Hongni Grand Canyon

Hongni Grand Canyon

Hongni Canyon is located in the eastern part of Pingshun County. The canyon features towering cliffs on both sides, clear springs gushing at the bottom, distinct seasonal scenery, a mild and pleasant climate, and a rich variety of wondrous landscapes. The valleys are flanked by high ridges, with deep river gullies, flowing streams, towering ancient trees, and various animals roaming freely. Coupled with historical relics scattered throughout, it forms the beautifully scenic, uniquely atmospheric, and naturally marvelous Hongni sight.

Hongni Canyon is situated on the eastern side of the southern end of the Taihang Mountains. The entire canyon slopes from west to east, descending from the three tributary canyons of Dongsitou, Hongtiguan, and Yanglaoyan down the sheer cliffs to the base of the Taihang Mountains. The southern hills of the canyon are closely connected to the Shiban Yan Scenic Area and Linlu Mountain Scenic Area of Linzhou City, while the northern part connects to the Zhuozhang River of the Taihang Water Town.

Transportation:

1. From Shanxi: Take the highway from Ruzhou, follow the Er’guang Expressway to Changzhi (note that there is a spectacular tunnel cluster composed of dozens of caves at the Shanxi-Henan border, but the highway toll is relatively high), then head in the direction of Lucheng and Pingshun. You can either go from Lucheng to Pingshun or go directly to Pingshun—the roads are not very good. This time, due to traffic congestion on the direct route to Pingshun, we took the S325 road from Lucheng. About 2–3 km before reaching Pingshun, there is a fork (Zhanghe Highway)—turn left (if coming from Pingshun, you should turn right). The village here is Zhangjing Village. After crossing the bridge, continue east for 12 km to reach Hongtiguan Township. Part of this section is an unpaved dirt road without asphalt or cement—it’s difficult to drive. The road from Hongtiguan to Hongni Village is mostly a mountainous dirt road; vehicles with fewer than 20 seats can make the turns, but larger ones cannot. This time, our 28-seat bus would not have made it if not for the driver’s skill. About 3 li east of Hongtiguan Village, there is a small fork to the north (with a bus stop sign for Chouchoujian Village to the south). Drive a few more li until you see a village—Chouchoujian. On the rural dirt road, reach the back of Chouchoujian Village, then park your car and walk onto the ancient merchant road—that is, the ancient Hongtiguan merchant road. This time, due to time constraints, we drove directly to Hongni Village and did not experience the ruggedness of the ancient road. The drive from Ruzhou to Hongni Village took 7.5 hours.

2. From Henan: Take the Zhengshao Expressway from Dengfeng — Zhengzhou Southwest Ring Expressway — Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway — transfer to the Anyang-Anlin Expressway S301 to Linzhou, then take the road to RenTownship, passing through Yao Village and RenTownship. Not far past RenTownship, there is a three-way fork—turn left and follow the road to a village, probably called Yang’erzhuang Village. There is another three-way fork—remember not to go in the direction of Shiban Yan. The road ahead is a continuous mountain road. When going, there are more downhill sections (this time we were returning, so there were more uphill sections). Pass through Yang’erzhuang – Shuopu Village – Shiguang Village – Majiayan, then enter Shanxi territory. The cement road turns into a dirt road, and large vehicles cannot pass each other. Then continue through Longbo’an – Piilan Rock – Huai Tree Flat – to Hongni Village. The total driving time was nearly 7 hours.

Transportation characteristics: The Shanxi route has expensive highways but a shorter distance, though the later sections have poor road conditions and long stretches of dirt roads. The Henan route is longer, consumes more fuel.

Features of Hongni Canyon:

1. This canyon is a semi-developed scenic area, meaning development stopped halfway. It is mainly distributed across five natural villages: Huai Tree Flat, Hongni Village, Beitan Village, Tigeng Village, Tihou Village, and Chouchoujian Village.

2. Sight 1: Hongni Grand Canyon and the No. 1 Waterfall of Taihang—the Hongni Village Waterfall. The starting point is Hongni Village. At the eastern end of Hongni Village, looking from west to east, it appears as flat land, but looking from east to west, it is cliffside homes plus a hundred-meter waterfall. Descend to the valley bottom to see a large waterfall with a drop of over 100 meters. Due to highway construction upstream, the water flow is reduced, but it is still spectacular. The endpoint is Huai Tree Flat, which should take less than 2 hours.

