崀山：Mt.Langshan---A Scenic Pearl Dear friends , good morning Welcome you to Mt.Langshan for sightseeing .Mt.Langshan is a national geological park as well as national scenic area. Mt.Langshan is located in Xinning County in the south of North West Hunan.Legend has it that , coming in sight of picturesque mountains and rivers in Xinning on his inspection of Southern China ,Emperor Shun made a stop and marveled at the view ,saying„This mountain looks good ,so we may name it Mt.Langshan‟(„Mt.Langshan‟ means a good mountain in Chinese ), that‟s how the mountain got its name.
Millennia ago, Mt.Langshan was an inland lake.Over a long period of time ,the movements under Earth‟s crust exposed the bottom of the lake to the air ,creating a landform of red sandstone.Mt.Langshan is the largest of Chinese landforms of red sandstone in shape and size.Dear friends ,here we are at the Stockaded village of Cattle Nose ,why dose the Stockaded village take such a name ? The Stockaded village was named after the fact that cattle noses were see in pairs on the right side of a giant rock in the east .The rock was ,therefore ,locally known as the Hill of Cattle Nose. Some peasants‟ uprisings were organized here on different occasions by Lei Zaihao and Li Yuanfa ,the leaders of the uprisings .And the peasant armies led by Shi Dakai were also stationed here .In memory of these historical events, the place was renamed the Stockaded village of Cattle Nose.Looking up , you spot a perpendicular scaling ladder on the precipices ,leading to „No.One Mountain Cleft‟.The inscriptions were given in 1992 by profeor Chen Guodao in person on his tour here, a well-known geologist and an academician of Chinese Academy of Science.„No.One Mountain Cleft‟ is 238.8m long and 100m to 200m high on average.0.8m wide at its widest point and 0.5 m wide at its narrowest .The Scenic Area of the Octagonal Stockaded village lies in the border land between Hunan and Guangxi at the southernmost end of Mt.langshan.The area has taken its name from the fact that 8 paeks on the top of the mountain resembling an octagonal lotus flower are closely connected.The scenic area of the Camel Peak is a typical landform of red sandstone.The Camel Peak , 187.8m high and 273m long ,looms up straight ahead ,towering surrounding peaks ,makes the longest ,biggest and heaviest camel trudging here from desert.The Pepper-like Peak is an upside-down position stands 180m high, about 100m in circumference at the top and 40m at the base .The bright red pepper is a symbol for the characteristic enthusiasm of Hunan people .French Spiderman Alain Robert was seen climbing the rock barehanded in September ,2002—an event to beat the Guinne World Record for rock-climbing.Dear friends , the Scenic Area of the Village of Purple Rays comes into sight.The area boasts of its green mountains , clear rivers and drooping willow trees.The Village of Purple Rays used to be inhabited by ethnic minorities.Legend has it that, a master priest took a fancy to the place when touring it, settling down here .Every morning, he lit candles after getting up ,and spread his mantle over the Hill of Red Tiles at sunrise .Then he sat alone in deep meditation.The mantle in the scorching sun emitted purple rays of sunlight and clouds of incense: Hence the name the Village of Purple Rays.The mountain is also a holy place for both Buddhism and Taoism.The Fuyijiang River holds great fascination for the tourist as does Mt.langshan.The Fuyijiang River ,beautiful and crystal clear , is lined with dazzling peaks and fascinating rocks all the way down.The Fuyijiang River and the Lijiang River have their sources in the Maoer Mountain in Ziyuan County of Guangxi.Xinning County was known as the Vaal State of Fuyi in the old days .Hence its river was named the Fuyijiang River.Finally ,we find ourselves arriving at the General-like Rock, one of the six scenic wonders in Mt.Langshan. The General-like Rock grew out of a hill.The rock took shape as a result of the growth of the landform of red sandstone in its late stage.Visible to the human eye within the range of 5,000m ,it stands 400m high, 40m in circumference, with its top and base evenly balanced in thickne.岳阳楼：The Yueyang Tower
