Years, Ruins and Forgetting: Mysterious County Disappeared from the Western Yunnan Edition

20 15 Yunnan rainy season ended and went to Nujiang Grand Canyon. Ever since I learned about the mysterious route to Tibet, I've always wanted to see the Nujiang River again, to see how it bypassed such steep and beautiful scenery under the attack of Gaoligong Mountain and Robbie Snow Mountain on both sides of the strait, and to see the people who once lived there in isolation.

Depart from Kunming in the evening and take the night bus to Fugong. The evening breeze blew in from the window, which was quite comfortable, so I chatted with my companion Y all the way to the west. Early the next morning, the car has arrived at Liuku Town on the Nujiang River. Liuku is the county seat of Lushui County and the capital of Nujiang Prefecture. From here, along the Nujiang journey to the south to the tea Hua Rong in Tibet, it is the Nujiang Grand Canyon, with a total length of more than 300 kilometers. Liuku is located at the southernmost tip, with low terrain, and the weather is still very hot at the end of September. As the gateway of Nujiang Prefecture, Liuku is much bigger than Fugong and Gongshan in the north. Driving by the river, you can see that river view houses have sprung up in the new city, and the belief that development is the last word has been fully reflected here.

Along the riverside highway in journey to the south, the altitude rises slowly, and the mountains become more and more dangerous. Our first stop was Laomudeng Village, not far from Fugong County. After arriving at the bus in Pihe County, take the local freight car and take the Panshan Highway. When we arrived at Laomudeng, the Nujiang River at the foot of the mountain was as small as a thin ribbon. This small village, embedded in the mountains with an altitude of nearly 2000 meters, is famous for the development of tourism in recent years. Most of the people living in the village are Nu people, and thousands of floor-to-ceiling houses built with bamboo sticks and wooden boards are scattered among the green hills, which is also a unique scenery.

We checked into the 150 inn halfway up the mountain. Because we arrived early, there were no tourists in the inn, and the boss Yu Wulin and his family were busy harvesting corn. The inn has been open for more than ten years, and Yu Wulin has long been a popular tourist in Nujiang River. He can sing and dance and play local folk instruments. He is also a well-known inheritor of Nu culture in Pihe, and often goes out of Yunnan to bring these cultures in the deep mountains to all parts of the country. After packing, Y and I sat on the terrace on the second floor for a while. Lao Yu is very enthusiastic, serving buttered tea and local tea (in Lao Mudeng, tourism and tea are two major industries to get rich). The view here is very wide. In the distance is Gaoligong Mountain on the west bank of Nujiang River. You can see the majestic Crown Peak, which is misty and beautiful. Not far below the inn is the ancient Muden Christian Church, which was built on a grass near the cliff and seemed to float on the horizon. One hundred years ago, western missionaries came to this remote place, and Christianity spread rapidly, which profoundly changed the lifestyle of the mountain people. In such a backcountry, the roots of Christianity made the villagers bid farewell to alcoholism, gambling and sacrifice, and also brought them a cheerful and peaceful character.

After eating a big pot of Nu people's hodgepodge mixed with pipa meat in the inn, we decided to go to nearby Zhiziluo. Take a shortcut from the path behind the mountain, and after 20 or 30 minutes in Zhongshan, you will come to this small town halfway up Robbie Snow Mountain. If you want to find a forgotten place on the map, then Zhiziluo must be a good choice. Once the capital of Nujiang Prefecture and the county seat of Bijiang County, it is the only way for the Grand Canyon to reach Deqinzhou and the mainland. It is not difficult to imagine its excitement and prosperity in those years. In Lisu language, Zhiziluo means "good place", but the locals are still used to calling it Bijiang. In the 1970s, after the completion of the highway along the Nujiang River, the state capital of Nujiang River was moved to Liuku, and the post road where people crossed the Robbie Snow Mountain was gradually abandoned, and Zhiziluo was no longer prosperous. From 65438 to 0986, because some experts pointed out that the branch fell on a huge landslide, the relevant departments decided to cancel the organizational system of Bijiang County for safety reasons, and the name of Bijiang County disappeared from the territory of China forever. The new county town under construction at that time suddenly stopped working, and many buildings were abandoned before they were completed. Residents were evacuated to nearby villages and buildings were abandoned. Branch Luo became a veritable "ghost town". Thirty years later, the predicted landslide has never happened, and some villagers nearby have slowly moved back, but many buildings are empty and their popularity is not as good as that of old Muden. Tourists seldom choose to live here.

Y and I are walking on the only street in this city. It's not a holiday yet. There are no other tourists on the road. There are several villagers sitting in the street in twos and threes. Most of the doors are closed, as they were 30 years ago. This old county is built on a hill. We climbed the stone steps, shuttled under the eaves, explored wantonly, and occasionally met local people and smiled at each other. Since Zhiluo became a scenic spot in the "City of Memory", they must have seen many tourists like us, hoping to find traces of the past years and things against time on the streets they walk every day. The empty teaching building and library have been destroyed by themselves. Slogans of that era can be seen everywhere on the mottled walls. There are several beer bottles beside the abandoned octagonal building, which seems to tell some stories. This is an abandoned town. When people who have lived here for a long time are happily preparing for the new county, they are suddenly told to leave. What kind of mood will it be? "BiJiang county and I farewell, I will miss you forever. I didn't find the wall with this sentence written on it, but I could feel the deep sadness when they left. If people hadn't left, Zhiluo today would be a beautiful and vibrant town. I imagined that my thoughts floated back to my eyes from the past, and the stagnant time fixed everything 30 years ago. Not far away, the green hills remained the same, and time passed like the endless Nujiang River. In this dreamland of time and space surrounded by mountains, I seem to have an illusion that many things have not actually happened, but the dead can come back. After a long time, I know it's just an illusion. In any case, you can never beat time.

When I returned to Old Muden in the evening, many tourists came to the inn, and the atmosphere became lively. On the terrace, a group of middle-aged people came by car from Zhejiang. A retired couple who rented a car in Yunnan wanted to go to the church to listen to the choir. If there is enough time, the Nujiang River is indeed a very suitable place for go on road trip. From the southernmost Liuku to Bingzhongluo, you can see the canyon scenery. After the opening of the Degong Highway under construction, the Nujiang-Diqing-Dali Ring Road is also a very good choice. Of course, with the increasing convenience of transportation, there will be fewer and fewer original things hidden in this deep mountain. In fact, many changes have taken place, and disappearance is eternal.

After nightfall, Y and I drank some wine, Lao Yu's family and friends chatted around the fireplace, Zhejiang tourists ate and chatted on the terrace, and there was only endless darkness outside the inn. The mountains are silent and the night is boundless. I am a little lost when I think of the stars I saw in the car yesterday and the lights in Xijiang Miao Village.

Westbound Yunnan series:

Seeing Meili Thirteen Peak for the first time in Deqin will bring good luck all the year round.

The Xanadu where God and Man Live: Day and Night in Bingzhongluo

A horse in the border town of western Yunnan: exploring the touching past on the death route of World War II