Chinese Story | Highway Hanging on Cliffs Henan Xiuwu | Earth | Highway

The towering Taihang Mountains, spanning eight hundred miles across four provinces and cities in China, form a natural barrier on the land of the Central Plains. Amidst the majestic terrain, a highway tunnel hovering on a steep cliff resembles a giant dragon, traversing through the towering mountains.

Starting from the 1960s, a "Yugong Road Construction Team" composed of people from Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province, lasted for more than 20 years. On the cliffs that were difficult for monkeys to climb and birds to fly, they successfully completed a mountain climbing project called Diecai Cave, which was over 4800 meters long and consisted of 19 tunnels.

Driving here, the group of caves are connected at the beginning and end, with undulating roads and alternating light and darkness. This set of highway tunnels connecting Henan and Shanxi provinces has changed not only the shape of the mountains, but also the living conditions of the people in the mountains.

Trapped: A big mountain across the doorstep

In the midsummer, the car kept climbing on the spiral road until it reached the 18th turn and finally a fork in the road appeared. Continuing along the fork in the road will bring you to Yidou Water Village. This place has an altitude of 1200 meters and is named after a spring in the northwest of the village, with a mouth as large as a bucket.

Yidoushui Village is located at the border of Henan and Shanxi. It was once a relay station for commercial travelers since the Ming and Qing dynasties, and also an old base during the Anti Japanese War and Liberation War. Nowadays, many visitors are intoxicated by the beautiful scenery of Yidoushui Village. However, decades ago, for the people living here, the mountains were a heavy obstacle to their survival.

"The villagers only have a narrow path down the mountain, and transporting food and mountain goods can only rely on people's backs. It is common for someone to slip into the mountain ditch," said Zhao Chunwang, a 73 year old man. There is a local saying that goes, "The nose of the King of Hell, the gates of ghosts, birds are difficult to fly, and monkeys are difficult to climb.".

Zhao Chunwang recalled that on the way down the mountain at that time, there was a place where a huge stone protruded, called the "nose of the King of Yan". It required hands, feet, and climbing to pass through, lifting patients down the mountain, and several times falling off the cliff here. According to statistics from the original shore commune of Yidoushui Village in 1982, more than 300 people in the entire commune passed away due to travel difficulties and inability to seek medical treatment in a timely manner. There were more than ten people in Yidoushui Village alone.

There is no way out, survival is difficult, and development is even more difficult. Throughout the year, the fruits and melons in the village rotted due to lack of transportation, and various production and daily necessities needed by the villagers could not be smoothly transported.

Build a road, build a way down the mountain! In 1966, Guo Maiwang, the then Party branch secretary of Yidoushui Village, proposed a road construction plan, which received unanimous response from the villagers. "We have experienced the hardships of a blocked road, and would rather work hard and die tired than die tired!" said Zhao Chunwang.

Escape from Difficulty: "Yugong Action" Digs a Downhill Path

More than two thousand years ago, in the classic book "Liezi", there was a fable about "Yu Gong moving mountains": nearly 90 years old, Yu Gong was unwilling to be trapped in the Taihang and Wangwu mountains, fearless of difficulties, and dug mountains every day. In the end, he moved the Heavenly Emperor and moved the mountains away. For thousands of years, in the land of the Central Plains, the spirit of Yu Gong moving mountains has always been vividly interpreted.

This is the scenery between the Panshan Tunnel, known as Diecai Cave, located in Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lu Peng

At the Spiritual Party Education Hall of Xiuwu Diecai Cave, there is an old photo hanging: a boy about four or five years old, carrying a stone, and walking with his elders on the mountain road transporting stone materials with stumbling steps.

Guo Maiwang led the entire village, old and young, to embark on a long journey of road construction. "In the winter of 1972, my father took the villagers to build a 12.5 kilometer mountain road from Yidoushui Village to Pipahe Village in Lingchuan County, Shanxi Province." Guo Maiwang's son Guo Tianping said, "But if you want to go to Xiuwu County, you still need to detour more than 260 kilometers.".