A Millenary—Old tower Dear friends, good morning .Welcome you to the Yueyang Tower for sightseeing .It‟s one of the famous towers south of the Yangtze River.The Yueyang Tower, now placed on the Official List of National Heritages ranks as one of the first 4A tourist destinations. The Yueyang Tower has a long history .Built in the nineteenth year of the reign of Emperor Jianan of Eastern Han Dynasty or 214 AD, used by Lu Su as the army-reviewing terrace, was renamed the Yueyang Tower in the second year of the reign of Emperor Qianyuan of the tang dynasty or 759AD.Of the three famous towers south of the Yangtze River ,it bills itself as the oldest.Moreover, the tower is unique in scenery .It is imbued with four graces: the river, the lake ,the mountain and the city.“The beauty of Baling( an old name for Yueyang) ,is given an added grace by the Dongting Lake ,with mountains in the distance , emptying into the Yangtze River .Dazzling in the morning sun and fading into the gray evening mist, the Dongting is a magnificent lake of myriad scenes.‟ In addition, the tower favored by Chinese poets , sculptors, engravers and calligraphers in Chinese history, is now an important place of cultural interest.Du Fu‟s poetic lines expreed his concern for his country and people .Fan Zhngyan was even louder , expreing the feeling in the same vein as reflected in his poem „An Account of the Yueyang Tower‟.A line from the poem reads: Be the first to endure hardship , and the last to enjoy comforts‟.Reading this poetic line , Su Dongpo commented on the line ,saying: Even great ancient saints would have agreed to it if they have risen up from their graves‟. The Yueyang Tower is also a rare antiquity of China .Of the three famous towers south of the Yangtze River , the Yueyang Tower is the only-preserved tower.This National Heritage boasts of it‟s historical , artistic and scientific values.The present tower all made of wood was rebuilt in 1983 as it had been, it is held together by mortise and tenon joinery without the use of a single nail.The tower right in front of you is the Yueyang tower whose horizontal beam bears Guo Moruo‟s inscription:‘the Yueyang Tower’,now included in „ The Famed Horizontal Boards of China‟ .Made of wood ,the three-storey tower is structured with three tiers of eaves, a helmet-shaped roof and tiles glazed in yellow.The helmet-shaped roof is a striking feature of the Yueyang Tower.The roof bears a striking resemblance of a military general of ancient China ,majestic-looking.Having a look at the arches below the roof .The honey-comb like arches, tier upon tier ,are graced by the designs of dragon heads ,phoenix heads and clouds , sustaining the weight of the roof and adding to elegance ,gravene and harmony of the building.The structure of the tower shows remarkable achievements in terms of its aesthetics, mechanics architecture and technological design.Entering the central part of the tower, one comes in sight of the carved screens as mentioned in „An Account of the Yueyang Tower‟.They are composed of 12 pieces of purple sandalwood.The tower wasn‟t made famous in its true sense until „ An Account of the Yueyang Tower‟ written by Fan Zhongyan came out when the tower was rebuilt by Teng Zijing in the Northern Song Dynasty.In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Qingli , Teng Zijing was demoted to the magistrate of Yueyang Prefecture.Auming office , the magistrate launched three projects, one of them is the rebuilding of the Yueyang Tower.He wrote „A Letter Asking for Inscriptions‟ to his friend Fan Zhongyan.Having received Teng‟s letter , Fan read it over and over again, finally finishing „An Account of the Yueyang Tower‟, a masterpiece going down in history .The text , though written only in 368 words ,is comprehensive in content and profound in philosophical ideas.„Be the first to endure hardship , and the last to enjoy comforts‟ ,a line from the text has become a maxim of ages—an embodiment of the character of outstanding Chinese intellectuals, and fostering people‟s character.The third floor commands a distant view through windows.Standing here , you are reminded of the descriptive lines „The beauty of Baling( an old name for Yueyang) ,is given an added grace by the Dongting Lake ,with mountains in the distance , emptying into the Yangtze River ‟.Hanging on the wall in the middle of the room is a couplet of Du Fu‟s „Ascending the Yueyang Tower ‟, handwritten by Mao Zedong.The poem is firm in organization and thought-provoking in theme .The handwriting is forceful in writing and cursive in style .The hanging couplet ,a rare works of art ,adds luster to the tower.
