July 18, 2024 Sunny
Last night, I enjoyed a comfortable and refreshing selenium hot spring bath and slept soundly until dawn. I pulled back the window screen and saw that the sun had risen earlier than I did. Outside the window, the blue sky and white clouds were dazzling, as if they were unceremoniously telling me, "Today, you will be steamed."
I opened my mouth, gasped in surprise, and then checked the weather forecast on my phone. Oh my! The highest temperature is 38 degrees! That's one degree higher than yesterday. How can I stand this? Today's plan is to visit the Yangshimu Scenic Area; it shouldn't be too hot there, I thought.
A group of eight people in two cars drove for over an hour and finally arrived at this famous Chinese blessed mountain—Yangshimu.
As soon as I got out of the car, the temperature was bearable. I took all the necessary sun protection measures, not afraid to take beautiful photos in the scorching heat.
This is a national 4A scenic area, covering a total area of 37.5 square kilometers, with the highest peak at an elevation of 1,764 meters. It is known as one of the blessed mountains in Taoism, alongside Longhu Mountain, Sanqing Mountain, and Hengshan Mountain, holding a special place in Taoist culture. The scenic area is often shrouded in mist, and it is common to see the "sheep" and "lion" playing and frolicking among the mountains, hence the name "Yangshimu."
After climbing a series of steps, we finally reached the cable car station. Last year, I built up my courage by riding the cable car in Mangshan, so this time I wasn't afraid at all. I took the cable car up and enjoyed the magnificent scenery of the mountains and ridges. I noticed some trees in the mountains were blooming with clusters of white flowers. Are they nail flowers? I remembered the fragrant nail flower tree at the end of my childhood alley; these seemed to be the same, and they must fill the mountains with fragrance.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at our destination. It felt like stepping through time, moving from summer into autumn, with a cool mountain breeze refreshing my face. There was no mist rising; the driver said it would only appear after it rained, which was a bit of a pity.
Here, with the name Fushan, there are naturally some scenic spots displaying the character for "blessing." I took a few pictures as follows—
While strolling along the boardwalk, I also saw a spring with water continuously flowing out, next to which was a sign that read, "Trickling happy water, nourishing the heart," along with a water quality testing analysis report.
Several tourists were queuing to collect water, and I quickly joined the line, filled a jug, and took a sip of the ice-cold water, like drinking water straight from the fridge.
The Yangshimu landscape is quite similar to Mangshan in Hunan, which I visited last summer, but it is much windier and cooler here. It features a granite peak forest landform, including various forms such as peaks, peak walls, peak clusters, stone forests, peak columns, stone cones, and more, totaling nine types of landforms...
The accompanying driver and guide continuously introduced us to these unique sights, and everyone couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of nature.
On our way down, just before the last stretch of the descent, the organizer of this activity, my fourth uncle, loudly announced, "Let's take the slide down!"
I quickly asked, "Is it scary?"
"Not at all! It's very safe! It's a lot of fun!" my fourth uncle replied loudly.
The walk would take over ten minutes, but the slide would only take two or three minutes, costing thirty yuan. I followed them, putting on the provided mini shorts, which had a large padded area on the backside to prevent chafing, looking quite funny.
Carefully, I sat on the slide and swooshed down to the foot of the mountain. It turned out to be nothing scary; it was a bit thrilling and quite fun.
By the time we returned to the hot spring town, the sun had hidden away, and we went to a lakeside restaurant for dinner. The next day's journey ended happily.
（To be continued）