旅游英语(My Hometown)

My Hometown——ShiYan City

I was born in XiaoGan city in Hubei province. When I was ten years old, my family moved to ShiYan city. There I finished my middle school and high school. I regarded ShiYan as my hometown because of its special meaning in my heart. Here, I will first introduce it to you.

My hometown ShiYan is located in Hubei province, and the west-middle of China. Although it is called ShiYan which means ten weirs, it doesn’t have “ten weirs” actually. But it’s another name CAR-CITY is really veritable. You know, world’s NO.3 truck production base DongFeng production company of car is exactly in my hometown.

As a selfless city, her rich water resource benefits the entire nation. Having Asia’s largest man-made lake of fresh water DanJiangkou reservoir, ShiYan is the mid way start of south-north water diversion project, which transporting water to the water-lacking area of China.

Modern and developed as it is, it owns a good many tourism resources. The most famous attractions in ShiYan are Shennongjia and the Mount WuDang.

First, you can have a feast for your eyes in the Shennongjia’s primeval forest with the mystery of savage.

Shennongjia district has the wildest scenery in the province. With heavily

forested mountains of fir, pine and hemlock -including something rare in China, old-growth stands -the area is known as a treasure trove of more than 1300 species of medicinal plants. Indeed, the name for the area roughly translates as Shennong Ladder to commemorate a legendary emperor, Shennong, believed to be the founder of herbal medicine and agriculture. According to the legend, he heard about some special plants growing up high on a precipice, so he cut down a great tree and used it to climb to the site and reach the plants, which he added to his medical collection.

As part of a more modern legend, Shennongjia is also famous for the sightings of wild, ape-like creatures - a Chinese equivalent of the Himalayan Yeti or the North American Bigfoot. The stories are interesting, but the creatures seem to be able to distinguish between peasants and scientists -molesting the former and evading the latter. Nevertheless, there is a small base station set up in the reserve with displays of kinds of sightings. More real, but just as elusive perhaps, are species of leopard, bear, wild boar and monkey (including the endangered Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey) that reportedly inhabit the area.

Banbiyan, 5 kilometres from Liaowang Tower, is famous for its stone forest and for sightings of the so-called wild man, the Chinese Yeti. The bamboo that covers the mountain and plain makes a great hiding place for anyone wanting to hang out with Bigfoot.

At nearly 2,600 metres, the grassy meadows of Banbiyan frequently play host to a colorful festival of song and dance by the locals. Custom dictates that visitors

are welcomed by song. Not quite The Sound of Music, but the spectacle is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many.

The pyramid-sharp Shennong Peak covers an area of about 2 square kilometres, rising from the centre to China to a height of 3105 metres above sea level. Clouds often nestle at the summit where ridges stretch on into the distance. The area is covered by tiers of fir, bamboo and azalea. The firs, as tall as 40 metres, have dense leaves on branches that block off the sunlight. The area is also home to some rare animals including the golden monkey, white bear and antelope.

Halfway up a hill just east of Yanziya lies Yanzidong, a cave famous for its golden swallows. A short 50-metre climb up from the road leads to the entrance - the cave itself heads backwards into the mountain for more than 3 kilometres.

Standing inside the entrance, you will breathe in the damp air and watch steam rising from the walls, which gleam like glass. Above hang the bird’s nests, warm and dry.

Outside the cave you can watch the swallows dancing in the air, and diving in and out of their dark home.

Then I will invite you to visit the mount WuDang.

And you know, the most tempting one is you can visit the holy place for Chinese Taoism Mount WuDang there. It is listed as the world cultural heritage by

United Nations. What’s more, in spite of holy Taoist culture, Mount WuDang has splendid scenery such as sunrise and clouds-sea as well. So the marvelous tourist attraction there won’t let you down. The WuDang Mountains, also known as Wu Tang Shan or simply WuDang, are a small mountain range in the Hubei province of China, just to the south of the manufacturing city of ShiYan.

In years past, the mountains of WuDang were known for the many Taoist monasteries to be found there, monasteries which became known as an academic centre for the research, teaching and practice of meditation, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist agriculture practices and related arts. As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, the mountain attracted the Emperor's attention. During the Tang Dynasty, the first site of worship—the Five Dragon Temple—was constructed. The monasteries were emptied, damaged and then neglected during and after the Cultural Revolution of 1966–1976, but the WuDang mountain have lately become increasingly popular with tourists from elsewhere in China and abroad due to their scenic location and historical interest. The monasteries and buildings were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. It represents the highest standards of Chinese art and architecture over a period of nearly 1,000 years. Noted temples include the Golden Hall, NanYan Temple and the Purple Cloud Temple.

And when it comes to the special local products, ShiYan can offer you yellow ginger, black fungus and some other significant medical herbs. Moreover, I want to recommend a kind of local snack SanHetang to you. I would say it’s as delicious as the famous SiChuan dish SuanLafen.

As a city suitable for habitat, ShiYan stresses the life quality. Surrounded by uninterrupted mountains, people there all live in a peaceful and ordered life, free from hustles and bustles.

Enjoying the remote historic culture as well as the modern civilization, my hometown ShiYan is really a unique pearl on the green ground.