Unparalleled Beauty

Unparalleled Beauty

"Unparalleled Beauty" is located in Changyan Village, Yanjia Town, and is one of the "Ten Points and Five Routes" rural tourism attractions vigorously developed by Luojiang. It enriches its tourism culture with poetry, features premium pears and pomelos from Changyan as its sightseeing highlights, and offers an ideal rural leisure tourism spot where you can enjoy flower viewing and fruit tasting, admire pastoral landscapes, savor farm-style food, watch performances by the Sisters-in-Law Troupe, and be immersed in the charm of poetry and verse. In Yanjia, we have “Three Treasures”: the Traditional Pigeon Gathering, Yunfeng Poetry Society, and the Sisters-in-Law Troupe. “Unparalleled Beauty” encompasses two out of the three—can you guess which ones? That's right, they are Yunfeng Poetry Society and the Sisters-in-Law Troupe. Here you’ll find thousands of acres of pear orchards and tens of thousands of acres of pomelo groves, making it the perfect place to admire flowers in spring, enjoy the coolness in summer, and taste fruits in autumn.

The grand red archway is festive and auspicious, symbolizing the warmest invitation and sincerest welcome from the people of Changyan. Pass through this embankment, and up on the tree-shaded hillside, you'll see the iconic “Juyuan Tower” of “Unparalleled Beauty” – a courtyard building in classic Western Sichuan architectural style, with red and white hues. “Unparalleled Beauty” grows a variety of premium pear and pomelo cultivars, including Changrong Pomelo, Fengshui Pear, June Snow, and Golden Pear. The Changrong Pomelo grown here has not only applied for a patent but also been trademarked. It is also home to the only Fengshui Pear professional cooperative in Deyang City. In 2000, the fruits from Changyan Village were certified as pollution-free agricultural products by Sichuan Province, so you can enjoy the melons and fruits here with complete peace of mind.

“In May, pomelo blossoms fragrance the air for miles; in October, pomelos cover the hills.” If you visit “Unparalleled Beauty” when the pomelo blossoms are in full bloom in spring, the elegant and refreshing fragrance of the pomelo will make you feel as though you’re enjoying an aromatherapy session. All your worries and fatigue will melt away. This year, when the pomelo blossoms bloomed, many tourists drove here, some even bringing tents to “set up camp.” As they listened to the cicadas and frogs, counted the stars in the sky, and breathed in the intoxicatingly fragrant pomelo blossoms, such a transcendent experience and serene joy is beyond words—I can't describe it fully; you'll have to come and feel it for yourself. Although we can’t enjoy the pomelo fragrance right now, we do have the next best thing—taste bud delight. It’s currently peak season for pomelos, and you can personally try the Changrong Pomelo. Look at the Changrong Pomelo: large, beautifully shaped, brightly hued, with smooth skin that captivates at first glance. When the pomelos ripen each year, “Unparalleled Beauty” holds a Pomelo Festival featuring competitions and evaluations for the “Pomelo King” and new exceptional varieties. After hearing all this, aren’t you already tempted to pick and taste these pomelos yourself? Up ahead, at Juyuan Tower in the Yunfeng Poetry Society, we’ve already prepared Changrong Pomelos just waiting for your arrival.

Arriving at the iconic “Juyuan Tower” of Changyan’s “Unparalleled Beauty.” Step into the lobby, and you'll see many poems written on the walls. These are not the works of famous poets but original manuscripts from the farmer-poets of the Yunfeng Poetry Society. Take a look at this poem titled “Father” – “Crowding among golden wheat smiles / Father’s hunched back / dances in the wheat field / In the sunlight / the gleaming sickle / sharp emotion climbs along the blade / The bronze back turns into an arched bridge / …” Many visitors, after seeing them, are amazed: “I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself—there’s actually such an incredible group of farmer-poetry enthusiasts in Yanjia Town, Luojiang County!” They enrich their ordinary lives with poetic inspiration and express the rhythm of harmonious labor through rhyme. One can’t help but marvel: art truly does stem from life. Not only are these farmer-poets’ manuscripts kept here at “Unparalleled Beauty,” they have also been mounted and displayed on the office walls by county leaders as a unique calling card promoting the authentic culture of Luojiang. It’s truly ingenious and distinctive.

Go upstairs to the Yunfeng Poetry Society for a brief rest. Walk through the painting and calligraphy corridor, and you’ll enter the Yunfeng Poetry Society. The first thing that catches your eye is the society’s name inscribed by Lu, the Secretary of the County Party Committee. Then there are excerpts from Yunfeng Poetry Society poems and writings penned by local and municipal calligraphers. These works were created by the calligraphers after being moved by the farmers' deep love and dedication to poetry, life, and art.

Speaking of Yunfeng Poetry Society, there’s a story behind it: It is said that Monk Yunfeng took over Chuanzhu Temple and later renamed it Yunfeng Temple. During the Xianfeng era, he offered several monk rooms to two local gentry, Shen and Wang, who established a free school called “Yunlong Academy.” In the 37th year of the Republic of China (1948), local literati Zhou Jiahe initiated the gathering of poets to form a society. Drawing inspiration from “Yunfeng Temple” on Yanjia Ridge and “Yunlong Academy,” they named the society “Yunfeng Poetry Society,” making it the earliest grassroots literary group in Luojiang. It left behind over a hundred excellent works. The society lasted less than two years, growing from just three or five members to more than ten before activities were halted after the liberation. Today, "Yunfeng Poetry Society" has been revived in this new era of prosperity. In June 2007, with the grand convening of the Yanjia Village Farmer Poetry Gathering, the Yunfeng Poetry Society resumed its farmer poetry activities after a 59-year hiatus. To support the society's comeback, cultural authorities organized a series of events including poetry creation field trips, poetry solicitation, awards, and recitals. The response from poetry fans was enthusiastic, with 246 poems and lyrics submitted by 75 authors across the county, of which 116 were selected for inclusion in the “Luojiang County Farmer Poetry Gathering Works Collection.”

Poetry and song go hand in hand, and song follows poetry. The performances of the famed Yanjia Sisters-in-Law Troupe, well-known throughout western Sichuan, have begun. Friends, now let’s take our seats among the pomelo groves, sip mulberry tea, drink fruit wine, enjoy roasted chicken and stewed duck, savor spicy yellow eel stir-fried with mountain pepper, crunch on pan-fried flatbread, and watch the Sisters-in-Law Troupe perform… With their lively entertainment, these eco-friendly fruits and vegetables and authentic farm-style dishes are sure to whet your appetite and spark your poetic spirit.

Source: Public Information Website of Luojiang County People's Government

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