Last year, I took my grandfather’s parents to visit Shenzhen and Hong Kong and Macau. During this National Day holiday, I took my annual leave early on. I had planned to gather enough time to take my grandfather to Beijing, but unfortunately, in September, my grandfather accidentally fell and had some arm problems. At the age of over 80, I dare not take him out again. I have cancelled all the hotels in Beijing that I had booked in advance, but I have already arranged for a vacation. So, I can only discuss with my parents to play around the area. We departed from Anyang, Henan and stayed in Shandong for a total of 4 days. We departed on the 29th and returned from Jinan on the 2nd, visiting the most famous attractions in three cities including Tai’an, Jining, and Jinan. To avoid the crowds during the National Day holiday, we efficiently completed our trip by taking a leisurely stroll. In this article, I will also share our guide, expenses, and feelings with everyone. The writing is also based on our actual travel time, and the information of each scenic spot is attached for your reference only. Here is a table of contents as usual (I really have a bad habit of setting the structure and subheadings before filling in the content every time I write something, and it’s a bit verbose). If you’re interested, read on:
The 7-hour bus arrived exhausted
Catch up with the underground Dragon Palace and feast your eyes
Strolling through the First Palace and admiring the millennium old trees
Climbing Mount Taishan in rainy days is a unique experience
The Three Kong Scenic Area is filled with the cultural heritage of Confucius’ Mansion
The success and failure of Qufu all depend on one Confucius
Chaoran Building Night Scene Poetry Wine Seizes the Time
Three streams of water fish have nowhere to rely on when swimming in the air
The 7-hour bus arrived exhausted
Early on Sunday morning, we took a taxi to the bus station. The reason why we had to take a bus was because there were no direct trains or high-speed trains between Anyang and Shandong. I felt like it was a bug. I remember when my friends and I went to Qingdao in 2020, we took a bus to Jinan and then a train to Qingdao. The return journey took a high-speed train from Jinan to Shijiazhuang and then to Anyang. I didn’t expect that after 4 years, it would still be the same route. If I wanted to take the high-speed rail to Shandong, I had to take a detour to Shijiazhuang. Maybe because Anyang is on the Beijing Guangzhou line, we are used to convenient transportation for going north and south, so we felt that taking a detour was really troublesome. So, I decided to take a bus. Although I had anticipated a long battle, I really didn’t expect that after sitting on this bus for 7 hours, everyone would have a rail car. The driver is a good (four tones) Shandong uncle. He talks like a cannon, with some bombing in his enthusiasm. He shared his knowledge of Mount Taishan Mountain with us when he didn’t leave, telling us the good news that the Zhongtianmen cableway has been opened. I thought he was an impatient child and could drive faster, but he didn’t get on the highway the whole time. He wanted to recruit some passengers in various villages and towns below, but unfortunately he didn’t get it. At the peak, there were no more than 20 people on the bus, and it was already 3 pm in Tai’an. This is already one hour slower than the driver’s personal expectation. We originally planned to visit the Dai Temple and the Underground Dragon Palace on the first day, but with only two hours left until the closing time of each scenic spot, we only had time to visit one attraction. I made a quick decision to go to the hotel to pack my luggage and then went to the Underground Dragon Palace, an underground karst cave located 20 kilometers away from the city.
When checking in at the hotel, I casually asked the front desk about the opening hours of the underground Dragon Palace. Upon her suggestion, I called and found out that the original plan stated that the park would close at 5 o’clock and no one would be allowed to enter at 4 o’clock. I asked my parents to go back to their room and leave their luggage. By the time we left, it was already 3:20, and the taxi app showed that it would take 40 minutes. You guys need to race against time again. I got on the bus and told the driver to rush to the entrance time. I can give an extra amount of money in addition to the fare, but it must be done quickly while ensuring safety! The master is also very interesting. After leaving the city, he took another road and frequently overtook on roads with few cars in the suburbs. He arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule with no danger along the way. He bought it for 10 minutes for 10 yuan. The master even joked, ‘See, spending money can buy time!’! With a confident and proud expression, it seems that we have successfully entered. The advantage of entering the park at a checkpoint is that there are almost no people in the scenic area, and the journey is smooth without waiting. The service staff also have the attitude of returning home after finishing their work. We will first take a scenic tour bus to the entrance of the drift, and buy tickets for the underground river drift boat in advance. The drift river is said to be 3 kilometers long and wide enough for only one person to sit on. Kayaks don’t need power or crew, they just float along the water without anyone on the way. With the colorful lights exclusive to underground caves, although it’s a bit eerie, everyone is not afraid to chat with each other.
There were no surprises or dangers along the way, except at the end when the river widened and the water flow became faster, leaving some splashes on us appropriately. I didn’t see many stalagmites along the drifting journey, but what really satisfied my eyes was the scenery of getting off the boat and walking back. I think I have also seen two underground caves, such as the Liancheng Underground River and Benxi Water Cave, which are very stunning. But this time, the difference is that the cave is deep enough, with some extremely spectacular stalactites, as if it were really in the Dragon Palace, and there is also an underground waterfall deep inside. Water splashes can still be seen from several meters away, and the sound of water can be heard clearly from dozens of meters away in the almost enclosed underground. When you get close, you can feel the gusts of yin wind flowing downstream.
This natural wonder, every time I see it, makes me marvel at the incredible craftsmanship of nature. It takes billions of years of water erosion and infiltration to give us a panoramic view of the flat underground landscape of Luxi. When I was doing a guide, I said that this underground river had won a Guinness World Record, and I thought I had to bring my parents to see it. Along the way, they frequently took photos and videos with their phones, and I knew this trip was worthwhile.
After playing, it was already dark. I took a taxi to a chain fried chicken restaurant near my residence and walked back to the hotel after finishing. I used to think that I was one of my young friends who could tell directions and remember routes very well, but I didn’t expect my mother to be even more skilled. She only took a taxi once in a strange city and then walked back with us. It really shocked me! When I was walking back, I passed by an old-fashioned commercial street with black plaques and white shop names. I couldn’t help but think of what I had seen before: places with unified signs cannot be invested in. The local industrial and commercial management department has great power and is lazy, even managing small storefronts. This kind of management that stifles the innovation and vitality of individual businesses is suicidal, but it is not uncommon in small towns in the north, which is also a manifestation of the economic differentiation between the north and south. When I returned to the hotel to rest in the afternoon, I was worried that my shoes would get wet from drifting. I accidentally slipped my little toe and bumped into the fence while traveling, but the bruises were not serious. I was worried about affecting my hiking trip later, so I ordered Yunnan Baiyao for takeout, which was delivered in less than 30 minutes. Moreover, when I talked to my mother and aunt, I found that what I bought online was much cheaper than what they bought at a physical pharmacy. Auntie Er originally thought that most young people didn’t spend enough money economically, but the prices of the same things were lower than they had always been simple. They also had to admire the current online consumption of food delivery and other products. As they were about to retire, they had finally learned how to shop online in recent years, but they were still unfamiliar with the food delivery ecosystem. Perhaps when they could proficiently use food delivery software, some stores that could only rely on offline local consumption would have a harder time.