3. Sight 2: The national cultural relic protection unit—Minghui Master Pagoda. This pagoda is located in Hongni Village, Hongtiguan Township. There used to be a temple here called “Haihui Temple.” The Minghui Master Pagoda is the tomb pagoda of the late Tang Dynasty eminent monk, Master Minghui. After the master’s death, the emperor conferred the title “Master,” and the pagoda was named accordingly. Because the carved statues of Vajra and Arhats inside the pagoda were stolen, the area around the pagoda is now fenced off, and visitors cannot enter.

4. Sight 3: The starting point of Tihou Grand Canyon. Two kilometers west of Tihou Village, there is a canyon. Walk up the canyon for one kilometer to find a small waterfall. Ascend via man-made steps to reach a relatively flat area with an abandoned red house (we camped here this time). This is the starting point of Tihou Canyon. Here, the canyon splits into two scenic spots, which I call Tihou Canyon and Tihou Ancient Road (I personally think this might be part of the Hongtiguan Ancient Merchant Road). These two spots are likely not connected (some villagers say they are, others say they’re not).

5. Sight 4: Tihou Canyon. Starting from the entrance and walking upward, you’ll see a trough-like pool. Going further in reveals typical Taihang canyon features. After 40 minutes, the canyon narrows significantly, and the narrowest parts require wading through the stream. Because the water is too cold (around 5°C in late October) and too deep (about 80 cm in some places), we didn’t proceed and couldn’t explore the secrets of the deeper canyon. (In summer during the dry season, it may be possible to cross barefoot. During rainy seasons, for safety reasons, it is not recommended.)

6. Sight 5: Tihou Ancient Road. There is a zigzag iron ladder in the middle, which is quite thrilling. Halfway up the mountain, there is a small temple, renovated during the Republic of China period. We didn’t read the inscription on the stele. It takes about 2 hours to reach the mountaintop paved road, where there is a small village of 3–4 households. We forgot the name of the village after asking the locals—what a pity.

7. Sight 6: The irrigation channel in the canyon. In the southern part of Tihou Canyon, there is a dam, and next to it is an irrigation channel that follows the canyon cliffs downward, passing through four tunnels to reach the red house at the starting point of the canyon. The four tunnels are called Yuejin Cave and Guangming Cave. The first one is the longest, about 600 meters. This time, we didn’t bring a headlamp and had to walk in the dark—it was a bit scary alone.

8. Sight 7: The Hongtiguan Inscription. This is a large stone stele (from the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty), located in Beitan Village. It is also the largest stele I’ve ever seen. The village name seems to come from this stele by the small river beach.

9. Sight 8: The Cliffside Highway. There is a section between Hongtiguan Township and Tihou Village. This time, we didn’t stop there due to inability to pass each other, but it is largely similar to the Guoliang Highway.

10. Sight 9: Hongtiguan, one of China’s Top Ten Ancient Passes. It should be located north of Tihou Village and west of Beitan Village. This time, due to time constraints, we didn’t see it—what a pity.

11. Sight 10: The Hongtiguan Ancient Merchant Road. Located on the cliffs connecting Pingshun in Shanxi to Lin County in Henan, it has been a vital transportation route between southeastern Shanxi and the North China Plain since ancient times. The Hongtiguan Path to Han has been one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Shangdang. However, since the construction of the cliffside highway in the 1970s, the ancient road has lost its purpose. For the past 30 years, aside from a few hikers, no one has traveled it. Today, much of the ancient road is overgrown with weeds, which has, ironically, attracted adventurers to explore it. A full traverse begins in Chouchoujian Village. Walk up the valley through the village, exit the village, turn right onto a small mountain path—the footpath is the former ancient road. Walk uphill for about 20 minutes to reach the ridge, cross an artificially lowered mountain pass, and the path splits into two. One goes slightly uphill to another pass, the other descends slightly then cuts horizontally. Take the lower path, loop around a big bend, pass by a spot with a few electric poles (here, do not cross the ridge but continue along the ridge), then cross another pass and begin descending. Keep descending until you reach the main road again—you’ll be at the top of Xiaotigou. From there, you can see a large flat terraced field to the left front. On the opposite side of the main road, find a small path and continue descending through the terraces to reach Xiaotigou. At the end of Xiaotigou, you’ll see a very small temple. The inscription in front of the temple indicates it existed previously and was renovated during the Daoguang era. Below the mountain god temple, the mountain path follows the cliff edge forward. Though steep, it is fairly gentle. Along the way, there are stone houses everywhere, most with collapsed roofs but intact walls and arches. Locals say that 30–40 years ago, people lived here and sold “yellow lumps” (a type of cornmeal steamed dry food, durable and resistant to drying) to passing merchants—akin to roadside inns. Additionally, there are remnants of stone troughs and millstones along the way. The stone path under the cliff is about four or five feet wide, very flat, with anti-slip grooves carved into it. “Three-li Bridge, Five-li Temple, Twenty-li Big Street”—the ancient road is the “Big Street” mentioned in the folk rhyme. From here onward, there are no forks in the road, and the conditions are much better than the section above Xiaotigou, mostly flat and easy to walk. Only a few washed-out areas require caution. In the middle of this relatively flat section of the “Big Street,” there is a set of three large stone stelae recording the grand occasion in the 55th year of the Qianlong Emperor when donations were collected to widen the merchant road. The two side stelae show that donors came from a wide area: from today’s Pingshun, Changzhi, and Huguan in Shanxi Province to today’s Linzhou, Shuiye, and Anyang in Henan Province—illustrating the broad range of beneficiaries and the large number of users of this trade route back then.

