A small village in mountains of Jilin is full of people from Shandong who miss their hometown but cannot return.
In Jilin Province, there are 150 traditional villages with typical regional landscapes. The most characteristic of them is Pearl Gate Village, Huashan City, northwestern Linjiang City, Changbaishan Mountain. It is located about 24 km northwest of Linjiang City and 20 km from Huashan City Administration. .
Pearl Gate Village is very beautiful. It is located in depths of Songling Mountains, which extends from Changbaishan Mountain, at an average altitude of about 1000 meters above sea level.
1. Beautiful landscapes. "Admiring pear blossoms in spring, collecting mountain treasures in summer, admiring fire maples in autumn, and tasting snowfall in winter" are unique customs, especially snow scene. The first snow falls annually at end of October, and last snow usually ends in mid-April of following year. The snow accumulation period is almost half a year, and snow accumulation depth is from 0.5 to 2 meters.
There are more than 100 households in a small mountain village. It is located on southeastern slope of Yilehuli Mountain, on left bank of upper reaches of Nen River, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with unique landscapes in four seasons. Pearl Gate Village is located far from city, there is no hustle and bustle here, only rest and tranquility.
Oddly enough, village seems to have little contact with outside world to enjoy beauty in solitude. However, people here have a reclusive mentality.
Therefore, despite being less than 5 kilometers from a small mountain village, it is famous scenic spot of Pearl Gates.
But even here years are still quiet. Perhaps it is because of this detached attitude to life that Pearl Gate Village manages to conserve natural and human resources to a relatively full extent.
Especially unique dialects, crafts, customs, farming culture, daily life and other traditional cultures.
1. Historical reasons for entering Guangdong
When I arrived in this small mountain village with only a hundred families, first thing that surprised people was that locals' accent was actually a pure Shandong accent. After some conversation, I found out that this is real village "Chuangguangdong" and all people living here are immigrants from Shandong.
In village there is an exhibition hall of history of village. Here we learned that Pearl Gate Village is "Shandong Village" that crossed Guangdong. The first people settled at end of Qing Dynasty. Many people traveled thousands of miles to settle here.
In 1930s, immigrants from Shandong Province were tricked into coming here to build Yada Railway.
Yada Railway is owned by Shenyang Railway Bureau. It starts in Yayuan City of Tonghua City and ends in Dalizi City, a port between China and North Korea. The total length is 134 kilometers, there are more than 10 stations on line, including station "Pearl Gates".
This railway was built by Japanese in 1930s to plunder forest resources of Changbaishan Mountain. Its initiator at that time was Fengtian Railway Bureau, and construction was organized by Japanese contractors.
To build this railway, most of railway repairmen were tricked from Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning and other places. Corresponding data show that around 1940 more than 100,000 workers worked here, and more than 8,000 people were injured and died.
Later, surviving workers of Shandong Province lived nearby, from where today's Pearly Gate Village originated.
The people who live there do not like to travel far, and few of them return to their hometowns.
The hard-working and honest people of Shandong built terraced fields along mountains. After several generations of unremitting efforts, this small village gradually formed today's image of Shandong Tun, rich in Qilu culture.
Times have changed. Although they became a family on Changbai Mountain, nostalgia for older generation still lingers for a long time. They chatted in yard, and most of all they spoke in old dialect of memory.
I don't know when harmonious and quiet days gradually disappeared. A group of photography enthusiasts marveled at scenery, and influx of it has made a startling change to this small village. The Changbaishan Mountain Young Photographers' Association set up a creative base here, and small mountain village suddenly became lively, and built a sign for "China Snow Town"
Later, a large sign for a tourism development company was put up here, urging villagers to open family hotels, hoping that small village could stimulate tourism and allow the villagers to live prosperously.
This initiative was quickly responded to, and the number of hotels in village quickly increased to almost a hundred. That is, almost every household has turned their home into a farmhouse.
"Admiring pear blossom in spring, collecting mountain treasures in summer, admiring fire maples in autumn and enjoying snow in winter", Songling has gradually become a tourist attraction, and scenic spot has also brought many practical benefits to villagers. .
The kindness, honesty and hospitality of people of Shandong has also made this small mountain village more and more famous, attracting more and more tourists.
Smoke rising in morning, a snow house at sunset, a warm kang bed, and pesticide-free ingredients make Sunling Snow Village a famous tourist calling card.
The small mountain village has become livelier, and inhabitants have more money in their pockets. However, in eyes of many older people in village, there is also a little more regret.
As old village became unfamiliar, back roads that have been walked all of life have become paved, and a large number of cement roads have encroached on farmland. Even most traditional houses dotted across hills have lost their traditional natural green color and have gradually turned into a solid cement grey.
If it wasn't for a few photographers who love to shoot wild mountains, perhaps Pearl Gate Village would still be a pristine paradise.
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