[Lifestyle] Traveling in a RV to explore the “youth” years

Yan Geling and Feng Xiaogang once again tried to outline the life trajectory of an era with words and images. With the constant switching of scenes, life is ups and downs during this journey, or sublimation, or loss, or sinking. Youth is like a song, life is like a journey. Like the scenery flashing by outside my window, like the warm tea in my hand, like the “house” that takes me on a long journey.

If you could choose one thing to mark a certain period of time, what would you choose? I believe that different people will have different choices, but I believe more in the storage capacity of ruts and taste, and I am willing to give time to a special trip.

I was invited to participate in the self-driving activity in Yunnan organized by Huasong Leasing and Shared RV, which is “Home is inside the car, and the world is outside the car” to explore the self-driving activities of the “youth” years. I originally participated in ordinary event reports as a media, but after a few days, those stories about the grotesque karst landform, the border city of Mengzi Bise Station between China and Vietnam, and the roasted tofu and Shuitianhe in the ancient city of Jianshui The scenery of Fuxian Lake is imprinted in the memory, and the caravan residence is the finishing touch of the trip, which makes the self-driving activities more vivid.

Find Ashima

People sing about constancy, bravery, kindness, freedom, and beautiful love, because each of these things is precious. Ashima, a Sani girl of the Yi nationality, combines all these beauties in one body, and she shows the national character and national spirit of the entire Yi people. Ashima’s hometown is in Shilin County, Yunnan Province. Legend has it that she transformed into Shifeng to protect the tribe forever.

The first stop of the itinerary is to go to the Stone Forest Scenic Area to find the incarnation stone of Ashima hidden in the deepest part of the park. As early as 1982, Stone Forest Scenic Area was approved by the State Council as one of the first batch of national key scenic spots. The park is a typical karst landform landscape, with strange rock forests of various shapes rising from the ground, which is magnificent. Scientific research, sightseeing, taking pictures… This stone forest has been quietly embracing all those who come to explore for hundreds of years.

Tips: Stone Forest

“The Essence of Karst in the World”. It is dominated by karst landscapes and is famous for being “majestic, strange, dangerous, beautiful, secluded, mysterious, and wide”. Complete, known as “the world’s first wonder” and “natural museum of modeling and geomorphology”, it enjoys a high reputation in the world’s geoscience circles.

our youth

Many people learned about the border city of Mengzi and the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway with a century-old history through the hit movie “Youth”. On the second day of the trip, we drove to Mengzi City and visited Bisezhai, which was called “Little Paris” a hundred years ago, and this ancient international railway. Bisezhai Station is also one of the filming locations of the movie “Youth”. one.

Among the “Eighteen Monsters of Yunnan”, there are two monsters: the train is not as fast as the car, and the railway does not connect domestic and foreign countries. This is the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway. Take the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway at Bisezhai Station, go north to Kunming, and go south to Vietnam. At that time, the French built the railway to invade China, so the architecture of Bisezhai Station presents a European style. For more than 30 years since 1910, Bisezhai has always played the role of the largest station along the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway.

A little-known small village is filled with warehouses of tin, fur and rice waiting to be transported abroad because of the passing of the railway. The whistle of the train and the trumpets of the porters are non-stop around the clock, bringing businessmen from all over the world. , traveler. People from France, Britain, the United States, Germany, Japan and Greece came one after another and set up foreign firms, restaurants, department stores, post offices, beauties and rich businessmen, foreign wine and coffee here. Its degree of openness and prosperity is second to none in southern Yunnan.

Now that we have arrived here, history is suspended in the quiet air like a movie. I sit on the wooden chair on the platform and try to connect the calmness in front of me with the bustling commercial culture nearly a hundred years ago. However, the prosperity is over, and the past only stays in the historical entries and the tour guide’s megaphone. Despite this, I still feel peaceful and satisfied in my heart. History allows people to know the origin, the ebb and flow, and the “youth” of individuals and times, so that we can stand on a certain height and examine our current life. That’s why we’re here!

