The unique redness of autumn leaves in Xiangshan does not come from any poem, but from an article written by Bai Xue Xiaolin. Source: "People's Daily Overseas Edition" (October 27, 2010).
Article content:
As an adult, I have left my hometown and entered the noisy city. In the complicated modern life, my heart often flies to the beautiful nature. "Stop and sit in the maple forest at night, the frost leaves are as red as the February flowers." These two famous sentences by Du Mu describing the red leaves of late autumn often trigger my reverie. At the time when "October is full of love in the golden autumn, and the red leaves in the Xiangshan Mountains are all over the garden," I decided to walk into Beijing's Xiangshan Mountains to see the red leaves.
When the car arrived at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain, under the blue sky, the mountains were covered with layers of red leaves, crimson and dark green intertwined, blowing towards our face. Entering the vast red leaf forest belt of Xiangshan, you can see patches of red leaf trees holding a torch, gathering and blending, smearing the sky and the earth. Walking through the forest, it's like being in a red gauze curtain. You feel your cheeks are red, your clothes are dyed red, and even the air around you seems to be fiery red. Xiangshan red leaves mainly belong to 8 families, involving 14 tree species, with a total number of 140,000 trees and a planting area of ??about 1,400 acres, which is very spectacular. Cotinus cogitata is the main tree species with red leaves in Xiangshan, with more than 100,000 trees and an area of ??1,127 acres.
Why are the red leaves in Xiangshan so red? According to the staff of Xiangshan, these red leaves contain a large amount of chlorophyll, lutein, carotene, and anthocyanins. In spring and summer, chlorophyll performs photosynthesis to make the leaves appear green; in frost and autumn, the weather becomes colder and the temperature difference between day and night changes significantly. Large, the synthesis of chlorophyll is blocked and gradually destroyed and disappeared, while the carotene and anthocyanin components increase, making the leaves appear red, yellow, orange and other beautiful colors. In addition to cotinus, there are also red-leaved tree species such as torch trees. After autumn, the fruit ears are red as bright as torches, making them an autumn tree species with ornamental value.
Since ancient times, red leaves have been deeply loved by people and have become the object of chants by many literati. These beautiful poems and elegant words bear witness to the long history of Xiangshan Hongye. When Zhou Ang, a poet of the Jin Dynasty, visited Xiangshan, he wrote the poem "The mountains and forests are facing the city, and the red leaves and yellow flowers come from the same river." At that time, the red leaves in Xiangshan had the potential of "one river". Zhou Ang was an honest man and had been crowded with others. Perhaps he was full of sorrow when he visited Xiangshan. I wonder if the red leaves of "Yichuan" in Xiangshan brought him comfort. Xie Zhen of the Ming Dynasty wrote in "Xiangshan Temple": "The temple is surrounded by thousands of trees, and the ground stands half-sky." The red leaves of Xiangshan are concentrated on the south slope, which is the "power of a river". The northwest wind blows the tree seeds to the southeastern slopes, gradually forming the fiery red beauty of "half sky glow".
Not only the literati, but also the emperor loved this beautiful place. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty built the "Jingyi Garden" in this beautiful place, turning Xiangshan into a royal forbidden area. The "Twenty-Eight Scenes of the Jingyi Garden" also became famous for a time. Qianlong was very fond of red leaves, so he set aside a special scene, named it "Brilliant Autumn Forest" himself, and wrote a poem to praise this gorgeous autumn scenery. In the preface to the poem, Qianlong gave a beautiful description of the autumn charm he felt: "The most beautiful trees in the mountains include pine, juniper, cypress, locust tree, and elm. The largest ones include ginkgo and maple. In late autumn, the frost is old, and the red, yellow, and vermillion green colors are dazzling. The morning sun is shining first, and the setting sun is returning, and the colors are beautiful. Valerian is not enough to imitate its beauty, and skillful craftsmanship and coloring are not enough. I think back to those days, when the leaves turned red in late autumn, and the autumn wind passed by, the leaves fell one after another and fell all over the hillside, lined with green pines and cypresses. When I was there, I felt that it was so beautiful. "
The unique beauty of Xiangshan makes it a gathering place of scenic spots and historic sites. From the "Dayong'an Temple" in the Jin Dynasty to the royal gardens of the Qing Dynasty; from the small Buddhist houses in the Yuan Dynasty to the Biyun Temple with six courtyards formed in the Ming and Qing dynasties; from Dr. Sun Yat-sen's halting place to the place where people worship today The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the Cenotaph; from the private villa "Shuangqing Villa" in the Republic of China to the office and residence of Chairman Mao Zedong on the eve of the founding of New China, the red leaves in Xiangshan bear witness to the history of Xiangshan.
Now, the red leaves in Xiangshan have won people's praise with a spectacular scale of more than 100,000 plants. They have also been included in the "Sixteen Scenic Spots of New Beijing" to welcome tourists from all over the world.