Live Your Best Lives
✿Autumn is the most comfortable season of the year, especially the autumn in Chengdu. Walking through the streets with falling ginkgo leaves, drinking gaiwan tea under the ginkgo trees in the park, and the distant mountains dyed red, every ray of autumn red is full of poetry, and every piece of orange is stained with painting.
Tao Yuanming wrote, "Spring and autumn bring many fine days, I ascend to the heights and compose new poems." Xin Qiji wrote, "The autumn sky of Chu stretches a thousand miles across, the water follows the sky, autumn is endless." Living in autumn, one feels as pure and light as the clear blue sky. Autumn is a beautiful season, and Sichuan's autumn is beautiful in its scenery, its meaning, and its spaciousness and openness.
"Autumn is rich in color, a tranquility hidden beneath the bustle. It requires a careful eye to see, yet one never fully grasps it. It requires a slow, heartfelt experience, yet one still cannot fully appreciate it." "Azure skies, yellow leaves on the ground, autumn colors cascade across the waves, a cold, green mist rising from the waves." As October nears mid-summer, Sichuan's autumn mood intensifies. Often from this time on, Sichuan is dyed with different colors, each representing a different season. From a sensory perspective, the four seasons are distinct. While the autumn winds turn the ginkgo trees in Chengdu golden, those in the surrounding areas, especially at higher altitudes, gradually take on a different hue under the assaults of wind, frost, snow, and rain.
It’s the best time for autumn outings. If you don’t know where to go, here are some recommendations:
"Naizigou" in Tibetan means beautiful, rich, happy, and peaceful. The Naizigou 80-li Colorful Forest Valley gets its name from the tranquil and elegant Naizigou Valley nestled deep in the valley. It's also renowned for its world-class colorful forests. Beneath the pristine blue sky, trees in shades of purple, pink, orange, golden, deep yellow, grass green, yellow-green, brown, and brown create a scene of "myriad creatures competing for freedom under a frosty sky."
Entering the colorful forest world feels like entering a world of oil paint. Even linguists and colorists will find their vocabulary lacking and their colors pale before it. The 80-mile colorful forest is enchanting, like an overturned palette.
What autumn experience is complete without seeing the vibrant red leaves of the colorful forests? And what better way to see these colorful forests than in Heishui's Naizigou? Known as the "Eighty-Mile Gallery," the Naizigou Colorful Forest in Heishui boasts the longest viewing season and the most vibrant and diverse landscapes in China, earning it the nicknames of "a colorful folk ecological world" and "a three-dimensional gallery." Every autumn is picturesque—and, mind you, oil paintings! If only Van Gogh had lived in China and visited Naizigou... Naizigou is 20 kilometers from Heishui County, located between Provincial Highway 302 and the Yaksha Snow Mountains. In autumn, the valleys lining the road are awash in vibrant colors, a breathtaking spectacle.
(Photo by: LYZ)
Autumn Colors · Bipenggou. Located in Sologou, Sichuan Province, Bipenggou is a renowned destination in China for its vibrant red leaves. It's a vibrant world of lush green trees, crimson leaves, azure lakes, azure skies, and pure white snow; a vibrant world of precipitous peaks, a glacier, and a temple on earth. Bipenggou is beautiful in all seasons, but the best time to visit is from mid-September to late October.
The most striking sight in Bipenggou is the trees. In autumn, the maple leaves in Bipenggou turn red even earlier than in Miyaluo. The mountains, rivers, and springs are ablaze with fiery foliage, creating a feeling of being transported to a world of fire. The weather in Bipenggou is also excellent at this time, making it ideal for hiking. Autumn in Bipenggou is not only a spectacle of crimson leaves, but also because the temperature drops sharply after the scorching summer heat, and the snow and ice stop melting, creating a breathtaking spectacle of snow-capped mountains. A visit to Bipenggou in autumn offers both breathtaking crimson leaves and a glimpse of the captivating beauty of the snow-capped mountains – a truly two-for-one experience.
