1. Fengtan Hydropower Station
The station is located at Fengtan Gorge, in the middle reach of the You River, Hunan Province. The construction of the concrete hollow gravity dam began in 1970, and the power plant started energy production in 1979 with generators being initially installed with a total capacity of 400 MW. The upper reach of the dam has gradually formed a tourist attraction. In October 2006, Li Yining, a leading economist at Peking University, visited Fengtan Gorge and described it as a luminous pearl of the You River. Huang Yongyu, one of the best-known artists in the second half of the 20th century in China, also spoke highly of its picturesque green mountains and water. In 2006, Fengtan Hydropower Station was listed as a national 3A tourist attraction, a national industrial tourism demonstration site, and “a best place to visit in China”. In 2016, it was rated as a national 4A tourist attraction.
2. Jiemuxi National Reserve
Located in Zhangjiajie-Jishou-Huaihua Ecological and Cultural Tourism Zone, Jiemuxi spans Jiemuxi Town and Mingxikou Town, adjacent to Zhangjiajie and Xiaoxi National Nature Reserve at Yongshun County, covering an area of 32 square kilometers with a forest coverage rate of 90%.
Jiemuxi enjoys exuberant vegetations and forests through which the streams wind. There are more than 460 kinds of ornamental plants and 108 kinds of rare wild animals in these exceptionally rare primitive secondary forests. It is home to flora and fauna in East China, South China and Southwest China. It is an “animal and botanical garden” with the most complete natural specimens in Hunan Province, and one of the 200 ecological zones of international significance identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Taking advantage of the tourism resources, Jiemuxi has developed ecotourism projects integrating outdoor musical, water amusement, agritainment, serene forest oxygen bar, and pristine forest exploration, enriching tourists’ adventures. It was approved by the State Council as a national nature reserve in 2008, was rated as a national 3A tourist attraction in 2016, and was listed on the third batch of “China’s Forest Oxygen Bars” in 2017.
3. Longxing Lecture Temple
Located at the foot of Huxi Mountain, northwest of the ancient county seat, Longxing Lecture Temple was built in the second year of Zhenguan Period in the Tang Dynasty (628 AD), covers an area of 28,000 square meters. Emperor Taizong (the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he was in power for 23 years from 627 to 649 AD) gave it the name-Longxing Temple, which had a profound political meaning. The emperor hoped to use Buddhism to civilize the barbarians in the southwest of the country who rebelled against the empire for several times, achieving reginal stability, therefore, the temple became the first Buddhist academy in China. Facing south, its buildings, which were constructed in the Tang and Song dynasties and are the oldest and best-preserved wooden ones in Hunan Province, include the mountain gate, east and west wing rooms, Zhantan Pavilion, Maitreya Pavilion, Guanyin Pavilion and Daxiong Hall, all built on the mountain. The temple has also preserved calligraphies of famous scholars in Chinese history such as Dong Qichang (a brilliant scholar and a prominent of scholar-official) and Wang Yangming (a Chinese scholar-official whose idealistic interpretation of neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries) of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)., It was rated as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council in 1996 and a national 3A tourist attraction in 2016. In 2017, the Huxi Academy (Zhiliangzhi Lecture Hall) inside the temple was listed as a patriotism education base in Hunan Province.
4. Phoenix Mountain
As an important part of Yuanling National Forest Park, Phoenix Mountain is located to the south of Yuanling County. It is named after the mountain’s resemblance to a phoenix with open wings. Known as one of the “Eight Scenes of Western Hunan”, the scenic spot is full of ancient trees, teeming with life. When one climbs to the top of Phoenix Mountain, one will be able to admire the beautiful scenery and panoramic view of the county as well as the Yuan River and the You River. Zhang Zhiyao, a poet of the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912), wrote a poem to describe the scenery, “The clear peak is indistinctly out of the clouds, while wild path meanders through valleys.” Besides natural sceneries, the Phoenix Mountain is also known as a famous historic site. After the Xi’an Incident, the patriotic general Zhang Xueliang was put under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek at the Phoenix Mountain for 20 months since 1938. The Phoenix Mountain was listed as a provincial scenic spot in 1993, a provincial cultural relics protection unit in 2002, the first national 3A tourist attraction of Yuanling County in 2003, and a patriotism education base in Hunan Province in 2011.
5. Yun Cottage, Former Residence of Shen Congwen
During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Shen Congwen (1902-1988, author of fiction and prose who is commonly considered the greatest lyric novelist in modern China) fled from Beiping (now Beijing) to Yuanling and settled down at Yun Cottage, where he wrote Yunlu Chronicle. The novel depicted the local customs of Yuanling and life at Yun Cottage. During the war period, Yuanling County, known as “small Nanjing”, was the real area and served as the temporary capital of Hunan Province. Government institutions, factories, schools, newspaper offices were relocated to Sichuan and Guizhou by way of Yuanling. Some of them chose to stay at Yuanling. Many famous scholars such as Jin Yuelin, Wen Yiduo and Lin Huiyin visited Yun Cottage on their way to Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan to avoid the devastating war. In the novel, Shen Congwen did explain how the cottage got its name. The cottage has been expanded as Yunlu Hotel.
(Translated by Yang Hong)