Colorful rocks covered in greenery offer an awesome backdrop of the beautiful scenery in Huidong County, Sichuan Province. Chen Youqing

 

In early December, I teamed up with several photography lovers to explore Shenyu River, which is a scenic attraction in Huidong County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

 

Even in deep winter, the shiny, red persimmons in the many villages along the river make the journey a picturesque one.

 

About 10 km away from Huidong the valley becomes narrow and the serene river and vertical cliffs are perfect for photographers.

 

As we busied ourselves trying to find the best angle to frame the cliffs and river, a man emerged from nowhere and smiled at us. He lived in the valley, which we thought was inaccessible.

 

"The scenery inside is much better! Just follow the pipeline, it only takes half an hour. But you must take a flashlight, as you need to go through caves," he told us.

 

All of us were seasoned photographers who were used to dangerous conditions. Even so, when we found the pipeline, which had been built recently to direct drinking water to Huidong, one member of our party said he had a fear of heights and retreated.

 

The rest of us filed along the narrow path between the cliff and the pipeline. Sometimes, the path was slippery and I almost tripped and fell into the icy river below. Our flashlights proved useful in the dark tunnels. We also had to climb across a thin bridge.

 

Fortunately, the journey ended sooner than we'd expected. We arrived at a wide opening and found the rocks to be wonderfully colorful: red, yellow, brown and covered in greenery. At the foot of the mountains was a village.

 

Tao Yuanming (AD 365-427), a famous man of letters in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420), once wrote about a hidden utopia called Taohuayuan (Peach Fountainhead). People lived there happily and in peace, unaware of the warfare and changes of power elsewhere.

 

As I tried to recall Tao's exact words, an old man approached us. He seemed surprised at first, but then smiled. Pointing at the basket on his back, he said he was out foraging.

 

The village is called Jiamacao (Narrow Horse Trough). The earthen houses with black tiles lie on both sides of the river. A drawbridge with wooden boards links the two sides. We walked past the locked houses and found a shepherd across the river.

 

There weren't many people and most of them were either elderly or young. A shepherd named Wei Guocai told us most of the 100-odd villagers were surnamed Wei or Zhang. The earliest settlers arrived some 10 generations ago. They cleared away the boulders and ploughed the fields.

 

"This is a remote place, but our young men are handsome and the girls are charming as the river," Wei said.

 

A young woman told us there was another village deeper inside the valley.

 

"The view there is better and has a karst cave," she said.

 

We didn't have much time to visit her village, so instead we tried to find out how the locals lived.

 

Before the pipeline was built, villagers climbed the dangerous paths to reach the outside world. Even today, children have to use the mountain tracks to go to school.

 

Most of the villages' young people have left to earn more money outside. Wei and his wife stay in the village while their son works part-time elsewhere.

 

It appeared that the locals have not considered profiting from the awesome scenery. When I suggested that Wei could cash in by providing lodging and food for tourists, he shook his head and said, "I welcome anyone who comes here. But I won't charge them."

 

As we said good-bye, Wei's wife put a lot of persimmons in my hands and invited us to come back any time.

 

(China Daily by Song Ming January 3, 2008)