See the Wild Great Wall Again
During the May Day holiday, I made an appointment with some colleagues to go hiking.
In recent years, I have become fond of mountain climbing, especially climbing the wild section of the Great Wall.
When I arrived in western Liaoning, there were shadows of the Great Wall everywhere: small crenellated Great Walls were built along the roads for decoration, and every household was separated by a short section of Great Wall-like cement wall. The Great Wall here has become a part of people's life. If you walk through a random village or town, its name may be "Qiansuo", "Shahousuo" or "Lijiabao", which are all places where the army was garrisoned in the past; there may be a deserted beacon tower or watchtower in front of the village and behind the town. Go to enjoy pear blossoms in the spring, pick cherries in the summer, and pick apples in the fall. You may not know which fruit forest you are in. As you walk, you will find an old tower that has been abandoned for a long time. It may be a beacon tower that was very important back then.
The people here call the Great Wall that has always been around them "Stone Dragon" or "Earth Dragon". This kind of name is kind and vivid, just like the long dragon built of stone and earth. The short dragon has life and some kind of power.
If you want to see the relatively intact continuous Great Wall and beacon towers, it is better to climb the mountain. The mountain is the remnant of Yanshan Mountain. Those parts of the Great Wall that have not been developed into tourist attractions are called wild Great Walls.
When we arrived, there were already small groups of mountain people gathering at the foot of the mountain. They were selling their own mountain products: walnuts, fruits, and wild vegetables. They didn't shout, just sat and chatted. When someone went to buy goods, they didn't compete with each other for customers. The customers went to the same house. Some customers went from house to house but didn't buy anything. They didn't get angry and continued to chat on their own. When a family has something to do, they will give the things they want to sell to other families, and that family will just leave them like that. The guests will sell whatever they like, and everyone will keep track of the amount.
These mountain people live in this mountain, and the scattered houses are like a paradise. There are many fruit trees at the foot of the mountain and halfway up the mountain. When they are in bloom, they are so beautiful that they cannot be painted. We arrived a week late this time, and most of the pear blossoms had fallen, while some apple blossoms were still blooming. The apple fruit is large, but the flowers are small white flowers, not as white as pear blossoms. The mountains here have enough sunshine, and the apples taste good. Wang Lin, Red King General, General... The names of the apples are also very characteristic of war fortresses, and they are powerful and handsome.
The weather is good, and there are waves of people coming to climb the mountain. No matter men, women, old or young, everyone has a mask on their chin, some wear it properly, some cover their mouth and expose their nose. After reaching the middle of the mountain, most people's masks were just hanging on their chins. It was too hot and they took off their coats, and their faces were covered with sweat. People who were not familiar with each other kept a safe distance in a tacit understanding, and walked leisurely with each other in mind.
The road to the Wild Great Wall is much more difficult to walk on. Some sections are gravel, some are overgrown with weeds, and some are so steep that you need to use both hands and feet. Fortunately, it only takes a little effort, but it doesn’t hurt. steep.
Halfway up the mountain, there was a mother and son picking wild vegetables. The mother looked to be in her fifties or sixties. Her red sweater and yellow scarf were very eye-catching. She climbed to a high place to pick wild vegetables. The young man was watching carefully below. I loudly discussed with my mother to come down, but my mother refused. There were solid rocks where the mother was standing, and there was no danger. The young man was still worried and kept looking up eagerly. I suddenly remembered this scene: my son was running wild outside, and my mother couldn't call him back, so she watched eagerly until the sweaty boy ran to her after having fun. As time goes by, the watcher and the person being watched have exchanged positions, but the style of the painting remains unchanged.
The mountain is not very high, so you have to rest a few times on the way. There are two steep places that we jokingly call "Tight Eight Pans" and "Slow Eight Pans". After passing these "Eight Pans", you will soon arrive at the beacon tower. The outer protective wall of the beacon tower collapsed and only the foundation remains. The crenels are no longer there, leaving traces of time.
Opposite you have a panoramic view of the Jiumenmen Great Wall and Jiujiang River, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the Great Wall winding on the mountains; to the east you can see the Bohai Sea and the buildings in the distance.
The Jiumenmen Great Wall opposite is rated as a World Cultural Heritage. It was built during the Northern Qi Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty ordered General Xu Da to take charge of the construction of the Great Wall. Xu Da built the Ming Great Wall on the basis of the Northern Qi Great Wall. The Jiumenmen Great Wall is a section of the Great Wall from the Ming Dynasty that meanders to the Bohai Bay. It has been the transportation throat from inside the pass to outside the pass since ancient times, and is known as the "First Pass in Jingdong". Behind the Jiumenmen Great Wall is the famous Jiaoshan Great Wall.
Nine gates are named after the nine water-discharging gates under the city bridge. The roaring Jiujiang River crosses the Jiumen Gate and reaches the Bohai Sea, forming the wonder of "the city is walking on the mountain and the water is flowing below the city". It is known as the "Great Wall on Water" and is the only section of the Great Wall built on water.
There are many ancient war relics here, the most complete one is Wu Sangui’s Tibetan Soldier Cave. Yes, inside the Great Wall is Shanhaiguan, and outside the Great Wall is Daliao. Wu Wanggui was wavering between Han and Manchu. This should indeed be his best choice.
The most spectacular thing about the Jiumenmen Great Wall is the view of water passing through the city gate. Because there are many tourists and it is well repaired, people who like mountain climbing and looking at ruins will look for other mountains. The mountains here are continuous, and there are beacon towers on almost every mountain, and there are trails to reach each beacon tower.
This is not the first time I have climbed up to a beacon tower like this. Every time I climb up, I see not only the mountains and rivers, but also the Great Wall climbing up the ridge and the beacon towers facing each other. For many years, this place has been the residence of military strategists, and it is only in the past few decades that the people have been able to live in peace.
Most of the mountain people and fishermen here are descendants of sergeants. The folk customs are simple and fierce, and the accents are distinctive. Villages and towns not far apart may have very different pronunciation habits and different spoken languages. These are all products of historical evolution.
Many wild Great Walls and beacon towers are crumbling little by little, and may disappear among the mountains in a few hundred years. A mountain without the Great Wall seems to have lost its barrier, and a mountain without a beacon tower seems to have lost its observation eyes. But I feel that such a mountain is a natural mountain, a mountain that has truly returned to itself. The existence of mountains and rivers was not originally for competition, so there is no need to bear the burden of these histories. The pine trees, oak trees and shrubs in the mountains, the squirrels, geckos, birds and insects in the mountains, the clouds, springs and rocks in the mountains, these should be the owners of the mountains, the scenery of the mountains, and the true charm of the mountains!
When we went down, the mountain people didn’t have much left, so they got up one after another and went back. They really want to go back to the mountains, back to the mountains, forests and flowers; while those of us who came here in a lively way are just temporary passers-by in the mountains, and they all left without looking back after coming down the mountain.
Goodbye, Nine Gates; Goodbye, Wild Great Wall.
I look forward to showing you a better me next time I come back!