Reporter of this newspaper Song Chaojun
Photo: View of Longwan Village.
Photo: The winding road leading to Longwan Village.
Pictured: A rafter carries a sheepskin raft on his back.
Photo: Longwan Village on the banks of the Yellow River.
Photo: Tourists ride a sheepskin raft near Longwan Village.
Photo: Villagers in Longwan Village welcome a bumper harvest of red dates.
The pictures are all photo reports by Song Chaojun and Yu Baorong.
In ** City, Gansu Province, the Yellow River from west to east turns a bend in Jingtai County, forming two oases, and Longwan Village is located in it. The village is surrounded by mountains and rivers on one side with the amazing and continuous Gobi Desert, and on the other side is the longitudinal and horizontal and green farmhouses of the Tianjia family.
The meandering stream of the Yellow River, the Longwan Oasis, the Gobi Dam Beach and the small farmhouse courtyards of Longwan Village have been accompanied by each other for hundreds of years. The people of Longwan Village love to play drums, especially the Taiping drums, and every New Year's Festival, the drums rumble and the sound shakes the sky, entrusting them with their good wishes.
In 2016, Longwan Village was included in the fourth batch of Chinese traditional villages.
Editor. The surging Yellow River, all the way to the east, turns around here.
Standing at the entrance of Longwan Village, Jingtai County, ** City, Gansu Province, I saw the Yellow River throwing out a beautiful arc. Rows of farmhouses are scattered in the crook of the road, and smoke curls up.
Surrounded by the Yellow River. Surrounded by mountains on three sides.
Why did the Yellow River suddenly "draw" a bend here? Local villagers point to mountain cliffs, oases and the Gobi. It is conceivable that under the combined action of a variety of geological tectonic movements, the meandering flow of the Yellow River came into being.
The bend of the Yellow River in the distance reflects the bend of the mountain road nearby. A full length of 2The 5-kilometer winding mountain road with 22 bends is the only way to enter the village. From the mountain pass down to the valley bottom, the vertical height is more than 200 meters, one ring after another, one circle after another, on the way to the village, you can appreciate the magnificence of the Yellow River again from different angles.
Standing opposite the Yellow River is a continuous group of ancient stone forests. For the local villagers, this is a paradise for children and a home for growing up.
The ancient stone forest group was formed 4 million years ago, and under the action of crustal movement, rain erosion and weathering, it formed a stone forest landform dominated by yellow conglomerate.
When you first enter, you feel like you've stepped into a dream world, with the highest point of the stone pillar being nearly 200 meters. Although the stone forest is large, but the scenery changes step by step, thousands of peaks compete strangely, and the steep cliffs are volleying. Walking through it, the canyon is meandering, the peak forest is towering, the momentum is magnificent, and the peak loop turns.
Raft inside and out. The drum rhyme is long.
The isolation of mountains and the connection of water have created a unique production and lifestyle in Longwan Village, and also shaped the character of calmness, unity and bravery.
For a long time in the history of Longwan Village, there were only two roads leading to the outside world – one was the sheep's intestine path on the cliff, and the other was the Yellow River waterway. The cliff road, the road is obstructive and long, and it is called "Tianqiao Cliff" by the locals; More people choose to take sheepskin rafts down the river and sail into the distance.
In the hearts of the villagers of Longwan Village, sheepskin rafts are no longer just a means of transportation, but a carrier for a better life. 55-year-old Zhu Shengdong has formed an indissoluble bond with sheepskin rafts since he was a child, and has been making and driving rafts by himself for more than 30 years.
He still vividly remembers that when he was a child, his fathers would accompany each other, put together several sheepskin rafts, bring coal and apples and float to places dozens or even 1,200 kilometers away, exchange these supplies for money and donkeys, buy salt and other daily necessities, and ride donkeys along the river bank back to the village. When the parents come back, it's time for the children to be happy, which means they can not only eat food, see new things, but also listen to the adults talk about the outside world.
In the raft again and again, Zhu Shengdong has learned the most is that "courage must be big and careful". On the Yellow River, raft workers drive rafts and drift in the meantime, which is inseparable from good vision and determination. When in the center of the river, the raft can be carried down the river and have a good time. But the distance from the bank to the center of the river requires the raft operator to be agile. Whenever the water flow is a little rapid, they must adjust the strength and direction, and they must not hesitate when they reach the key position, and at the same time they must "see the six ways and listen to the eight directions" to avoid falling into the whirlpool.
Today, the sheepskin rafts in Longwan Village are no longer used as a means of transportation, but as an experiential project. Tourists start from the "upper wharf", many people share a sheepskin raft, as the stone carving engraved with "the water of the Yellow River comes from the sky" on the shore is getting farther and farther away, the scenery on both sides of the strait is like a huge picture scroll, and it stretches out in an orderly manner.
The raft connects the inside and outside, while the drums unite the neighborhood.
The people of Longwan Village love to play drums, especially Taiping drums. They regard the Taiping drum as an important part of the social fire, and every New Year's Day, the drum rumbles and the sound shakes the sky.
Within a radius of dozens of miles, Longwan Village is a larger village, and it is also one of the most lively villages where Taiping drums are played. There are more than 500 households in the whole village, and every time there is a fire, there will be nearly 100 people to form a team, play the Taiping drum, sing and dance, which is quite spectacular. In the fire team of dozens of meters, the Taiping drum has become the loudest and most varied link. At the same time, the majestic drums, together with folk performances such as playing trees and flowers, rolling lanterns, rowing boats, dancing long dragons, and playing lions, pushed the social fire to a climax.
Talking about the reason for the longevity of the Taiping drum, the local villagers blurted out: "Taiping! Another reason is that the technical threshold of the Taiping drum is not high, and every household, adult and child can get started, so the Taiping drum has also become a concentrating drum and unity drum in Longwan Village.
A new look for the ancient village. Walk with the times.
On the central street of Longwan Village, three perfume pear trees stand quietly, which bear witness to the development and changes of the village and also mark the rapid change of life. The road in the center street in front of Perfume Pear Tree has changed from a dirt road to a brick road, and tour buses pass through it from time to time; The building behind the pear tree has been transformed from a mud house into a two-story brick and concrete house, in which tourists overlook the Yellow River; In the land next to the pear tree, red dates, red peppercorns, and red Fuji, which are known as the "three reds of the stone forest", are planted.
The contrast between ruggedness and softness in Longwan Village attracts tourists from all over the world to visit here. To this day, visitors to Longwan Village will stop under these three pear trees, listen to the villagers tell the story of the pear trees, take a frozen pear, cut open the ice, and take a bite, a fragrant and sweet juice fills the lips and teeth.
Not far from the perfume pear tree, a farmhouse called "Stone Forest Family" is bustling with activity. Three floors, more than 600 square meters, 32 rooms clean and tidy. In some rooms, visitors can stand up and overlook most of Longwan Village. When I went downstairs, I saw several large vats scattered in the small courtyard, decorated with patterns with the characteristics of Northwest painted pottery. According to the person in charge of the farmhouse, it can accommodate 100 people at a time, and there was a peak period of more than 200 days last year.
In Longwan Village, there are more than 120 farmhouses, and at the same time, various street shops such as dessert shops and restaurants can be found everywhere. On the hot land of Longwan Village, there are rows of fruit forests, jujube red and pear fragrance, modern and traditional echoes, and nature and humanity are in harmony. Walking in the ancient village, you can not only appreciate the combination of dynamic and static style, but also experience the spirit of the Yellow River and feel the charm of the Yellow River culture.
People** 2024-02-14 Edition 06).