Sights: Landscape of Nuodeng Town (诺邓镇) & Tiger Hill (虎山)
Region: Nuodeng Town, Yunlong Country, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan
注:云南.大理白族自治州.云龙县.诺邓镇
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Apart from Nuodeng Ancient Village (诺邓古村), another major site to visit in Nuodeng Town of Yunlong County is its natural "Taichi Diagram" which was formed by a meandering river and surrounding hills around Nuodeng Town. It's a natural sight that should not be missed when in Nuodeng.
After departing from the ancient village, we headed for the spot to see the Taichi Diagram that was "drawn" by Mother Nature. Instead of taking the local transport, we hiked to Nuodeng Town and take in the sights along the way.
Nature's Taichi Diagram (诺邓天然太极图)
To see Mother Nature's Taichi Diagram in Nuodeng, we hired a mini-van in Nuodeng Town to go up an overlooking hill. It was possible to trek up the hill but would take hours to walk up the zigzagging uphill path. A viewing pavilion sat on the hill top.
On the ceiling of the pavilion was a painting of a Taichi Diagram.
The view from the pavilion was marvelous. The river that meandered through the valley between two hills made a wide "S" in a tight area and formed a familiar-looking Taichi Diagram. Nuodeng Ancient Village was behind the opposite hill (top-left corner).
Below is a closer view of the valley in the "Taichi Diagram". In winter, the river was a lot dryer and the harvested fields looked plain. Noticed that the houses were built on higher grounds while the farmlands were lower than the river. This allowed water to be irrigated from the river into the farmlands easily.
One of my companions mentioned that there were three other such natural scenes in China.
Tiger Hill (虎山)
On the other side of Nuodeng Town was a small hill, named Tiger Hill, with very few visitors — when I was there. It was almost like a park for the locals.
The sparse-leaves pinaceae trees (松树) on the hill were beautiful.
And the temple that sat on top of the hill.
After crossing to an adjacent hill did I noticed that the temple was actually built on a cliff. And the wide views from the top of the hills were splendid.
After visiting Nuodeng Town, our group of 4 solo travellers disbanded. Two headed back to Dali (see Story #12) where they would be taking trains to other parts of Yunnan. Xiaolong, a Bai-minority local, went home. I stayed for a night in Nuodeng Town before heading to Shuanglang Town (双郎镇) the following day.
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