Qingcheng Back Mountain | If you're tired of city life, why not come here to escape?
| If you're tired of city life, why not come here to escape? Qingcheng Back Mountain | If you're tired of city life, why not come here to escape?
I spent two days living like Tao Yuanming, and I'm still reminiscing about it a week later.
There was no TV, but there was no anxiety either.
There was a wood-burning stove, and I sat around it with my friends and the owner, chatting, drinking tea, and eating roasted sweet potatoes.
When the sun was out, I pulled a chair into the courtyard and basked in the sun, emptying my mind.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of two kittens playing on the wooden steps.
I could smell the faint scent of burning wood. The sun was dazzling, but it felt so good.
After a simple breakfast, I took the two bamboo hiking poles the owner gave me and climbed the mountain along the path the villagers had made.
The mountain was steep, and I was out of breath halfway up, so I went back to bask in the sun and warm myself by the fire. I got plenty of fresh air, though.
When we arrived on Saturday, we parked where the owner told us to, but we couldn't see the homestay anywhere.
The auntie at the parking lot told us, "You have to cross the suspension bridge over the main road and climb the mountain for ten minutes, or you can wait for the owner to pick you up."
We decided to walk.
You can't see the homestay from the main road on Qingcheng Back Mountain. It's a hidden gem, a secluded place with flowers and trees. I love this kind of life, a small courtyard halfway up the mountain, far from the hustle and bustle, warming myself by the fire.
We could have gone down to the town for dinner, but we didn't want to.
So we ordered some farmhouse dishes from the auntie who helped us park. The owner called her "Ba Sao," or something like that.
After six, Ba Sao climbed the mountain with a bamboo basket on her back to deliver our food. She said, "You've never had takeout delivered in a bamboo basket, have you? Hahaha..."
She told us the bamboo shoots in the stir-fried bacon and bamboo shoots we ordered were dug up by her in the mountains around the Mid-Autumn Festival. She only took the tenderest parts.
She also said pandas eat these bamboo shoots, but I don't know if that's true. Hahaha.
But they were delicious, tender, and crispy, not bitter or dry. I had no appetite recently, but I couldn't stop eating.
If you like this simple, happy life, you have to come here! I'm sure you'll love it. This is a genuine recommendation, not an ad. I'll definitely come back!
After all, it's less than two hours from downtown Chengdu. It's close, secluded, and affordable.