神农架一日 · 原始森林与大九湖

木鱼镇是神农架的南门户，海拔约一千二百米，比山上暖和得多，多数人来神农架都住在这儿。镇子不大，一条主街，两边是客栈、餐馆和小卖部。早餐吃点本地的：热干面、小面、豆腐脑、苞谷糁、土鸡蛋。进景区前把水、干粮、雨衣备好，山上买东西的地方少、也贵。神农架的山路弯多，坐车容易晕，晕车的提前吃药。

Muyu is the southern gateway to Shennongjia at about 1,200 metres, much warmer than the high country, and where most visitors stay. It is small — one main street, guesthouses, restaurants and shops either side. Breakfast is local: hot-dry noodles, noodles in broth, tofu pudding, corn porridge, farm eggs. Before heading into the park, stock up on water, rations and a rain poncho; there is little to buy up top and it costs more. The mountain roads are all hairpins and easy to get queasy on, so take something in advance if you are prone.

神农祭坛在木鱼镇南边，是为纪念神农氏修的。传说神农氏在这里架木为梯、上山采百草，教人种地、尝药，是中国农业和医药的祖师。祭坛前有一尊高大的神农塑像，一头双角、身披树叶，手里拿着草药，站在山谷前很壮观。旁边是一段台阶和祭台，天晴时背后是层层的青山。这里停留时间不用太长，拍张照、看一下介绍，再往山上走。

The Shengong Altar south of Muyu town commemorates Shennong, the legendary ancestor of Chinese farming and medicine, who is said to have built wooden ladders here to climb the mountains and taste each herb. In front stands a tall figure of him — two horns on his head, clad in leaves, an herb in his hand — striking against the valley behind. Beside it are a flight of steps and the altar itself, with ranges of green hills behind on a clear day. It does not need long: a photograph, a read of the panels, and on up the mountain.

金猴岭海拔两千三百多米，是一片保存得很好的原始森林，也是神农架金丝猴的主要活动区之一。走进林子里，光一下子暗下来，树干粗得两人合抱不过来，上面裹着厚厚的青苔和蕨类，倒木上长满菌子，空气湿冷、带着土味。栈道不长，慢慢走二三十分钟。金丝猴是这里的明星——一身金毛、蓝脸、朝天鼻，怕人，能不能看到要看运气，别大声喊、别投喂。

Jinhou Ridge, at over 2,300 metres, is a well-preserved stretch of old-growth forest and one of the main ranges of Shennongjia's golden snub-nosed monkeys. Step inside and the light drops at once: trunks too thick to span, wrapped in deep moss and ferns, fungi over the fallen wood, the air cold and damp and smelling of soil. The boardwalk is short — twenty to thirty minutes at an easy pace. The monkeys are the stars here: golden fur, blue face, upturned nose, shy of people, and whether you see them is luck. Do not shout and do not feed them.

神农谷是神农顶景区里最壮阔的一段，海拔两千八到三千米，一边是绝壁深谷，一边是层层叠叠的山脊，天气好的时候能看到几十公里外的山头。谷口有一座瞭望塔，登上去视野最好。这里的天气变得快，上一分钟晴、下一分钟就是云海翻上来，一会儿又什么都看不见——这也是神农架最有意思的地方。栈道依着崖边修，栏杆不高，别趴、别跨。

Shennong Valley is the most dramatic stretch of the Shennong Peak park, between 2,800 and 3,000 metres: cliffs and a deep gorge on one side, ridge behind ridge on the other, and on a good day peaks tens of kilometres away. At the mouth of the valley stands a lookout tower with the best view. The weather here turns fast — sunshine one minute, a sea of cloud surging up the next, and then nothing visible at all, which is exactly what makes Shennongjia interesting. The boardwalk hugs the cliff edge with a low rail, so do not lean over it or step across.

板壁岩海拔约两千六百米，是一片高山石林：石头像木板一样一片片竖着立起来，高的有几米，夹在密密的箭竹林里，绕着栈道走一圈，一转弯就是一组不同的石头。这里最有名的说法是「野人出没地」——神农架关于野人的传说流传了几十年，板壁岩是传说里最常被提到的地点之一。看一看、拍拍照就好，别钻出栈道进竹林，容易迷路。

Banbiyan, at about 2,600 metres, is a high stone forest: slabs standing on end like planks, some several metres tall, packed between dense dwarf bamboo. A loop of boardwalk turns one set of stones into another at every corner. Its best-known claim is as 'country of the wild man' — Shennongjia's legend of a wild man has run for decades and Banbiyan is among the places most often named in it. Look and photograph; do not leave the boardwalk into the bamboo, it is easy to get lost.

大九湖在神农架西边的一块高山盆地里，海拔约一千七百米，九个大小不一的湖泊顺着谷地连成一串，中间是大片草甸，牛马在里面吃草，四周是冷杉林和山。这里和神农顶是两个世界：神农顶险、大九湖柔。早上或雨后起雾的时候最好看——雾贴着水面走，湖、草、树都成了剪影，安静得只听见鸟叫。景区里要坐观光车进，私家车不能开进去；湖边全是木栈道，走起来舒服。

Dajiu Lake sits in an alpine basin in western Shennongjia at about 1,700 metres, nine lakes of varying size strung along the valley floor, a broad meadow between them where cattle and horses graze, fir forest and mountains all around. It is a different world from Shennong Peak: where the peak is severe, the lakes are soft. It is finest in morning mist or after rain — the fog travelling along the water, lake and grass and trees reduced to silhouette, quiet enough to hear the birds. Access inside is by shuttle only, private cars cannot enter, and the shore is all boardwalk, easy underfoot.

官门山在木鱼镇附近，是一条两公里长的科普峡谷，一边走一边看：大熊猫馆里有两只大熊猫，金丝猴馆、大鲵馆能看到神农架的「居民」，还有地质馆、植物馆讲这一片山是怎么长出来的、为什么有这么多稀有的动植物。走了一天山，来这里正好把刚才看到的东西串起来：金猴岭的森林、板壁岩的石头、大九湖的湿地，各自是什么道理。馆里凉快，也能歇脚。

Guanmenshan, near Muyu town, is a two-kilometre science valley to walk and read: two giant pandas in the panda house, golden monkeys and giant salamanders in their own houses — Shennongjia's residents — plus geology and botany halls explaining how these mountains came to be and why the flora and fauna are so unusual. After a day in the hills it ties things together: what the forest at Jinhou Ridge, the stones at Banbiyan and the wetland at Dajiu Lake each mean. The halls are cool, and you can rest your legs.

神农架的饭是山里饭：腊肉炒土豆片、腊蹄子炖藕、柴火豆腐、炒野菜（蕨菜、茼蒿、香椿）、各种菌子（香菇、木耳、羊肚菌）、土鸡汤，主食是苞谷饭或米饭。湖北口味偏咸鲜、微辣，腊味是主角，冬天熏的腊肉挂在灶头上，切成薄片一炒，香气很足。镇上餐馆多，价格比山上便宜，人多的话点几个菜分着吃。

Food in Shennongjia is mountain food: cured pork sliced and fried with potato, cured trotters stewed with lotus root, wood-fired tofu, wild greens (fern, crown daisy, Chinese toon), every kind of mushroom (shiitake, wood ear, morel) and farm chicken soup, with corn or white rice. Hubei cooking is savoury with a little heat and cured meat is the lead — smoked over the stove through winter, sliced thin and stir-fried, and very fragrant. There are plenty of restaurants in town at lower prices than up the mountain, and with a group you can order several dishes to share.