Huayanxi Provincial Nature Reserve
2022-07-22
Huayanxi Provincial Nature Reserve, situated 50 kilometers from the south of Changde City, borders Taoyuan County and Anhua County. Covering an area of 955 hectares, the reserve consists of five scenic spots. They are the central area, the Wuxi Lake, the Longfeng Lake, the Qifeng Mountain and the Xianchi Mountain.
As one of the streams here, the Huayan Stream is said to have run through a large grey rock and scoured out a flower pattern on the rock, hence the local people called it the Huayan Stream. Now the surrounding mountains, lakes and vast forests with a total area of 45 square kilometers have been included into Huayanxi Provincial Nature Reserve.
Its forest is mainly composed of Chinese fir, catalpa and pine, with a total of 1,089 species of wild plants. The reserve is also rich in wild animal resources. There are 89 species of rare wild animals. The most distinctive scenery is that there are about 100,000 egrets in this area from April to October every year. These migratory birds are one of the wonders in the south of the Yangtze River, so Huayanxi Provincial Nature Reserve has won the reputation of “Home of Egrets in China”.
100,000 egrets will come to the reserve every year. When one begins to soar, a flock will follow. People can find them everywhere on the mountain and water.
Just like the egrets, countless plants and animals choose this peaceful and beautiful land as their habitat. So do human beings.
The local residents’ family names are mainly Mo, Tang and Li. Their ancestors once served as officials in the Tang Dynasty. Later, they gave up their positions one after another and were displaced due to various reasons such as demotion and refuge. They came to Huayanxi, which was extremely isolated at that time. Up to now, these families have lived here for more than 2,000 years, and the academic atmosphere brought by their ancestors has also been passed down for generations.
