paragraphs in Shen Congwen's article describing the ancient city of Fenghuang:
1. The place where I grew up
A small river flows out of the mountain ravine, and it gathers the streams of thousands of mountains, and runs along the river ditch with Chinese fir trees on both sides. Farmers weave bamboos along the river to make waterwheels, which will draw water from the river and irrigate the high mountain fields. The river is clear all the year round, among which many mandarin fish, crucian carp and carp are bigger than people's feet.
In those people's homes on the river bank, women with white faces and long bodies can often be seen. The stream flows around the north of the town, flows down to chen river after 17 miles, and reaches Dongting.
2. Border Town
That river is a well-known unitary water in history, and its new name is Baihe. After the lower reaches of the Baihe River meet with the Yuanshui River in Chenzhou, it is slightly turbid, which means a mountain spring. If you go upstream, the deep pools of three feet and five feet are crystal clear. The deep pool is reflected by the day, and the Guo Xuwei stones at the bottom of the river and the agate stones with patterns can be seen clearly. Fish come and go in the water, all floating in the air.
3. Phoenix
The real name of this place was Luocheng, and later it was changed to Phoenix Hall. After entering the Republic of China, it was upgraded and renamed Fenghuang County. At the time of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Yongjing was stationed in the military road, and the company commanders of the town were stationed here. After the Revolution of 1911, Xiangxi was the ambassador, and Chen Yuan-dao still worked here. In addition to Tungu, the state manages this small mountain city with about 6, to 82, silver per month.
There are only five or six thousand local residents, but there are seven thousand regular soldiers stationed everywhere. Due to the different environment, the military service system in green camp, the only remnant of the military system in green camp, China, has not been abolished until now.
Extended information
Shen Congwen (December 28, 192—May 1, 1988), male, formerly known as Shen Yuehuan, born as Maolin, whose pseudonym is Chongwen, and whose pen names are Xiu Yunyun, Jia Chen, Shangguanbi, Xuan Ruo, etc. At the age of 14, he joined the ranks and roamed the border areas of Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou. In 1924, he began to create literature, and wrote and published novels such as Long River and Border Town.
Shen Congwen is from Fenghuang County, western Hunan. The novel Border Town, with the background of Chadong, a border town at the junction of Sichuan and Hunan in the 193s, depicts the unique local customs in western Hunan. In 28, Chadong Town was renamed as "Border Town". But because Shen Congwen was from Phoenix, he later thought it was a phoenix.
Baidu encyclopedia-Shen Congwen