THE SIGN HUNTERS

CHINA: Shangri-La of the East: Gongyu

Written by Laszlo, 07 October 2022

We have been quite with posting new content to our website for a long time. This is not only down to us being occupied with other time consuming activities but also, this is the first brand new post that appears on our brand new website.

Yes, we have a new website!

Moving the old content from both our previous website and blog pages has been taking ages. Still, it is all happening now and when the next new post is published, all the old stuff will hopefully be migrated to here. Our web address is still the same as before (www.thesignhunters.co.uk) and we also have a brand new domain too (www.pigispig.pink). Both addresses now bring you to this same platform.

After the introduction, let me say a few words about our latest trip. It is what is officially known as the National Day of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国国庆节) here which is one of the Golden Week Holidays (黄金周) in China. The National Day (国庆节) itself is observed on the 1st October, but another six days are added to the official holiday length. Weather forecast predicted around 35-37°C and solid sunshine, so we joined Etravel Club for a three-day-journey to the Gongyu Scenic Area (公盂景区). Katie and I actually wanted to do this trip in the Summer but it was interrupted and seemed like we had to abandone it. Luckily, we could join our local travel agent lead by "Nick" and were able to carry out the trip during the first few days of the Autumn Golden Week (1-3 October).

Gongyu (公盂村) is located in Tianshi Town, Xianju County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省台州市仙居县田市镇). It is a small, rustic village in a natural setting at an altitude around 600 metres, surrounded by high, strangly shaped peaks. It is divided into two villages, Shangping (上平) and Xiaping (下平). Mostly old people live and work here, but masses of tourists come up here and it is a structural part of the provincial tourism development plan. Visitors have to walk or hike up here as there is no actual smoothened asphalt road to the "hidden village" which makes the transport connection difficult. Visitors who come and stay here overnight, the village and its inhabitants give an outstanding experience of living a rural, Chinese life. Unless one has experience in being accommodated in similar circumstances, staying here for more than one night might be very challenging as the village, its infrastructure and facilities are highly limited.

Despite Gongyu being a highly appreciated natural wonder that has been kept clean and pollution-free, the masses of people who come up to the village on forest paths make the hiking routes heavily littered with literally everything one can imagine but among others with a lot of plastics bottles. This makes the trip very distressing, especially for people who take their environmental consciousness seriously. Unfortunately, this really affects the mood of sensitive visitors who care about nature and natural environments.

Nature here is truly amazing. The basis of the scenic area is a large heavily eroded batholith. The uplifted and eroded intrusive igneous rock forms when magma rises into the Earth's crust, but does not erupt onto the surface. After millions of years due to environmental circumstances such as tectonism, erosion and other physical activties, the area where the bathloith is lcoated comes to the surface and becomes visible. The area is multi-layered where Gongyu village is located on a lower, basin-like terrace at about 600 metres, whereas the surrounding peaks are at an altitude around 1000-1200 metres, which makes the view from the village highly spectacular. Some of the peaks are accessible on hiking trails. These peaks are popular among visitors to come up here in the early morning to observe the dawn and sunrise. While the view and the morning colours of the sky are magnificient, the hiking trails are unfortunately heavily littered with, mostly plastic bottles.

Gongyu village and the surrounding peaks form the backbone of the tourist attraction here. The scenic area, however, offers much more if one looks for details: crystal clear mountain rivers, hidden waterfalls, dense bamboo forest, multi-terraced agricultutre are among many other things that can be seen.

Scroll down and you will find many photos of the trip. Pictures are in timely order and grouped in three galleries based on which day they were taken. Since the trip spanned over three days, there are three galleries:

• Day 1: photos focus on wild river swimming and an evening firepit moment;

• Day 2: photos taken during the big hike day from the starting point of Qiankeng village (前坑村) to the final station of Gongyu village (公盂村). There are a few photos taken during an additional hike to a small section of Shenglong Waterfall (神龙瀑);

• Day 3: photos document the twilight colours of dawn and sunrise, and the leaving from Gongyu village.