Laojan Shan National Park (via Shigu village)

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We left Shaxi the following morning and continued our trip north towards Laojan Shan National Park. After almost two hours of driving through nice scenery we stopped in at Shiguzhen. Shiguzhen is a fairly unremarkable town but just happens to be positioned at a point where the Yangtze river does an almost 180 degree turn and runs almost parallel to itself for a few kilometers.

We walked through the town until we reached a museum dedicated to the long march (which passed through the town). William talked us through the history of the long march and filled us in on the local context in Shiguzhen as well. After checking out the museum we admired the view of the 180 degree bend in the Yangtze. We then made our way back down the hill and to the car.

From Shiguzhen we drove 2 hours or so through even more beautiful scenery until we reached Laojan Shan National Park. We had a delicious lunch (broccoli with garlic, fried chicken, egg and tomato and a vegetable soup) before hopping into one of the over sized golf buggies owned by the park. The golf buggy dropped us at the base of the cable car which would take us up the mountain.

The ride up the mountain actually consisted of two cable cars. The park doesn't get many visitors (possibly as it's fairly remote and the road access isn't great; definitely not because the scenery doesn't warrant a visit) so they had to turn the second cable car on for us. The views were absolutely spectacular; steep mountains with red soil and rock covered in green trees.

Once we reached the top we paused to admire the spectacular views before setting off along the boardwalk to the two higher view points. It's hard to describe just how gorgeous the scenery was; the park definitely deserves more visitors than it receives (though we quite enjoyed having the place almost to ourselves).

It took us about an hour to make our way back down the mountain and walk back to the car. Once we reached the car we hopped in again and then continued north.

After about an hour and a half we reached the unremarkable town of Tachengxiang which would be our home for the night. We checked into the "best hotel in town" and were thrilled to discover the ash tray on the bed side table and the glass walls and door to the bathroom (fortunately there were also shower curtains).

For dinner we headed to a local restaurant recommended by the hotel owner with William. Given how small the town was we decided to stick to vegetarian options (morning glory, lotus root and corn and edamame). The lotus root dish was our favourite. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to read our books and relax.

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[D MJ Binkley]

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