Shitan Village

　　Shitan is situated in Xiakeng Town, She County, Anhui Province, adjacent to Lin’an City of Zhejiang Province and Qiandao Lake in Chun’an County. It is considered something of an outlier within the so-called Huizhou tourism circle. Although geographically and administratively it does indeed belong to ancient Huizhou, the vast majority of tourists overlook this hard-to-find place on the map, and naturally, it doesn’t appear in travel agency itineraries or guide scripts. In fact, “Shitan” is almost a household name in photography circles. Every spring and autumn, numerous photographers flock here like migratory birds, drawn by the visual feast of sea of clouds and floral blooms.

　　In spring, Shitan is a canvas of rapeseed flowers, peach blossoms, and pear blossoms. Slopes, valleys, and beside ancient houses are filled with splashes of color and lines. The golden rapeseed flowers dominate this palette. On a morning after a spring rain, before the sun has even risen, the sea of clouds surges in. The ancient villages atop the mountains emerge and vanish amid the rolling mist, creating a truly heavenly scene on earth. Come deep autumn in November, all you need to do upon reaching the mountaintop is take a deep breath—as if you were a fish stranded on a beach—inhale deeply… The mountain breeze carries the faint fragrance of chrysanthemums. From your feet to the nearby and distant mountaintops, fields of snow-white chrysanthemums stretch out as far as the eye can see. This is the season for harvesting Gongju (tribute chrysanthemums), and the entire hillside becomes a sea of chrysanthemums. Viewed from afar, it looks as if covered in snow, a truly spectacular sight. Indeed, these not-so-steep hills and the small mountain villages scattered across the valleys are the birthplace of Huizhou’s tribute chrysanthemums. In fact, as early as the Song Dynasty, the air here was already infused with the fragrance of chrysanthemums. By the time of the Guangxu Emperor during the Qing Dynasty, when a widespread outbreak of conjunctivitis hit the capital, the Huizhou prefect had chrysanthemums from Jinzhuling Village delivered overnight to Beijing, curing many locals of their eye ailments. The emperor granted an imperial decree for annual tribute, and from then on, Huizhou chrysanthemums were honored with the character “Gong” (tribute), making the village-grown chrysanthemums famous throughout the land. Nearly every household on the mountain grows tribute chrysanthemums. Growing chrysanthemums, raising silkworms, and producing tea are the three main sources of income for villagers, with tribute chrysanthemums being the most significant.