The current Bisezhai Station is not as prosperous as it was then, but because of the film “Fang Hua”, it has become a newly popular tourist attraction, attracting tourists from all over the country, some visiting historical sites, and some experiencing historical changes, but More people came here to take a group of photos with the movie “Handshake”. The railway here, the mountains at the end, and the ancient clocks on the European-style buildings make this place come with a time filter. Putting on old clothes, we seem to have really returned to the “youth” era where merchants gathered.

Tips：

From the beginning of the 19th century, British and French colonists invaded Southeast Asia and Yunnan, China, and competed with each other. Since its invasion, France has been pressing harder and harder, intending to control Yunnan and turn Yunnan into a colony. In the eleventh year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1885 A.D.), France, through the Sino-French War, concluded the “Sino-French Conference on Vietnam Treaty” with the Qing government, and obtained the “protection rights” to Vietnam and the right to trade and build railways in the southwestern provinces of China. In the 21st year of Guangxu (AD 1895), France forced the Qing government to sign the “China-French Continuation of Negotiation and Commercial Affairs” on the pretext of being active in the “Three Kingdoms’ Intervention (Japan) Return to Liao Dynasty”, and obtained the extension and repair of the Vietnam Railway. Construction rights in China. In the twenty-ninth year of Guangxu (AD 1903), China and France signed the “Sino-French Conference Establishing the Regulations of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway”. Immediately, France sent people to survey the route, draw up a blueprint, and formally established the French company of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway.

Fuxian Lake in the rain

At the end of May, Yunnan has gradually entered the rainy season. When we drove to Fuxian Lake in Yuxi City, the weather was still sunny. Large clouds hang on the top of the mountain and float on the lake, reflecting beautiful shadows. However, just before lunch, it began to rain. The rain in Yunnan looks like the fake rain specially created to exaggerate the atmosphere in a film and television drama, arranged straight in dense lines, and instantly drenched the ground into a shallow river.

The local team leader said that the rainy season is like this, like a basin of cold water suddenly poured from the sky to a certain place, without any warning, and it falls smoothly and refreshingly. The heavier the rain, the better the wild fungus grow on the mountain, and the toxicity of the fungus will be diluted after the rain washes away. The villagers who pick wild fungi for a living are happy. This sudden heavy rain brought abundance to the “bacteria people”.

The scenery of the rainy Fuxian Lake is cold and gorgeous, and the water surface is clear and calm, giving people the illusion that this is the most tender and conquerable small lake. However, Fuxian Lake is the lake with the largest water storage capacity, the largest plateau deepwater lake, and the second deepest freshwater lake in China. If you swim 10 meters away from the edge of the lake, you will not see the bottom. Around 2005, the ancient city hidden under Fuxian Lake was discovered by diving enthusiasts. After scientific research, it was confirmed that there were 8 ancient buildings in the ancient city. Because of this discovery, the world knew that there was a Chengjiang River in China. , Chengjiang has Fuxian Lake, and there is an ancient city under Fuxian Lake.

A group of us rested in the RV in the afternoon, listening to the sound of rain beating on the roof of the car, looking at the banana leaves outside and the surface of Fuxian Lake in the distance. Except for the rain, time seemed to have stood still. In my world, rain and afternoon naps are the best songs in the ages. I simply took a sound nap in the RV. When the rain gradually subsided, I changed my raincoats and went out to play in the water. The comfort of the caravan life is fully displayed at this time.

There are a lot of blue sightseeing boats docked by Fuxian Lake, lined up in groups of three or five. There are people in the lake wearing colorful life jackets playing in the water. In the distance is the gray-blue sky and distant mountains shrouded in rain and mist. We wore yellow raincoats and ran by the lake. People, boats, mountains, and sky constituted the most beautiful rain and fog landscape painting. The ultimate scenery must be diverse and natural, and Fuxian Lake is one of them.

Tips：

Fuxian Lake is the largest deep-water freshwater lake in China and the largest lake at the source of the Pearl River. Because the lake water is crystal clear and crystal clear, it was called “thousand hectares of glass” by the ancients. There are many scenic spots around Fuxian Lake. The west bank is a traditional scenic spot, such as Luchong Scenic Area, Gushan Scenic Area, Star Fish Cave Scenic Area, Biyun Temple, etc.

