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ROUTE
DIRECTION
Honghua
-> Lower Zengtan -> Upper Zengtan
Follow the main trail along the south bank of A-peng Jiang, pass through
several villages (see below photo 1 & 2). You reach a view point in
45 minutes, offering breathtaking panorama of terrace fields, A-peng Jiang
River, and cliff-walled mountains (see photo 3). The trail narrows when
it enters into a wood. Walk several minutes up, then you descend into
a steep gorge, the most dangerous and exciting part of the trek (see photo
4). Extremely
sheer slopes are covered by dense vegetation.
In an hour you will reach Lower Zengtan.
It
takes 2 hours to walk from Lower Zengtan to Upper Zengtan along a tractor
road. You can make a shortcut by taking a ferry to Xiamengkuo, and walk
another 30 minutes from there to Upper Zengtan. You have to negotiate
with the ferry man. I paid him Y10 for this 20-minute ride as it went
upstream.
North route: Upper
Zengtan -> An-cheng -> Gongtan
Keen walkers can trek this route back to Gongtan, first
a climb to An-cheng, the elevation rises between 600 to 700 meters, and
then walk down to Gongtan. It is also a route that local people take to
go to Gongtan.
A-peng Jiang bends southeast in front of Upper Zengtan. Cross the beautiful
suspension bridge, walk to the north bank of A-peng Jiang, find a wide
trail stretching up westward along the river. You can reach Zhongzhuang
in 1.5 hours, An-cheng in 2 hours, Gongtan in 3 hours.
South route: Upper
Zengtan -> Liangzheng -> Gongtan
Between Upper Zengtan and Liangzheng, there is a tractor road. It is an
easy, flat but not very attractive walk. A stream along the route was
full of rubbish and plastic bags. Locals still throw their rubbish into
the river or stream as they have done in the past.
During market
days, a Gongtan bus will venture this bumpy route and bring Gongtan's
merchants to the market. It leaves Gongtan at 7:00 and goes back to Gongtan
from Upper Zengtan between 15:00 and 16:00. Upper Zengtan holds its market
day in calendar dates ending in 4 and 9.
It is easy to catch a collective taxi to Gongtan at Liangzheng.
* Updated information on this trek: click here. |
