Located in Maying Village within the jurisdiction of Manyue Town in northeast Chongqing, the surrounding mountains are undulating and verdant, with a reputation of “full moon in the sky, a place of health and well-being”. Here, the traces of the Ba people can be traced back thousands of years, and there is a coming day on horseback every month. Listening to the full moon folk song floating in the valley, one can feel the unfolding charm of this Chinese ecological and cultural village.
01
Old Villages on Qinba Ancient Road
The mountains are continuous, the white clouds are lingering, and the golden rape flowers are swaying in the field. Not far away, patches of wild cherry trees are blooming freely in the mountains. Looking around, flocks of sheep are strolling on the meadows, and ancient trees are kneeling down with yellow cattle wagging their tails. The mountains are stacked in layers in the distance, like a traditional Chinese painting. There is no traffic here, but the occasional chirping of chickens and barking of dogs adds to the tranquility, as if falling into a millennium dream of a peach land
Such an extraterrestrial realm is the intuitive feeling brought by Maying Village in Full Moon Town. Maying Village is located in the northeast of Manyue Town, Kaizhou District, with an altitude of 1500 to 2260 meters, summer temperatures of 22 to 26 ℃, and forest coverage of over 50%. It not only has beautiful natural scenery, but also has profound cultural history. In the old days, the location of Maying Village in Manyue Town, Kaizhou, was separated by Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountains, with thousands of overlapping mountains and crisscrossing peaks. The ancestors of the Later Qin and Ba Dynasties opened mountains and split forests, forming the Qin Ba Ancient Road. As a hub on the ancient Qinba Road, Maying Village, Manyue Town, Kaizhou, overlooks Huguang Lake in the east, Chongqing and Guizhou in the south, Sichuan in the west, and Sanqin in the north. It has a reputation as “the throat of the western land of Bakui, the lips and teeth of the upper reaches of Xiangxia”. Therefore, on this ancient road, which is both a commercial and military thoroughfare, there are many intriguing legends and stories circulating.
In the late Western Han Dynasty, there were frequent wars due to the separatist regime of the various powers. When Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, rose up and was pursued and killed by Wang Mang to a small town due to bad luck. Liu Xiu saw that there were thousands of peaks competing for beauty in this area, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, because her wife, Yin Lihua, was about to give birth to a child, she decided to stay here. Later, one month after the child landed, he named this place the Full Moon, and now there is the Full Moon Town. So, where did Maying Village come from?
The story also goes that when Liu Xiubing retreated to the town of Full Moon, it was already approaching winter. Due to the heavy snow flying on the mountain and the cold wind, Liu Xiubing had to arrange a general team to rest on the grass dam at the foot of the mountain to give him a good rest. Therefore, he selected Dapingba in the town of Full Moon and named it Mazhaying, which is the source of the name of Maying Village today.
In the past of Maying Village, there is still a story to tell. According to an old secretary who has served in Maying Village for six years, in response to the call for rural revitalization, the current Maying Village is formed by merging Chuanzhu Village and Maying Village in the former Full Moon Town. Before the merger, although Chuanzhu Village was rich in Yunnan tea, its low price, coupled with the impact of the market economy, led to the villagers here being able to eat and clothe themselves, but it was difficult to embark on the road to prosperity. In contrast, Maying Village has unique geographical advantages, but there are drawbacks such as insufficient water resources. To this end, in 2006, five provinces and cities, including Shandong Province, Jiangsu Province, and Hubei Province, became the first batch of pilot units for village consolidation. After that, Maying Village and Chuanzhu Village followed closely and began to reform and explore the construction of new rural areas, becoming a new village that can now “travel around the Snow Treasure Mountain and park horses at night.”
Because of this, the completely new Maying Village has taken on a new look. The mountains in the village are verdant, the houses are like, herds of cattle and sheep walk through the fields and fields, and the thick cypress trees on the roadside are still rustling. These cultural, historical, and natural landscapes have made Maying Village famous, and the horse culture that has lasted for thousands of years has added to the village’s profound heritage.
02
Immortals living in Guanyin Valley
In the “Records of Kaixian County” of Xianfeng, Kaizhou is called “Kaizhou”, which is surrounded by water and surrounded by goods. With a verdant surface, Pengxi leads to its right, Qingshui encircles its left, and stands majestically against the State of Ba. It is crowned Kui Wu. “Maying Village, located in Kaizhou District, has a large area of natural forests and meadow vegetation, coupled with vast expanses of land and undulating terrain, which is extremely suitable for the growth of horses. Walking on the clean and tidy streets in the village, it can be seen that groups of horses in twos and threes are breathing slightly in front of the village house, while the horses on the village grassland are galloping at a brisk pace, forming a beautiful scenery where people and nature live in harmony.
Due to the high mountain area of Maying Village, coupled with the humid and cool climate, the grass grows particularly luxuriant during spring and summer, and has become an important feed for raising horses. The horses on the grassland are mainly millet black, with occasional white divine foals that brighten people’s eyes. They have a strong and beautiful body, large eyes, powerful limbs, and a sense of heroism. During the midsummer season, tourists who come in high spirits ride horses on the grassland to enjoy a moment of joy. Interestingly, there is a magical legend about the various colors of horses raised by farmers in Maying Village.