黄石寨：Naturally Picturesque Huangshizhai
(Yellow Stone Stockade) Hello, dear friends .Welcome to Zhangjiajie .Very glad to visit together with you ,the biggest sightseeing terrace soaring into the air of Zhangjiajie—Huangshizhai, the Yellow Stone Stockade.People often say that „you can‟t be said to have been to Zhangjiajie ,if you have not reached Huangshizhai‟ .So we can see that Huangshizhai is the quinteence of Zhangjiajie scenic area.A renowned poet once praised it with the following poem:
Advancing five steps, you praise it “Marvelous”
Advancing seven steps, you praise it “No comparison”
When you advance ten steps beyond,
You are dumbfounded with staring eyes.Before us ,we can see a line of steep and winding stone steps ,half-hidden in the thick and tranquil fir forest.That is the “secluded path in the fir forest”.In the ancient time there was only one path in the back mountain to Huangshizhai .The path we are traveling on was manually opened over ten years ago.Please listen, rings of songs are coming from the front, these are melodious folk songs of the Tujia nationality .The place we see in the front is Terrace for Singing On Request of the Tujia girls.Just look ,the Tujia girls in beautiful drees are singing and dancing to welcome you visitors .Will their delicious songs calls you to boundle yearning for the customs and morals of the Tujia nationality ? Will their hospitality, simplene and kindne bring you a relaxation and happine you have never experienced? Right here and at this time, have you sensed the true meaning of “beautiful mountains , beautiful rivers and even more beautiful people ” of Zhangjijie ? Please look at the mountain opposite to us on the right.There is a round stone about 20 meters high, erecting there in isolation.On its top is a platform, on which is a stone case about 3m long and 1.5m wide.A stone cover is on the case, half of it protruding into the air, and the other covering the case.Legend has it that Zhang Liang once hid in this case the three volumes of Heavenly Books of his teacher Master Huangshi.After the war stopped, he took out the books to put in another place, but he forgot to put on the drawing cover, leaving the stone case half covered to this day.For the Heavenly Books were once hidden in this stone case, it was honor the name „Treasure Case of Heavenly Books ‟.
Please look forward, two mountains are huddling together, leaving only a small path between them ,in the shape of a gate .With the momentum of “one man guarding the pa, ten thousand man can‟t break it open”.This is “Nantianmen”—South Gate to the Heavenly Palace.Now ,this way ,please , the scenic spot in front is the“Magical Needle Stabilizing the Sea”.It towers tall and erect ,as if it were supporting the whole mountain with its firm trunk .The“Magical Needle Stabilizing the Sea”and “Golden Whip Rock” echo each other at a distance , forming a most magnificent “Natural Grand Spectacle” .Then what scenic spot is this isolated column peak in front, it protrudes abruptly from the earth and soars into the clouds, up to over 300m tall.This is renowned “Sole Pillar of South Sky”, so called because it is standing under the South Gate to the Heavenly World.The “Sole Pillar of South Sky” is the feature of the whole “Wulingyuan” scene.It towers straight from the ground, embodying the spirit of remaining stubborn after experiencing endle variations.As the miniature of the geomorphologist scene of quartzose sandstone peak forest of whole “Wulingyuan”, it is the festival medal and symbol of “Zhangjiajie International Forest Protection Festival”.Now, we have smoothly climbed up to Huangshizhai.The round stone peak, whose upper is flat and lower suspending, is the “Star-plucking Terrace”.Standing here, you cannot but have the emotion of “All peaks are dwarfs under my feet”.Especially in evening, you will feel extremely near to the stars, as if you could pluck them down as long as you stretch out your hands.The artificial scenic spot is the “Liuqige—Pavilion of six stranges”.By “six stranges” we mean the strange mountains, strange waters, strange clouds, strange animals and strange plants .
