A Chinese Town on Cliff Top

This is Daoist Qiyun Mountain (meaning a mountain as high as clouds) in Anhui Province, 585 metres above sea level.

Halfway up the peak, there is Qiyun Town, and in the Town, there is Moonlight Street, also known as Sky Street, where Daoist temples, shops, hotels and residences line up along the footpath.

There is a paved walkway from the town entirely set up on a narrow hill ridge, through which you can reach a pavilion at the cliff edge.

An aerial view of Qiyun Town where Daoist temples mingle with shops and residences

The front view of the Sky Street in Qiyun Town situated on the clifftop

COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS

Aquil A Rahman: 

I wonder how the food and water supply is designed.

All Things Chinese: 

There are mountain streams and patches of farmland there, as well as woods to provide mushrooms (the favourite sometimes main food for Daoists) — just my guess based on other Daoist settlements).

There are only about 30 households there, and among the 30, many are Daoist cultivation vicinities, and Daoists, you know, they don’t need much and don’t even eat much ~_^

But since this place now becomes a tourist destination, I guess a lot of goods might be carried to the clifftop on some local labourers’ backs, as in Mt Tai in Shandong and Yellow Mountain in Anhui.

Nicole Wildman:

Beautiful landscape. I love places like these 😍It must be so peaceful there with a great view of the surrounding area.

This reminds of a village here at home. It is so isolated high up in the hills that the inhabitants were able to preserve one of the local dialects, French Creole, and keep their traditions, practices and heritage alive because the community is so isolated from the rest of the country and outside influences. It’s a very closed community.

If I am ever lucky enough to visit China (because I’m dying to get there😍😁), I will look out for mountain villages like these💞💖

All Things Chinese: 

Wow, that French Creole mountain village is like a piece of living fossil and a destination for time travel to the past. Do the women there still wear long skirts to the floor and the men in knee-length shorts? So fascinating 🎈

Nicole Wildman: 

The older generation, the women wear with floral pattern motifs and the men, most of them wear knee length shorts yes. They speak the French Creole fluently. They use it to talk especially when they don’t want the children to understand the discussion 😂😂😂

The area is very beautiful but very difficult to access as you need to get there in a special type of van to drive up those steep hills 😂There is the face of the mountain on one side and the cliff on the other, you can see deep down into the valley. One year I went for their French Creole day and had fun. The people there show their love by feeding you so by the time I left the festival, I could hardly move 😂😂
The majority of them are farmers and they descend the mountain everyday to sell their produce. They grow local herbs which we use in cooking and other goods such as lettuce, plantains, tomates, huge bell peppers, yellow green and red, cauliflower, red cabbage, mangoes and other tropical fruits and so many more. On the day I went to the festival, they sent me home with bags of produce too….and a very full tummy😂😂😂. They also have local music festivals as well where the songs are sung in French Creole and Spanish 😍💞💕💖😂

All Things Chinese:

That is truly truly fascinating! Your description is so vivid so elaborate, I really think you should make a short film or write a book about this community that is like a window to 18th-century Europe which no longer exists on the east side of the Atlantic Ocean …

Nicole Wildman: 

Thank you 😄I’m so glad you like it.
I visited the community when I was studying the language years ago. My great grandmother and grandmother spoke the language too.

Yes it is an 18th century community. When I visited, time seemed to stop.
That’s a good idea, I would love to do a documentary on that community. I somehow feel that it is under appreciated 😊💞

All Things Chinese:

So many traditions and heritages are underappreciated as the world has changed so much and so quickly in the last half a century.

In the recent decade, the world has witnessed the rise of radical conservative movements in the name of extreme religious sects — these are the nasty accumulation of extreme yin (passive force) resulting from the disproportional congregation of the extreme yang (active force).

Now it’s the time to slow down (to review), stop (the wasteful even harmful pursuit) and switch back to some old and good traditions if necessary. Otherwise, human civil progress could be derailed.

Fortunately, the trend of such fine-tuning and overturn is already in the air.

I wish I will have an opportunity to watch your documentary in a not too distant future 😊😊😊

Nicole Wildman: 

Thank you so much 😆💞
I love seeing people celebrate their culture and tradition and I am see these beliefs and practices being left behind here as well.
Your advice is very appreciated 😊😊💕💖

All Things Chinese: 

I have a gut feeling, the golden age for documentaries is about to come ~_^

As the human race matures, its collective interest will shift from fictional stories to non-fictional information.

Nicole Wildman: 

Yes I’m seeing one emerging 😁😁
Will tell you when I start documenting 😆😆💞