Shuimei Castle, Peitian Ancient Village, Yunlong Bridge

Today is a day to remember. I went to Liubandeng in Shaxian Snack Culture City for breakfast and had loach rice noodles with red yeast rice and pickled vegetables. It was sour and spicy and quite delicious. I also ordered black rice, which was hard and salty, just the way I like it, so I finished it all. I was a bit greedy and ordered a portion of grass jelly, which had a minty taste but was too sweet. A hearty breakfast was necessary because I had to drive nearly 300 km to Changting to see the Hakka capital of Tingzhou Ancient City. I stopped at Shuimei Castle in Shaxian County along the way. It is a national cultural heritage site and is not commercialized, so there are few visitors. The castle is also a Hakka walled house, but it is more unique and distinctive. The second stop was Peitian Ancient Village, which is also a Hakka village. Interestingly, the houses here are not walled houses. They have upturned eaves, blue bricks, and flying eaves similar to those of Quanzhou dwellings, but with more rustic colors. Peitian is a quiet village, and the plum blossoms were already in bloom. I continued along X661 to Yunlong Bridge. The mountain road was difficult to drive, and the villages along the roadside were not very distinctive, just ordinary rural villages. Yunlong Bridge is a covered bridge with a Mazu Temple, ancient trees, and an open space next to it, resembling a dragon crossing the river. After taking photos, I navigated directly to the hotel I had booked in Changting. The navigation showed 68 km and an estimated time of 2 hours, so I followed it without thinking much. Oh, I was exhausted from driving. I crossed three mountains, went through a tunnel, and the road was bad, with either broken roadbeds or road construction. There were not many cars on the road, but there were many S-bends and hairpin bends. It took me more than 2 hours to get there. However, I enjoyed the journey. The mountain scenery was beautiful, with exposed rocks and beautiful mountain shapes. There was only green trees and yellow grass along the way, and I was happy to see the rocks on the mountain tops. There were two terraced field viewing platforms along the way, and I stopped to take a look. At this time of year, the terraced fields only had harvested rice, which was not very attractive. After parking the car, I went to find food. I hadn't eaten lunch, so I went to a Hakka restaurant called Zuichunfeng and ordered pickled pork kidney, salted chicken, and stir-fried mustard greens. The taste was light and quite delicious. The ancient city attractions can be visited at night. I climbed Jichuan Gate to see the night view and visited Wolong Academy. I walked 14,000 steps today.