Mount Hua, Mount Huang, or Zhangjiajie. For this, after a tiring day, we feasted our eyes on this primeval forest in Badagong Mountain and heard the legendary stories of the bandit leaders told by the guide. It felt truly worthwhile!