Back to “taste” Yunnan

Before the event, I only knew that there was a famous duck in the world, and that was Peking Duck. As everyone knows, Yiliang Roast Duck is not inferior to Beijing Roast Duck in terms of color and flavor. Beijing roast duck was introduced to the court in the late Qing Dynasty, and it was divided into two factions: one is “Quanjude” for grilling with open fire, and the other is “Bianyifang” for grilling with dark fire. According to records, Juquande in Tianjin was listed as Zhangye in the third year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864), and then moved to Beijing in the early Republic of China, 8 years later than Yiliang Roast Duck.

On the first day of the event, we arrived in Yiliang, and we chose the local specialty roast duck for lunch. According to local chefs, Yiliang Roast Duck is made by igniting bundles of pine feathers in an earthen stewing oven. After the open flame is extinguished and the earthen oven is thoroughly heated, the duck is put in a cover and stewed. During this period, the lid cannot be opened to check, otherwise the duck will not be cooked if the temperature is low. Therefore, roasting duck in an earthen stew oven depends entirely on the experience of the master, listening to the sound of crackling skin to judge whether it is raw or cooked. In terms of taste, compared with Beijing roast duck, Yiliang’s is thinner, crispy and not greasy.

On the second day of the event, before going to Bisezhai, we tasted the local cross-bridge rice noodle in Mengzi City. As a famous local snack in Yunnan Province, Mengzi Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles is not in vain. When we arrived, the table was already full of cooked rice noodles and side dishes. After we sat down, the store served everyone a soup full of rice noodles, and rolled the steaming stone pot to pour the rice noodles. Which can be practical. Now the taste of rice noodles all over the country is similar, and the difference in taste is mainly in the soup. The soup of Mengzi rice noodles is the best I have ever tasted. All kinds of mushrooms, chicken, and braised pork, boiled out a pot of rich and mellow soup, served with Yunnan local spicy oil, a meal of rice noodles can be called “a feast for one person”.

Due to the long stay in Bisezhai during the day, it was already sunset when we rushed to Jianshui Ancient City at night. I don’t have a deep impression of this city, only the rows of green brick houses and the tofu that can be seen everywhere on the roadside. I heard that Jianshui roasted tofu became famous after it was mentioned in “A Bite of China”. All over the urban and rural areas of southern Yunnan, the tofu stalls in the streets, vegetable markets, night markets, and scenic tourist attractions of Jianshui City are crowded with people and have become a beautiful landscape in the ancient city and a major attraction for tourists.

Hearing that roasted tofu is very popular, I couldn’t wait to find a roasted tofu shop on the street after I settled down for the night. Sure enough, it is not difficult to find. In the alleys of the ancient city, there are barbecue stalls every few houses. Sit on the edge of the oven where the tofu is baked, and when it is cooked, you can pick it up with long chopsticks and eat it with chili seasoning sauce. When the grandma who roasts tofu sees that you have picked up tofu, she will take out small apricot cores from one bowl and put them in another bowl to count how many pieces you ate, and finally settle the bill together. When the tofu is round, it is cooked, the skin is fresh and crisp, and the inside is soft and fragrant. It is not a problem for one person to eat more than a dozen, and the taste is worthy of its reputation.

In fact, self-driving travel is not new, and Yunnan free travel is not new, but the mighty caravan fleet traveling in Yunnan has attracted a lot of attention. I still remember that when we were eating in Mengzi, the owner of the restaurant excitedly walked around and asked us a lot of questions about the RV. When we were about to leave, he even carefully visited the RV. When Jianshui passed through the city, the eyes of pedestrians on both sides of the road were also closely following the convoy.

I was in the car, following Huasong’s “Inside the car is home outside the car is the world” activity of sharing RVs, what I saw and felt along the way was the gradual spread of the RV lifestyle to the public, and the gradual subversion of new travel methods The window of opportunity brought by traditional tourism is a way to satisfy people’s yearning for a better life and carry consumption transformation and upgrading. It may not be long before self-driving RVs will also lead the travel of this era to the most beautiful “youth”.