登高行远

Text by Lan Xiaojiang Translation by Bian Jiajin&Yishan Photos by CFP & Zeng Jian

登高行远

Text by Lan Xiaojiang Translation by Bian Jiajin&Yishan Photos by CFP & Zeng Jian

ASCENDING HEIGHTS, DRIFTING FAR

Lingnan is named after the mountain ridges in that area.

The continuous hilly region not only brings gorgeous landscapes and abundant natural resources to this area, but also cultivates the unique developing track and cultural customs.

Lingnan is also called South of Five Ridges--Yuecheng Ridge, Dupang Ridge, Mengzhu Ridge, Titian Ridge and Dageng Ridge. These five ridges are the natural protective screen between Central and South China, and the watershed of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River as well.

Due to the obstruction of the ridges, the communication of transportation, economy and culture between Central China and ancient Lingnan was not that frequent. Lingnan was once called “the land of Barbarians” because of its late and slow development. However, the economic development in Lingnan area was stable, for it was far from the political centre, almost out of the Emperors' reach and free from the inf l uence of revolution and wars. The culture and trade in Lingnan were both emphasised and improved, which also protected the emergence of the commodity economy and commercial awareness in this area. Later, this also supported the development of the marine trade of Lingnan.

Besides being the protective screen, the Ridges also produce picturesque landscapes and provide plentiful natural resources. In Autumn, people in Lingnan area have the custom of ascending the peaks and have foresights. Refined and cultivated scholars would go hiking into the mountain forests together, so there were a lot of elegant poetry and pictures about forests in Lingnan. People there started very early to develop the forest resources and learnt how to exploit forests properly, such as planting commercial crops. They not only planted various fruits, but also found many herbs and food materials with medicinal properties in forests. Traditional Chinese medicine had a profound development in Lingnan area, which is also closely related to the abundant crops in forests. Just in the Baiyun Mountain area alone, people can find 343 kinds of plants with medicinal uses. The rich abundance of medicine plants can be used to cure or be adopted into everyday meals, and this formed special dietary customs in Lingnan. For instance, nearly every household will cook soup and add different medicinal materials to get different effects according to personal situations and the change of seasons. Animals in forests like centipedes and snakes are regarded as delicious. Every Autumn, when the snakes get fatter, that's the best time to eat them. In the strong Autumn wind, a bowl of hot snake soup would be the top choice.

岭南，因山岭而得名。连绵的山地，不但给这片地区带来优美丰富的风光物产，更形成了独特的发展轨迹和人文风俗。

岭南，即指越城岭、都庞岭、萌渚岭、骑田岭、大庾岭等五岭之南。这五座山成为中原与南方的天然屏障，也是长江和珠江的分水岭。

由于山岭的阻隔，古代的岭南与中原的交通、经济、文化联系较少，开发较晚，发展缓慢，因而曾一度被称为“蛮夷之地”。但是，也由于远离政治中心，山高皇帝远，而较少受到中原的政治风波和战争影响,经济发展平稳，重文亦不轻商，保护了这片土地上商品经济发展，人民的商业意识也比较强。

山岭除了形成屏障，也给这片土地带来优美的风景、丰富的资源。秋季，岭南人有登高望远的习俗，文人雅士更结伴游览山林，岭南文化里很多优美的诗篇、画作都与山林相关。岭南人对山林的开发也较早，他们很懂得充分利用山区资源，种植经济作物，不但很早就开始种植各种果树，还在山林中发现并采摘了许多具有药用效果的草药、食材。中医、中药得以在岭南较长远的发展，也与山林物产多息息相关，仅白云山一处就有药用植物343种。丰富的药用植物除了用来治病，还被运用到每日的膳食中，形成了岭南人特殊的饮食习惯。比如岭南人几乎家家煲汤，根据时令和个人身体状况，在汤料中加入不同的药材，起到不同的功效。山中的蜈蚣、蛇等动物，也被岭南人视作美味。每到秋季，蛇肉最肥，是食蛇最好的季节。在秋风中，来一碗热腾腾的蛇羹，被岭南人视为极佳的美味。

XIQIAO MOUNTAIN, FOSHAN CITY西樵山（佛山）

Xiqiao Mountain is an old dormant volcano with a history of 40-50 million years. It was also the largest stone tool workshop in the prehistoric age in Southern China. Thus, it gains the name of the “Light Tower of the Pearl River Civilisation.” Around the Xiqiao Mountain area, the local Xiqiao Cutlure was also developed.

LUOFU MOUNTAIN, HUIZHOU CITY罗浮山(惠州)

Luofu Mountain was referred to as one of the 10 greatest mountains in China by the famous Chinese historian Sima Qian. It's estimated that there're over 3000 types of plants and 1240 of which have medicinal properties, and thus Luofu Mountain has also been known as the Herbal Base for Traditional Medicine in Southern China. The Bai Cao Oil (Hundred Herbal Oil) has even been popular abroad. Besides herbals, Luofu also grows fruits well, such as oranges, tangerines, and litchi.

DINGHU MOUNTAIN, ZHAOQING CITY鼎湖山（肇庆）

The Dinghu Mountain area gains people's attention as the oasis on the Tropic of Cancer. Dinghu Mountain boasts over 1700 species of plant. It has been listed by UNESCO as one part of the World Biosphere Reserve, and serves as the base for international academia exchanges and research.

DANXIA MOUNTAIN, SHAOGUAN CITY丹霞山（韶关）

Known as the “Red Stone Park” in China, Danxia Mountain got its name from the red stones that appear like red rosy clouds (dan-xia in Chinese). Amongst all red sandstone areas discovered, the Danxia Mountain area displays the most varieties of colour, peaks, stone fortresses, walls, pillars and stone bridges. It has been listed by UNESCO in the 1st list of World Geological Parks.

HUGUANG ROCK, ZHANJIANG湖光岩（湛江）

Known as the natural yearbook for the earth and geological science, Huguang Rock is home to the only maar (a type of volcano) lake in China. The volcanic mud in the area is of high pharmaceutical value, which can be applied & used ti treat over 30 illnesses.