Time, ruins and oblivion: the mysterious county that disappeared from the map of western Yunnan

At the end of the rainy season in Yunnan in 2015, I went to the Nujiang Grand Canyon. Ever since I learned about the mysterious Bingchacha route into Tibet, I have always wanted to see the Nujiang River again and see how it creates such steep yet beautiful scenery under the attack of Gaoligong Mountain and Biluo Snow Mountain on both sides of the bank. I want to see the people who lived there who were once isolated from the rest of the world.

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 and walked westward. Early the next morning, the car was already in Liuku Town on the Nu River. Liuku is the county seat of Lushui County and the capital of Nujiang Prefecture. From here along the Nujiang River all the way north to Chawalong in Tibet, you will find the Nujiang Grand Canyon, which is more than 300 kilometers long. Liuku is located in the southernmost part, with low terrain, and the weather in late September is still very hot. As the gateway to Nujiang Prefecture, Liuku has a much larger urban area than Fugong and Gongshan in the north. When driving along the river, you can see river-view houses rising from the ground in the new urban area. The belief that development is the last word is here. This is fully reflected here.

Going north along the riverside road, the altitude slowly increases and the mountains become more and more dangerous. Our first stop was Laomudeng Village, not far from Fugong County. After taking the Pihe country bus, you take a local car carrying goods and go up the winding mountain road. When we arrived at Laomudeng, the Nu River at the foot of the mountain was as small as a thin ribbon. This small village embedded in the mountains at an altitude of nearly 2,000 meters has become famous due to the development of tourism in recent years. Most of the people living in the village are Nu people. The floor-to-ceiling houses made of bamboo strips and wooden boards are scattered among the green mountains, which is also a unique scenery.

We stayed at the 150 Inn halfway up the mountain. Because we arrived early, there were not many tourists in the inn. The owner, Yu Wulin, and his family were busy harvesting corn. The inn has been open for more than ten years. Yu Wulin has long been a celebrity in the Nujiang tourism industry. He is good at singing, dancing and playing local folk instruments. He is also a well-known inheritor of the Nu culture in Pihe. He often goes out of Yunnan to bring these people in the deep mountains. Culture is brought to all parts of the country. After packing up, Y and I sat on the terrace on the second floor for a while. Lao Yu was very enthusiastic and served butter tea and local tea (in Laomudeng, tourism and tea are two industries that make people rich). The view here is very broad. In the distance is the Gaoligong Mountain on the west bank of the Nujiang River. You can see the towering Crown Peak, shrouded in clouds and mist, which is very beautiful. Not far below the inn is the Laomden Christian Church, built on a grassland on the edge of the cliff, as if floating in the sky. A hundred years ago, Western missionaries came to this foreign land deep in the mountains. Christianity spread rapidly and profoundly changed the way of life of the mountain people. In such a remote and remote area, Christianity took root and allowed the villagers to bid farewell to alcoholism, gambling and animal sacrifice, and also brought them an optimistic and peaceful character.

After eating a large pot of Nu chowder mixed with Pipa meat at the inn, we decided to visit the nearby Zhiziluo. Take a shortcut from the path behind the mountain, and after 20 or 30 minutes of passing the mountain road, you arrive at this small town halfway up the Biluo Snow Mountain. If you want to find a forgotten place on the map, then Zhiziluo must be a good choice. It used to be the capital of Nujiang Prefecture and the seat of Bijiang County. It was the only place to pass from the Grand Canyon to Deqin Prefecture and the mainland. It is not difficult to imagine its liveliness and prosperity back then. In Lisu language, Zhiziluo means "good place", and the locals are still accustomed to calling it Bijiang. In the 1970s, after the road along the Nujiang River was built, the Nujiang Prefecture moved to Liuku. The horse-riding post road across the Biluo Snow Mountain gradually fell into disuse, and Zhiziluo was no longer prosperous. In 1986, experts pointed out that Zhiziluo was located on a huge landslide. For safety reasons, the relevant departments decided to cancel the establishment of Bijiang County, and the name "Bijiang" disappeared forever from China's map. The new county town that was under construction at that time suddenly stopped, and many buildings were abandoned before they were completed. Residents were evacuated to nearby villages, and the buildings were empty. Zhiziluo became a veritable "abandoned city." Thirty years have passed, and the predicted landslide has not happened. Some nearby villagers have slowly moved back, but many buildings have remained empty, and their popularity is not as good as that of Laomudeng. Tourists rarely choose to live here.

Y and I were walking on the only avenue in the city. It was not a holiday yet, and there were no other tourists on the road. There were a few villagers sitting on the street in twos and threes. Most of the doors were closed and still had their As it was thirty years ago.

The old county town is built on the mountain. We climbed up the stone stairs, shuttled under the layered eaves, and explored freely. Occasionally we met local people and smiled and greeted each other. Since Zhiziluo became a tourist attraction as the "City of Memory", they must have seen many tourists like us, hoping to find traces of the past and things that defy time in the streets they walk on every day. The empty teaching building and library were in a state of decay. Slogans from that era could be seen everywhere on the mottled walls. There were a few beer bottles poured beside the abandoned octagonal building, as if they wanted to tell some story. This is an abandoned small town. When the people who have lived here for a long time are happily preparing to welcome the new county town, they are suddenly informed that they have to leave. What will it be like? "Bijiang County and I are separated forever, and I will miss you forever." I did not find the wall with this sentence written on it, but I can feel their deep reluctance when they parted. If people had not left, Zhiziluo would have been a beautiful and lively town today. I imagined that my thoughts drifted from the past back to the present, and the stagnant time fixed everything thirty years ago. Not far away, the green mountains remained the same, and time passed by like the endless flow of the Nu River. Living in this illusion of time and space surrounded by mountains, I seem to have an illusion that many things have not actually happened, and that everything that has passed can come back. After a while, I realized that this was just an illusion. No matter what, you can never defeat time.

Back in Laomudeng in the evening, many tourists came to the inn, and the atmosphere became lively. Sitting on the terrace were a group of middle-aged people who drove from Zhejiang, and a retired couple who rented a car in Yunnan and wanted to listen to the choir in the church. If you have enough time, Nujiang is indeed a very suitable place for self-driving travel. From the southernmost Liuku all the way north to Bingzhongluo, you can have a panoramic view of the canyon scenery. After the Degong Highway under construction is opened to traffic, Nujiang-Diqing- Dali’s loop line is also a very good choice. Of course, as transportation becomes more convenient, there will be fewer and fewer original things hidden in these deep mountains. In fact, many changes are already happening, and disappearance is eternal.

After nightfall, Y and I drank some wine. Lao Yu’s family and friends were chatting around the firepit. Tourists from Zhejiang were also eating and chatting on the terrace. Outside the inn, there was only endless darkness. The mountains were silent and the night was endless. I thought of the stars in the sky that I saw in the car yesterday and the thousands of lights in the Miao Village in Xijiang. I felt a little sad.

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