The Qing Dynasty stele from the Qianlong era bears the inscription: “Since ancient times, Shangdang has stood as the backbone of the world, like dark clouds hanging halfway in the sky, and Hongtiguan Pass is like a rainbow hanging halfway in the sky, even higher than the backbone of Shangdang. In the Jiaqing era, Xia Yan pacified the Chen rebels at Yuxia Pass and built... The pass sits atop myriad mountains, with paths as narrow as sheep trails, stretching for tens of li. One man could hold the pass against ten thousand—the danger is unmatched. Merchants and travelers all feel a palpitation of fear.” These vivid words describe the origin and extraordinary presence of the ancient pass. After walking such flat roads for over ten li, you will arrive at the famous Hongtiguan Pass. Hongtiguan is located at the turning point where the cliffside mountain path sharply descends to the steep mountain base. Once through the gate and onward, there are man-made layered stone stairs—this is the “Hongtiguan” (not including the “ladder” right in front of the gate), consisting of 54 flights of stairs descending hundreds of meters to the mountain base, leading eastward to Henan. If one were to guard the pass, it truly has the defensive power of “one man holding the pass against ten thousand.”

The ancient merchant road originally had no gates. Hongtiguan Pass was established by the Ming government in the eighth year of the Jiajing era to prevent peasant uprisings against the government.

Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao, was an indifferent ruler uninterested in state affairs. During his 16-year reign, central and local governments were extremely corrupt. … The common people suffered, taxes were heavy, and corruption was rampant. In the 15th year of the Zhengde era (1520), Chen Qing, a former minor official from Shicheng County Office in Luzhou and a native of Shipitou Village in Pingshun County (referred to as “Qi” in the Hongtiguan cliff inscriptions), along with his father Chen Qi (recorded as “Qi”), uncle Chen Nang, Chen Liang, Chen Duo, younger brother Chen Lai, villager Wang Tinglu, and others, joined forces with nearby rebels Yuan Guang, Qin Hulong, Qin Biao, and Henan’s Wang Zhongxing, Wang Zhongqi, etc. They built a stronghold on Baiguo Mountain in Shenyangli Shenhe Fort (northeast of Pingshun County), resisting taxes and recruiting followers in preparation for rebellion. In the first month of the following year, Chen Qing’s plot was exposed.

Wang Tinglu was arrested. Chen Qing and others accelerated their preparations, contacting various factions. Peasant armies from Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan flocked to join them, and in the first year of the Jiajing era (1522), they rose in revolt.

In the third year of the Jiajing era, the Luzhou Prefecture sent Yang Liangchen, the magistrate of Licheng County, to the mountain to persuade the rebel army to surrender. The rebel leader Chen Qi was deceived and captured, and Chen Qing was sentenced to death. But in September of the same year, Chen Qing escaped during transport. Back in Qingyang Mountain, Chen Qing became the leader of the rebel army. By then, the rebel force had grown unprecedentedly to 20,000. Chen Qing led the army in successive victories, capturing counties such as today’s Changzhi, Jincheng, Zuoquan, and Qinxian, pushing toward the Central Plains. In the seventh year of the Jiajing era, the court ordered a joint campaign by the three provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan. On October 5th, 50,000 troops from the three provinces attacked the rebel army. The rebels, fighting head-on and outnumbered, were ultimately defeated. After quelling the rebellion, the court sent Xia Yan to handle the aftermath. Xia Yan petitioned the emperor to strengthen governance in southeastern Shanxi. Luzheng Prefecture was elevated to a prefecture-level city, and Changzhi County was established. In the eighth year of the Jiajing era (1529), Pingshun County was newly established to strengthen administrative control. Militarily, Xia Yan set up Hongtiguan and Yuxia Passes, and stationed patrols at Yudou Cliff, Baiyun Valley, Hongtiguan, and Panxi Peak.

