a little city with a bia heart

1、<p>　　A Little City with a Bia Heart</p><p>　　IF you are planning a visit to Zhangji- ajie,the natural reserve in Hunan Province,you could do yourself an,extra favor with a stopover in Yi-yang,a small c

2、ity on the route from pro-vincial capital Changsha.People swoonover Zhangjiajie's spectacular mountainscenery,its waterfalls,pools and brooks,its foliage of myriad hues,its untamedflamboyance.Yiyang's charm is of

3、 anotherorder,understated and cultured. </p><p>　　Flanked by the Xuefeng Mountains tothe southwest and the South DongtingPlain to the northeast,Yiyang is traversedby the restless flow of the Zijiang River,nu

4、rturer of long lost civilizations.Itsdocumented history began in the War-ring States Period (475-221 BC),when itwas part of the State of Chu.After the na-tion was united by Emperor Qinshihuang(259-21o BC),Yiyang County w

5、as estab-lished in the region.The size of its terri-tory changed over the following centuries,but the name has survived the</p><p>　　People Who Made Their Marks inHistory </p><p>　　A popular son

6、g about Yiyang's PeachBlossom River was a smash hit in the1930s Shanghai,the vanguard of Westerncultural influence at the time.DuringWorld War II,Shanghai was refuge toa large Jewish refugee community,inflight from e

7、xtermination at the hands ofthe Nazis back in their home countries.Some of their number would never havemade it to a safe haven in China withoutthe help of rio Fengshan,a Yiyang native. </p><p>　　As Chinese

8、consul general in Viennafrom 1938 to 1940,Dr.Ho's epitaphtells us he risked his life and career forthousands of Jews who applied for Chi-nese visas in a desperate effort to escapeNazi concentration camps.In 2ooo YadV

9、ashem,Israel's Holocaust memorialauthority granted one of Israel's highesthonors "Righteous Among the Nations"to Dr.Ho,the "Chinese Schindler," at aceremony attended by families of thosehe sav

10、ed. </p><p>　　Son of a poor peasant,Dr.H0 (1901-1997) was an exceptionally diligent andintelligent student; in 1932,studyingin Germany he obtained a doctorate inpolitical economics.A few years laterhe starte

11、d his diplomatic career in thegovernment of the Republic of Chinaand was sent to Vienna.In 1938 Austria.was annexed by Nazi Germany,and soonafter the Anschluss most of the capital's18o,ooo Jews were rounded up andtra

12、nsported to concentration camps.Theremnant shuttled frantically between for-eign embassies </p><p>　　Soon the Nazi authority comman-deered the consulate office on the pretextthat the building was a Jewish pr

13、operty,and Ho's appeals to the Kuomintanggovernment for relocation funds were re-jected.Dr.Ho dug into his own pocketsto rent a small apartment where he con-tinued to hand out visas to Jews.He was quoted as saying:

14、"It was natural to feelsympathy to the Jews when seeing theirplight,and I felt a humanitarian obliga-tion to help them." </p><p>　　Dr.Ho never boasted about hisheroic deeds; indeed the story only b

15、e-came public knowledge three years afterhis death.At the 10th anniversary of hisdeath the famous writer Yu Qiuyu wrotehim an effusive epitaph,which containsthese words: "It is not a trifle to extend ahelping hand t

16、o those close at hand,andit is even more unusual to do good tensof thousands of miles away.The worldnever overlooks any spark of kindnessamid the commotion of wars." </p><p>　　A benign heart is a defini

17、ng element ofYiyang's ethos,one shaped by Confucianteaching and the esteem for educationand other cultures that have prevailedhere since ancient times.Local academiesachieved national reputations as early asin the No

18、rthern Song Dynasty (96o-1127)that endured into Ming and Qing times.In the early 20th century the college andprograms funded by the Norwegian Mis-sionary Society seeded a cosmopolitanvision among local youth,including Ho

19、Fengshan,a beneficiary of the society'</p><p>　　Yiyang was the birthplace of or was sig-nificant in the lives of many luminaries ofChinese history,including the four seniorofficials who swayed the course