According to legend, there is a Guanyin Valley in the northeast of Maying Village, with green vegetation, gurgling streams, and clouds swimming in mountain streams, it seems like a place where immortals live. From word of mouth among villagers, it was learned that the fairy who lived in Guanyin Valley was named Mother Su. Su Mu was originally a mortal who lived for more than a hundred years and died unharmed, so she was buried by a rural neighbor at the site of Guanyingou. Due to being worshipped by the villagers, Su Mu broke away from her physical body and became a fairy queen. She settled down here to practice.
One day, the sea of clouds surged, and rain fell from the sky. After completing the cultivation and leaving the customs, Mother Su sat on her side and strolled around the Maying Village. I saw a shepherd boy sitting on a horse’s back and walking slowly by the stream in Maying Village, often accompanied by the sound of piccolo flutes floating in the fields. Mother Su has lived in the Guanyin Valley for a long time, and she has long been unable to understand the changes in world affairs. She sat down by the stream on her love ride, looking down and asking the shepherd boy what time it is now. The shepherd boy raised his head abruptly, and was frightened by a white horse that was completely hairless. He was so frightened that he was about to fall off the back of the cow. Upon seeing this, Mother Su moved randomly, riding a white horse, and rescued the shepherd boy who was about to fall into the stream. After being frightened, the shepherd boy truthfully informed and later publicized the adventure, which led to the rise of horse breeding in the Maying village.
Later, days of intense heat caused drought and little rain here. The villagers found that the horses in captivity were mentally tired, with swollen noses and swollen faces, and it was difficult to stand. It was really helpless, so everyone had to invite each other to Guanyin Valley to beg for Mother Su. Upon hearing this news, Madam Su, deeply aware of the suffering of the people, rode a white horse alone to introduce the Tianbian water, passing through Guanyin Valley and flowing to the southwest. The villagers found that the Tianbian water not only solved the drought problem here, but also made the horses who had drunk the stream water more energetic. Therefore, the villagers unanimously thanked Aunt Su for her kindness in saving her life, and the horse became a symbol of Aunt Su in their hearts.
Perhaps, in addition to the tradition of raising horses formed after Liu Xiu camped and stationed troops on horses in the Western Han Dynasty, the legend of Mother Su is also the reason why villagers in this area love and raise horses.
03
Draw a beautiful picture of Kaizhou
Today, standing in Maying Village, looking at natural landscapes such as the starry distribution of Suokou Gorge, the Full Moon Trough, and the Lion Bun, and watching the sea of clouds, the sunrise, and the red clouds all over the sky, you have a specific understanding of the new look of new rural construction. At present, Manyue Town, where Maying Village is located, is not only an important border trade town at the junction of Chongqing, Sichuan, and Shaanxi, but also one of the top ten most beautiful summer towns in Chongqing, 100 best viewing and shooting spots, and a famous tourism town with distinctive features. In order to revitalize the tourism industry in Maying Village and help the villagers embark on the road to prosperity, the village has combined local natural resources and cultural history to create a Xuebao Mountain Residence · Music Camp Bar, which receives overnight tourists, with an average stay of not less than 2.5 days; Adding houses has solved the problem of vacant accommodation and reception beds; Third expansion of roads to allow visitors to pass unimpeded; Improving drinking water for people and livestock, and repairing dams have also saved Maying Village from the worry of water shortage. At the same time, in order to be more attractive, the village also planted sunflowers and blueberries in a large area, allowing tourists to not only experience the natural scenery, but also have the pleasure of playing cards and picking.
With a good outlook, it is natural to have an economic foundation to support it. In order to build a good “engine”, Maying Village also vigorously supports the cultivation of large industrial groups to develop a 70 mu gastrodia elata industry, making its annual income expected to reach 2.7 million yuan. At the same time, integrate the central financial support funds of 1.5 million yuan from Maying Village, Dingxing Village, and Shuangping Village, and the collective economy of 200000 yuan from Maying Village to build an outdoor youth development center, forming a good place to play and study. In addition, the village is also continuously improving service facilities such as convenience supermarkets and public toilets to meet the needs of tourists for food, accommodation, travel, shopping, entertainment, etc. This series of measures has enabled every household to enjoy a “tourism meal”, and has also enabled the village to receive over 60000 tourists annually, generating nearly 18 million yuan in tourism revenue. At the same time, the village has also focused on building Mazhaying Ecological Resort, making it a national agricultural green development pilot area and an international tourism resort at the junction of the Great Three Gorges, Qinhuangdao and Pakistan, and embarked on its own rural road to prosperity.
It is worth mentioning that Maying Village is also improving quality and efficiency in grassroots party building work. In the work system of the Manyue Town and Grassroots Concern Committee for the Next Generation, it is emphasized that in addition to the improvement of the work system and meeting system, relevant cadres should also go to the masses and conduct monthly work surveys within the jurisdiction. Of course, the village is also organizing and mobilizing more “Five Elders” (veteran cadres, veterans, experts, teachers, and role models) to fully utilize their experience and advantages, and do a good job of caring for the next generation. For this reason, Maying Village, combining local realities, has done a good job in mass work, enabling 50 households and 153 poor households in Maying Village to lift themselves out of poverty in 2020, embarked on the path of urban-rural integration and development, and was selected as “China’s Beautiful Leisure Village” in 2016, drawing a beautiful Kaizhou scroll of rivers and mountains.
Standing in Maying Village, Full Moon Town, Kaizhou, looking at the smoke curling up from the kitchen, feeling the evening breeze blowing through the woods from the mountains, and looking at the Milky Way Changming from afar, you can experience the true meaning of “Full Moon in the sky, a place of health and happiness.”.
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