Judging from the massive stele still standing in Beitan Village, inscribed by Xia Yan himself, he must have felt quite accomplished at the time. The establishment of the prefecture and renaming of places reflect his ambitious spirit. The term “Hongtiguan” was also changed by Xia Yan—from the original “Hongti.” While this change was elegant and poetic, it did little to change the eventual fate—within a hundred years, the Ming Dynasty still fell to “bandits.”

The starting point of Chen Qing’s rebellion was Baiguo Mountain. When we asked villagers, they said they had never heard of Chen Qing being stationed at Hongtiguan, but according to the Hongtiguan Inscription written by Xia Yan—“In recent years, the Qingyang bandits relied on this place to resist the Bian army”—it seems the rebels did come to Hongtiguan and fought tough battles from the strategic high ground.

Finally, here’s the fate of the two main figures related to Hongtiguan: Chen Qing was defeated, captured, and executed in Beijing the same year. Xia Yan later rose to the position of prime minister. He supported Zeng Xian in advocating for the recovery of the Hetao region during the famous “Hetao Debate,” but was framed by Yan Song and later executed. The Hongtiguan Pass established by Xia Yan remained guarded by soldiers. According to the Pingshun County Annals of the Republic of China, guards were still stationed there until the end of the Qing Dynasty, and police were deployed as late as 1930.

Our visit to Hongtiguan, nearly 480 years after Chen Qing’s execution and Xia Yan’s establishment of the pass, still evokes a sense of heroism amid the overgrown grass and perilous cliffs. The locals of the Hongtiguan area have a saying: “A true emperor doesn’t appear within a hundred years, but when one does, he’s a bandit king”—likely a folk memory of those passionate ancestors.

After being defended by local rough-and-ready heroes reminiscent of the “outlaws of Liangshan,” Hongtiguan Pass later welcomed such figures as: in 1926, the forces of Han Yuming’s Heaven Gate Society from Henan; during the War of Resistance, the Fourth Sub-District of the Taihang Military Region, the New 1st Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and the Independent Guerrilla Detachment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. Japanese invaders who had occupied China once came here from Ren Village in Henan to survey the terrain but were mostly deterred. A few who attempted to climb up were met with rolling stones hurled by local militiamen and fled in panic. Known as one of Shanxi’s Eight Great Passes, Hongtiguan has neither towering walls nor a fortress town—there isn’t even a proper gate. There is only a symbolic archway. Hongtiguan is located at the turning point where the cliffside mountain road begins its steep descent into the valley. Once past the gate and moving forward, you encounter man-made stone steps built layer upon layer—these are called the “Hongti Steps” (excluding the “ladder” right in front of the gate), consisting of 54 flights that descend hundreds of meters to reach the valley floor, thereby heading east toward Henan. Defending from this pass truly gave the advantage of “one man guarding the pass, ten thousand unable to break through.” Hongtiguan is located at the turning point where the cliffside mountain road begins its steep descent into the valley. Once past the gate and moving forward, you encounter man-made stone steps built layer upon layer—these are called the “Hongti Steps” (excluding the “ladder” right in front of the gate), consisting of 54 flights that descend hundreds of meters to reach the valley floor, thereby heading east toward Henan. Looking back at the ancient pass, the sword-like ridges pierce the sky. The view here of “Hongti Reaching the Heavens” is one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Shangdang. Local legends tell of the Han Dynasty’s Emperor Guangwu, Liu Xiu, passing through here. At the foot of the mountain in front of the ancient pass lie three adjacent villages in sequence, all named after Hongtiguan—the eastern one is called:

Beitan, where the famous Hongtiguan Inscription stele stands tall on the riverbank at the village entrance. The Hongtiguan Inscription stele stands on the riverbank at the village entrance, bearing witness to history and questioning the surrounding mountains. The middle village is called Tigen, the eastern starting point of the ancient Hongtiguan Road. The western village is called Tihou, praised as the “heel of the Taihang Mountains.”