chensu

After the trip to Xi'an in early March, we embarked on another spontaneous journey.

It all started with an unexpected water outage in our neighborhood. Initially, we were informed that the water would be cut off for two days. On the first day, I brought back two large buckets and two small buckets of water from work, just enough for washing up. It was scorching hot, and not being able to take a shower made us feel extremely uncomfortable. The water still wasn't fixed on the second day, and I saw a truck bringing back murky water from the landscaping garden, which was completely unusable.

We thought about staying in a hotel, but then we realized that it was already Thursday, and since we were going to stay in a hotel, we might as well go out and play on the weekend. So, we decided to go out of town. We planned to head north because the temperature had reached 37°C in the past few days, and going to Datong in the north would be cooler. However, my wife wanted to go south to the Taihang Mountains and the Grand Canyon. After checking, we found out that the Eight Springs Gorge near the Taihang Mountains was closed for the construction of a hydropower station and would not reopen until July. Going to Datong would take nearly four hours by car, and the Yungang Grottoes were a bit too much for our five-year-old to comprehend. Finally, we settled on a trip to Xinzhou. The self-driving route was Xinzhou Ancient City ➡️ Yanmen Pass ➡️ Luya Mountain ➡️ back home.

Xinzhou Ancient City#

I left work early on Friday, packed our bags, and waited for my daughter to finish school at the school gate. We set off at 5:30 pm and arrived at Xinzhou Ancient City, which is 110km away, at 8 pm. Because our trip was quite rushed, we didn't have much time to plan, so we felt a bit lost when we first arrived in the ancient city. We didn't have a chance to try the local delicacies as we had to leave quickly. We took a walk on the city wall, which took more than 40 minutes, but the scenery was still beautiful.
We visited Xinzhou Ancient City again before leaving. The previous night was crowded, and we didn't get to taste the local food. We arrived at the ancient city after 11 pm, took some photos, and left.

Yanmen Pass#

Yanmen Pass is an important part of the Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is known as the "First Pass of China."

1. During the Warring States period, the Zhao Kingdom's war god Li Mu stationed here and "defeated over 100,000 Xiongnu cavalry."

2. During the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, General Meng Tian led 300,000 soldiers out of Yanmen Pass, drove the Xiongnu beyond the Yin Mountains, and built the Great Wall.

3. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, famous generals Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Li Guang all fought against the Xiongnu inside and outside Yanmen Pass, defeating them many times. Li Guang, known as the "Ape-Armed General," fought against the Xiongnu dozens of times while serving as the Prefect of Daijun, Yanmen, and Yunzhong, and was called the "Flying General" by the Xiongnu.

4. During the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han, Wang Zhaojun left Yanmen Pass to marry and establish friendly relations.

5. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, Yang Ye led his soldiers to defeat the Liao army many times, and his son Yang Liu Lang and grandson Yang Zong Bao continued to defend the north for more than 20 years, defeating the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia. After the sacrifice of Yang Zong Bao, his grandmother, Lady She, who was over a hundred years old, took command herself and led a group of twelve widows to go to battle, with her daughter-in-law Mu Guiying as the vanguard, defeating the Western Xia.
   We left Xinzhou Ancient City at 11:30 am and headed directly to the north gate parking lot of Yanmen Pass. We didn't take the highway and instead took the Erxi Line. Along the way, we experienced the eighteen dangerous bends of Yanmen Pass. As soon as we entered the mountains, we lost signal on our phones, and the scenery became more magnificent as we climbed higher. We arrived at our destination at around 2 pm.

Luya Mountain#

We spent about three hours exploring Yanmen Pass, and it was still early, so we decided to head to Luya Mountain in advance. Luya Mountain has a narrow two-way road, and it's peak season in June and July, especially on weekends. We checked the hotels near the scenic area, but the online reviews weren't great. So, we decided to take a detour to Wuzhai County, which is 38 kilometers away from the scenic area and would take about an hour to reach.
We passed two more mountains on the way from Yanmen Pass, which took us three hours. When we arrived in Wuzhai County, it was already late, and we didn't have time to find a good place to try the famous Wuzhai stewed dishes. We asked the hotel reception for recommendations, and they said the stewed dishes weren't that good 😄.
The next day, after having breakfast at the hotel, we set off at 9:30 am. We climbed another mountain and arrived at the tourist service center at 10:30 am. We bought tickets and then navigated to the Gaoqiaowa parking lot. We arrived at the parking lot at 11 am and took a small vehicle up the mountain. After getting off the vehicle, we climbed for about half an hour and finally, at 12:10 pm, we emerged from the forest. The first thing that caught our eyes was the vast herds of cattle and the reachable white clouds.
We spent too much time and energy at Malun Grassland, and we were also accompanied by our daughter. So, we only had the opportunity to admire Luya Mountain from a close distance, and we didn't have the energy to climb further up.

Return Journey#

On the way down the mountain, there was another attraction called "Lover's Valley." If we hadn't visited Malun Grassland before, this place would have been quite nice. However, after experiencing the magnificent view from the mountaintop, Lover's Valley seemed a bit underwhelming. We also didn't have the energy to complete the entire walk in Lover's Valley, and when we reached halfway, we took a detour and left. We still wanted to make the most of our ticket money.
Originally, we planned to appreciate the source of the Fen River. As a native of Shanxi, the Fen River is our mother river. However, along the way, we saw a clear stream, and we let our daughter play for a while. Time was tight, so we didn't go any further. The journey back home took 3 hours and 45 minutes, covering a distance of 201 kilometers. We climbed three mountains along the way. After passing Yanmen Pass, these mountains weren't dangerous. The main challenge was the large number of trucks on the road, all traveling in convoys. The mountain roads were winding with few straight sections, so there weren't many opportunities to overtake. Fortunately, the scenery along the way was beautiful. When we got home, my wife said she had been sleepy on the road but didn't dare to sleep because there were so many large trucks. She ended up falling asleep for the entire journey.