On the morning of October 22, 2020, I went to Shimenguan, Cangshan West Town, Yangbi County, at the western foot of Cangshan Mountain in Dali City, Yunnan Province.

The waterfall outside Shimen Pass is called Dashi Waterfall, and the water flows into the Shimen River flowing out of Shimen Pass Canyon.

As we approached the stone door, the drizzle began to clear and the scenery gradually became clear.

The two cliffs known as Shimen are actually two cliffs. The rocks are made of gneiss and marble. On the south side is Cuiping Mountain and on the north side is Qingliang Mountain. The Shankou Shimen is about 600 meters long, the top is about 100 meters wide, and the rock wall is 200-500 meters high.

Entering the Shimenguan Canyon, you will see the rocky walls standing, the canyon is deep, the valley streams are rushing, and the scenery is steep and magnificent. After visiting Shimenguan in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Xiake wrote about the scenery of Shimenguan in his travel notes."As he tilted his head and looked east, suddenly the clouds burst, revealing two green hibiscus, inserted into the ground, standing side by side, facing each other. The mountains reflected one another, and the cloud shadows appeared. It made people leap." "Just look at the stone gate, which is close at hand, close to each other, with a height of ten thousand feet high, no more than twenty feet apart. The two ends of the top are like one, and the root only accommodates one water... The stone gate cliff splits the clouds and cuts the green, and the high and close together. It's really a spectacle." With Xu Xiake's travels in front of me, I have no words to describe the victory of Shimen Pass.

The rushing Shimen River flows among the rocks of the canyon, sometimes slowing down on the slightly shallow river bed, forming a relatively peaceful green pool. This small pool near the Shimen Pass is called "Yinghua Pond". It must have been in spring with rhododendrons and other mountain flowers on the cliff. Now it is late autumn, and only a few clusters of bougainvillea are dotted along the pool.

It is said that the seven daughters of the Jade Emperor descended to visit Shimenguan. When they saw this pool with clear water as jade and crystal clear, they took off their gauze clothes and jumped into the pool to take a bath and play in the water. They did not return on the clouds until dawn. The huge rock above the Yinghua Pool is the place where fairies hang their clothes, so it is also known as the "Fairy Clothes Drying Stone". From then on, the seven fairies would go to Yinghua Pond on the third day of March every year. Standing at Shimen Pass that night, you could hear the sound of the fairies playing in the water.

Listen to the singing of the stream and continue to walk deep into the canyon along the trail on the north bank of the stream, watching the scenery of the canyon while walking.

The Shimen Pass Valley is in a V-shape. It is said that the highest point of the north stone wall of the canyon is 2,321.8 meters above sea level, and the highest point of the south stone wall is 1760 meters above sea level. The pass valley is about 1200 meters long.

On the cliff, there are secondary Yunnan pine, Keteleeria yunnanensis, Nanzhu, Xiaotiezi, Laoyapaoshu Jungle and other vegetation. In the canyon, there are subtropical green broad-leaved forests such as wild plantain, maple poplar, dry wax gourd, camphor, and oak.

Follow the mountain road on the cliff on the south side of the canyon, cross three waters, and come to the five waters. Looking back at the Jasper Pool, I can see the high cliffs holding the green pool, reflecting the blue waves, and the scenery is beautiful and steep.

Climb the north cliff from Wudaoshui and head to the plank road.

On the way, you can see the waterfalls flying down the cliff in the distance opposite. This waterfall is a seven-daoshui Waterfall, also known as the Shimen Flying Waterfall. As the name suggests, the waterfalls fall seven times on the cliff, forming seven waterfalls spraying beads and jade. Majestic waterfalls, each waterfall is connected to seven ponds of clear water, like seven pearls tied to the cliff. But because of the angle, I only saw Sanji Waterfall.

The high-altitude plank road in Shimenguan is said to have a maximum vertical height of 170 meters from the ground and a length of 1550 meters. However, a long section of the high-altitude plank road is under maintenance and is not accessible to tourists. Tourists can walk on the 80-meter-long glass plank road in the south section on the left.

Walking on the glass plank road has unlimited scenery, overlooking dangerous cliffs, waterfalls, clear water and deep pools, and overlooking the mountain scenery outside the canyon mouth, but those who are afraid of heights should enter carefully. I ventured to walk most of the way to experience it, and stopped moving forward.

Standing on the high-altitude plank road and looking back at the entrance of Shimenguan Canyon, the scenery is picturesque.

Back at Wudaoshui, the bottom pool where the Shimen Waterfall fell into was very rapid, but it was the place where the Queen Mother in the sky bathed in local legends. It seems that only immortals can play in such rapids.

It feels like Wudaoshui is the center of Shimenguan Scenic Area, where you can enjoy waterfalls, view cliffs, listen to the sound of water, and climb the plank road. The fine waves and droplets from the waterfall come to your face and are scattered with the wind, giving you a sense of comfort and poetry.

Before I could take a closer tour of the mountain scenery, my peers had returned one after another, and I also bid farewell to Shimen Pass.

Leave Shimenguan and change to a minibus to go to Guangming Village, Cangshan West Town, nearby.

Guangming Village, a Yi village on the high mountain, is at an altitude of 1,600 - 2,200 meters. It is a veritable "Yunshang Village". The minibus meandered up the mountain road. After about half an hour, the bus approached the top of the mountain, and the mountains in the distance were shrouded in clouds and mist. The car continued upwards after passing the Guangming Village Committee and arrived at a natural village called "Jiciping". This is probably the village with the highest altitude in Guangming Village. The so-called "Yunshang Village" is this natural village.

The reason why "Yunshang Village" has become a rural tourism attraction is not only because it is located on the high mountains, but also because it is said to have nearly 10,000 acres of walnut forests and nearly 12000 ancient walnut trees. Yangbi is the hometown of walnuts in China. Yangbi walnuts have large fruits, thin shells, white kernels and fragrant taste. Guangming Village, with an average annual temperature of around 20℃, is one of the main producing areas of Yangbi walnuts and is known as the "Ten Thousand Mu Walnut Ecological Park".

Walking into Jiciping, you can see ancient walnut trees that are more than 100 years old everywhere. The two ancient walnut trees at the entrance of the village are 1160 years old.

Walking along the village road, there are walnut trees beside the farmhouse and roadside. These century-old ancient walnut branches stretch out and become eye-catching scenery, together with the scattered farmhouses on the top of the mountain, curling smoke, green countryside, and clouds and mist on the distant mountains.