In order to find a way out as soon as possible, Guo Maiwang decided to open a straight road to Xiuwu County. But Yidoushui Village, located at the peak of the mountain range, does not have the geographical conditions to build mountain roads. A group of engineering designers shook their heads and left the village, while others persuaded the villagers to stop this "Foolish Old Man Action".

If you can't repair the mountain road, you'll have to dig through the cave. "My father said that Yu Gong moved the mountain, but this road cannot be repaired by our generation. There are still the next generation, the next generation. Even if we dig hard, we must also dig a way down the mountain." Guo Tianping said.

The road construction operation has received support from the government. In 1973, the Yidou Water Brigade organized a "Yugong Road Construction Team" of more than 30 people, and together with more than 100 people drawn from Xiuwu County, they rushed to the front of the road construction team.

Zhao Chunwang is the captain of the "Yu Gong Road Repair Team". "At first, we ran back and forth carrying dry food every day for several hours. In order to save time, we stayed wherever the road was repaired," Zhao Chunwang said.

At the beginning of the excavation of the cave, the treacherous terrain, coupled with lack of experience, technology, and machinery, made the construction difficult. No machinery, ideas for transformation; No explosives, self configured; Lack of funds, the masses sell livestock, dig medicinal herbs, chop wood, and collectively raise funds

"We dug out this road with a shovel and a hammer, like ants gnawing on bones," Zhao Chunwang said. After more than ten thousand martial arts militia members spent more than ten years repairing the road, the original downhill road has now become an inter provincial road from Henan Xiuwu to Lingchuan in Shanxi.

In 1986, the entire 102 kilometer Xiuling Highway was fully connected.

Diecai Cave is a collective term for 19 highway tunnels in the Yuntai Mountain section of the Xiuling Highway. Overlooking the Diecai Cave, a stone barrier is stacked from bottom to top. Between the over 1000 meter high mountains, needles and wires spiral upwards, reflecting the spirit and wisdom of the people of the Taihang Mountains.

Folding colors: it is not only a scenery, but also a "way out"

Seeing off the first group of tourists, it was already past noon when 53 year old guide Guo Wensheng hurried home. "There are many tourists today, so I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with the farmhouse fun at home." Guo Wensheng is a native of Yidoushui Village, and in his spare time, he works as a volunteer guide in the village, introducing the history of Yidoushui Village to tourists.

Walking through numerous tunnels into Yidou Water Village, the distant mountains are verdant within sight. Old wells, ancient roads, stone houses, and tourists in small groups interweave into a beautiful rural painting. Yidoushui Village, which was once trapped in the mountains, has become a characteristic tourist village and has been rated as a traditional Chinese village and a famous historical and cultural village in China.

Nowadays, there are 26 households engaged in tourism in Yidou Water, with an average annual income of 12000 yuan per person. "The fruits on the mountain no longer need to dry on the branches, and the fertilizers and life-saving doctors outside can also come in. Trees, medicinal herbs, bacterial strains, and local chickens, which used to be difficult to transport, can now generate wealth." Guo Wensheng said.

The opening of the Xiuling Highway has greatly facilitated the exchange of materials between Shanxi and Henan provinces. Cotton and wheat from northern Henan can pass through customs, and coal and iron from Lingchuan, Shanxi can also enter.

Nowadays, about 6 million people pass through the colorful cave every year. People are not only intoxicated by the beautiful scenery, but also admire the heroes who paved the way through the mountains and their spirit of fearlessness and fighting against the heavens and earth.

This is a homestay shot in Yidoushui Village, Yuntaishan Town, Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lu Peng

"The spirit of Yu Gong, who knows difficulties and strives hard, will stand firm and indomitable like this mountain in the past, present, and future," said Wang Yong, the Party branch secretary of Yidoushui Village.

Before the completion of the Xiuling Highway, Guo Wensheng was still in junior high school and it took over 8 hours to walk back and forth to the school every week. Nowadays, school buses are connected to the village, and children can reach the school in 20 minutes.

"These children may not have realized that their lives have opened up a new blueprint," Guo Wensheng sighed as he gazed at the school bus that had passed away.

Video: Ren Zhuoru and Liu Zhenkun

Jointly produced by Xinhua News Agency and Henan Branch of Xinhua News Agency

Produced by China Story Workshop