The Siguniang Mountain Scenic Area is located in Siguniang Mountain Town, Xiaojin County, Sichuan Province. It belongs to the Qionglai Mountain Range on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and comprises four continuous peaks: Yaoguniang Mountain (Yaomei Peak), Sanguniang Mountain, Erguniang Mountain, and Daguniang Mountain. Yaoguniang Mountain, at 6,250 meters, is the second highest peak in Sichuan Province. These four peaks are perpetually capped with snow. Because Yaomei Peak is the most slender, it is known as the "Queen of the Sichuan Mountains" and the "Eastern Alps." It faces Mount Gongga, the "King of the Sichuan Mountains," in the distance. From mid-October to mid-November, the autumn colors of Siguniang Mountain are breathtaking, but temperatures can be slightly lower, so please dress warmly. In the early morning, mist lingers over the towering redwood cliffs. Sunlight shimmers, creating a shimmering effect, and even the leaves sway in the wind, creating a scene of countless pearls scattered across the canyon. Yaomei Peak stands tall, and at its foot, a locally sourced wooden house, a stream, and a forest create a picturesque paradise.
"Blue sky, yellow leaves on the ground, autumn colors spread across the waves, and cold mist and green rises above them." As October nears mid-October, the autumn mood in Sichuan becomes even more intense. From this time on, Sichuan is often dyed with different colors, each representing a different season. From a sensory perspective, the four seasons are distinct. While the ginkgo trees in Chengdu are golden in the autumn breeze, those in the surrounding areas, especially at higher altitudes, gradually take on a different hue under the assault of wind, frost, snow, and rain.
✿ Lingyan Temple/Baiyan Temple
While the two locations are different, their ginkgo trees offer similar scenery, so I recommend them together. Lingyan Temple, located at the foot of Seven Star Rock on Lingyan Mountain in Xingfu Town, 5 kilometers north of Dujiangyan City, is known as the "Lingyan Holy Lamp" and was formerly one of the "Ten Scenic Spots of Guan County." Lingyan Ancient Street, nestled against the mountainside, exudes an ancient charm, with red walls accented by golden ginkgo trees. The temple, isolated and secluded, feels like a paradise on earth, offering tranquility and beauty. It's a great place for self-cultivation and a hike along the Ginkgo Trail.
Baiyan Temple, located in Jinxing Township, Dayi County, Chengdu, is nestled beneath a massive white sedimentary rock, hence its name. Legend has it that it was founded by the Indian monks Kasyapa Matanga and Zhu Falan in the 16th year of the Yongping reign of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Its scenery is similar to Lingyan Temple, but it's more lively. Its unique Tibetan style, with its familiar prayer wheels and exquisite Indian pagodas, is a truly precious treasure of architectural aesthetics. The towering ancient ginkgo trees, many of which were planted by Ming Dynasty monks, are said to have a historical tree whose golden leaves dance in the wind, a truly beautiful sight.
Built deep in the mountains. The breathtaking beauty of the mountains and clear waters accompanies the temple year after year. The steep, treacherous mountain peaks and long, dangerous paths perfectly test the pilgrims' devotion. Ming Dynasty monks planted thousands of ginkgo trees here, but by 1989, only a dozen remained. One ginkgo tree dates back to the Xia and Shang dynasties. Its nine branches, each over eight meters tall, were once featured on a television program over a decade ago as a peerless tree, a living fossil. It stands as one of the world's rarest remaining tree species. As the weather in Chengdu grows colder, the ginkgo leaves yellower. If you're looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, choose a sunny day and visit Baiyan Temple in Dayi County to admire the beauty of the ginkgo trees.
Yunding Mountain Scenic Area is located in the middle section of the Longquan Mountain Range in Jintang County, northeast of the Chengdu Plain. The scenic area encompasses the Greater and Lesser Yunding Mountains, the Hantan Ancient Ferry, the Tuojiang Jintang Mini-Three Gorges, Jiulongtan, Sanxue Temple, Paotai Hill, and Tianxing Cave. Covering 67 square kilometers and 982 meters above sea level, the mountain's towering cliffs, seemingly cut through the clouds, stretch for miles around. Dozens of acres of flat land, resembling a city wall, gave it the name "Shicheng Mountain," also known as Ziyun Mountain. It was renamed Yunding Mountain in the early Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty and remains so today.
It was one of the eight major mountain fortifications in the late Song Dynasty and is the site of a famous anti-Yuan castle. Yunding Mountain boasts a steep terrain and beautiful scenery. The Ciyun Temple on the summit is dotted with ginkgo trees. Lying on the ground and looking up at the sky, you'll see a sea of ginkgo trees, the sunlight filtering through the leaves and onto the ground, giving you the feeling of walking among the clouds.
There are no two sunrises alike in the world. Every sunrise and every moonset is a unique miracle. Autumn 2018 is almost over. If you don’t go out and have fun now, it will be too late!
