Journey to Southeast Guizhou ~ Roaming Ba Zhou River

Li Ping·Southeast Guizhou Ba Zhou River Scenic Area Last night's heavy rain turned our trek from Di Tan to Luo Da Zhai into a bubble, and the horse-drawn carriage that the children wanted to ride disappeared. In the beginning of autumn, the rain splashed on the black tiles outside the window like fluff. The innkeeper's sewing machine has half-finished Dong costumes. The Bee brand from Shanghai Sewing Machine Factory No. 3 has been forgotten in many people's memories. The people of Dong Township are no longer in straw raincoats and hats. Colorful umbrellas bloom in the fields. The rain never stopped, and the lotus flowers by the Ba Zhou River have bloomed to their fullest. The lotus pods are old, and people's eyes are no longer on the bright lotus flowers but on the lotus pods that have slipped through the net under the lotus leaves. People pull the umbrella to get the lotus pods, and a few are overjoyed. The Red Army Bridge hurried past under the scorching sun, and there was a lonely horse on the river bank. The children's screams disturbed his thoughts. He stared at the stones skipping on the water in a daze. A woman riding a motorcycle sped past on the narrow wooden bridge. Under the huge and round dome of the Natural Bridge, the mountain breeze is cool and the mountain stream flows. The blue sky, white clouds, green bamboo, and green fields outside are clearly divided by the sunlight. Looking down from the bridge, it looks like a giant sky eye. At night, there are few people on the Qiao Street, the lights are not scattered, the bluestone slabs emit a dim light, and the end of the light is the blue of the night. 🛶Location: Gaotun Street Scenic Area around Liping 🚙Transportation: It is advisable to drive by yourself. It is about seven or eight kilometers from the county town. 👣The cliffs on both sides of the Ba Zhou River are steep and abrupt, forming a typical karst landscape. A little further away is a hilly grassland, green and continuous. The river flows through Ba Zhou Village, and the countryside is vast with Dong and Miao customs. The Natural Bridge is said to be the largest natural stone arch bridge in the world, spanning the cliffs on both sides, walking on the mountain ridge, the rocks are steep and the vegetation is lush. The stream below is clear and flowing. There are villagers rowing bamboo rafts, like a different world. The Red Army Bridge spans the Ba Zhou River. The former Shao Zhai villagers built this bridge for the Red Army. The length is nearly 100 meters and the width is less than one meter. The villagers walk on it as if they were on flat ground, and some ride motorcycles and speed past. There are also nearby attractions such as Guihua Tai, Lu Ci Jia, Xian Ren Yan, etc. that can be visited together. 🧸Suggestion: You can roam around the various points of the Ba Zhou River Scenic Area for a day, and it is recommended to stay in Liping County. 🥗Food: The relatively familiar county town that has been back and forth seven or eight times has a lot of delicious food. The most famous and generally untouchable is Niu Die. It is the juice squeezed out of the undigested grass in the cow's stomach to make soup mixed with beef. Those who love to eat are delicious. Pickled fish is the most common dish in Dong's family. It is smeared with glutinous rice and chili powder on the rice flower fish and fermented naturally in a wooden barrel. It can be fried or grilled. It is said that there are also pickled fish that have been kept for many years. Oil tea is a staple food of the Dong and Miao people. I have specifically learned how to make it from the local villagers in Zhong Luo and Gao Zi Dong Village. Blood sausage is a local snack. Mix glutinous rice and pig's blood and fill it into pig's intestines, then steam and slice it for consumption. I often use it to accompany wine. 🍛Liping food depends on personal taste, and perhaps the reviews are mixed. My favorite is fried locusts. I went to a Dong friend's house and ate a pot of fried locusts and even ate grasshoppers and dragonflies. Paired with homemade rice wine, it's extremely delicious.