20、 of the lateQing Dynasty: namely,Zeng Guofan,HuLinyi,Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang.Zhou Libo (1908-1979),a writer fromYiyang,is known for his novel Bao FengZhou Yu (Hurricane),on the 1950s landreform,which is lauded as a

21、 literary mon-ument to an epoch-making event.Eventoday people from all over China tricklein to pay tribute at his former resi</p><p>　　Tea Horse Trail </p><p>　　Yiyang lies on the Ancient Tea Ho

22、rseTrail.Its Anbei County,tucked deep inthe Xuefeng Mountain,produces primedark tea,which became nationally re-nowned back in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).Interestingly,the beverage is mostloved by nomad herders in northwe

23、sternprovinces such as Qinghai,Shaanxiand Xinjiang,far away from where it isgrown.Their taste for it apparently datesback to Genghis Khan's military expedi-tions. </p><p>　　In .the mid-13th century the f

24、orces ofthe ambitious leader of the Mongol tribesentered Yiyang,as part of his campaignto conquer Eurasia.Worn out by the longdistances and debilitated by gastric prob-lems triggered by the alien climate anddiet,the cont

25、ingent could make it no fur-ther than this hostile mountainous region.Hospitable local farmers offered them adrink made from dark dry leaves,whichtranspired to be most effective in curingdiarrhea.Mongolians took to dark

26、tea ina big way and it was lat</p><p>　　The Yiyang section of the Tea HorseTrail is dotted with historic sites,includ-ing 38 venerable bridges,one of which isYongxi Bridge.A roofed wooden struc- ture atop w

27、hite stone piers,the bridgehas gate towers with multiple tiers ofupswept eaves,so it looks more like aframe house than a bridge.The weedspeeping out from between its gray tilesand the green moss that fills the cracksin i

28、ts stone steps produce a patina ofage,completely at one with the peacefulcountry views that form the backdrop.The</p><p>　　The meandering route of the caravantrail crosses several rivers in Yiyangbefore star

29、ting to climb the GuanshanValley,its entrance guarded by a tower-ing monolith - the "General." A ruggedfootpath winds through narrow defiles,dense bush and forest,treacherouscaverns and babbling creeks.At somep

30、oints one has to crawl prostrate orgrope one's way through.Walking~ raft-ing and horse-riding alternate withinthe course of one kilometer,but thisseems like one extremely long kilometerfor those experiencin</p>

31、<p>　　Once through the valley,the trailleads to Gaoeheng (High City).This isa total misnomer: it is actually a littlevillage on the northern slope of BigBear Mountain.Caravans reprovisionedand took a break here in

32、 the days whenhorses were the only means of landtransport.Its inaccessibility has proveda good preservative for this ancientcommunity,one that seems to haveturned back time. </p><p>　　Southern Dongting </

33、p><p>　　Southern Dongfing is part of the wa-ter body of Dongting,the second largestfreshwater lake in China.Lauded in themost creative and luscious language bythe most revered stars in China's liter-ary fir

34、mament,this formerly pristineexpanse has become the victim of siltaccumulation and land reclamation; itis no longer a single,vast,water bodybut three smaller lakes.Its beauty is ofcourse compromised,but not to the na-ked

35、 eye,since each sub-lake still extendswell beyond the range of human sight. </p><p>　　Southern Dongting is speckled withislands large and small.Some are over-grown with a lavish covering of wildflowers; some

36、 are treasuries of edibleplants,lOO percent organic; some are thehaunts of local herders. </p><p>　　Chishan Island,3o km long by 4 kmacross,distinguishes itself from theothers by reason of having a lake of i

37、tsown with minor islets.It supports a vil-lage - Lishiehong - that was said to bethe hideout of Fan Li and his love Xishi.Fan,an advisor to the King of Yue duringthe Spring and Autumn Period (77o-476B.C.),hatched a schem

38、e to overthrow therival state of Wu.It involved infiltrating afemmefatale-namely Xishi-to seduceand distract the King of Wu,a missionshe fulfilled to perfection.Yue overthre</p><p>　　An extension of the near