The Memory Town of Zhiziluo and Laomudeng Village in Fugong County of Nujiang

Zhiziluo （知子罗）is located on the mountain ridge at 2023 meters above sea level in the Biluo Snow Mountain（碧罗雪山）. It is halfway up the mountain in the Nujiang Grand Canyon（怒江大峡谷） in Yunnan Province. It is an important station and market for the ancient Tea Horse Road（茶马古道）. After the founding of New China, before 1974, Nujiang Prefecture（怒江州府） and Bijiang County（碧江县府） were located here. Zhiziluo（知子罗） is the most prosperous political and economic center of Nujiang Prefecture（怒江州府）. In 1974, the Nujiang Prefecture（怒江州府） moved to Liuku（六库）. In the early 1980s, geological experts believed that the possibility of landslides in Zhiziluo was very high. Due to concerns about landslides, Zhiziluo people went to the city from Nujiang Prefecture（怒江州府） to Fugong County（福贡县）and prosperity disappeared very soon. Zhiziluo（知子罗）changed from Nujiang Prefecture（怒江州府） to an administrative village in Pihenu Village(匹河怒族乡), Fugong County(福贡县), and became the most famous abandoned city in China. However, the locals did not want to call it a waste city, but gave Zhiziluo an intriguing name, “The City of Memory.” Because it dusted the memory of the 1970s and 1980s.

Entering Zhiziluo（知子罗）, first of all, you will see an elegant building with an octagonal shape. It is the iconic building of Zhiziluo, known as the Octagonal Pavilion. It is a library that has never been used since its completion. It is still what it was like before. Time and years have only increased the vicissitudes of Zhiziluo, and the portrait of Chairman Mao on the mottled wall is still shining.

On the octagonal pavilion, the view is wide, and the Gaoligong Mountain (高黎贡山) is endless and majestic, turning over the mountains and the other side is Myanmar (缅甸). Gaoligong Mountain (高黎贡山) is like the natural barrier of Zhiziluo.

Zhiziluo faces to the Gaoligong Mountain (高黎贡山), backed by the Biluo Snow Mountain (碧罗雪山). From here, turn over the Biluo Snow Mountain to the east and enter Lanping County (兰坪县) and Dali (大理), which lead to the mainland.. It was an important station of the ancient tea-horse road (茶马古道) in ancient times. After the liberation, with the construction of the highway along the river, people did not need to cross over the mountains, so the station was gradually abandoned. Located in the middle of the mountain, Zhiziluo is far from the mountain road, and the traffic is inconvenient. This is also an important reason for becoming an abandoned city.

More than 1,000 years ago, a descendant of the Wu Man tribe in the ancient 氐羌 system crossed the Biluo Snow Mountain and came to the Zhizi Luo Fan on the Nujiang River. They claimed to be “Rage Su”, which is the origin of the Bijiang Nu. Zhiziluo is one of the few markets in the early days of the Nujiang Gorge. The Yi people who lived in higher places and belonged to the descendants of the Wuman tribe went down to the market and used it as a “good place” in the proverb. It meant “a good place”. Zhizi Luo was picturesque, and the name was really right.

The four corners of the octagonal pavilion are beautifully carved like a phoenix, and the phoenix’s tiles are upturned. This is the elaborate craftsman who deliberately invited from Dali.

The building next to the octagonal pavilion was the barracks of the garrison that year, when the regiment of a garrison was set up there.

From the octagonal floor to the east is the main street of Zhiziluo. It is flat and wide surrounded by old and brick buildings. The old streets of the town are not as croweded as before.

Zhiziluo was built on the mountain, and the road is in the shape of “Feng”. If it is seen from a high altitude, it should be a trapezoidal structure. Going up the mountain road, every step seems to cross back more than 30 years ago. Although the old buildings on both sides of the road somewhat ruined, the glory of the past years still can be seen from the mottled traces, regardless of the street layout or architectural design.

At the commanding heights of the village, looking at the tile roof nearby, the octagonal library that I just past by, the Gaoligong Mountain (高黎贡山) in the distance, and the layers are progressive, and the scenery is excellent. I can imagine the loneliness of Zhiziluo people in the past, and the city was abandoned in one night. This picture is always fixed in their memory.

The 凹-shaped building was originally a school, “unity, tension, seriousness and liveliness.” The school motto that Chairman Mao mentioned was a must-have slogan for every school before the 1980s.

On the both sides of the “Feng” shaped street, it is very quiet. In the corner of the abandoned house, the grass grows wildly, and only a few tourists are remembering the past.

Thirty years have passed, and the predicted landslide has not happened. So some mountain people have re-accommodated into Zhiziluo, making the old town alive again. The courtyards where people live are clean and orderly, and all the firewood are piled up neatly.

There is no difference between the places where people live in the village and other rural areas. Smoke is curling upward from kitchen chimneys, the villagers are chatting and smoking. Women are doing housework.

Air dried clothes, and the animals that are visible everywhere, add a lot of flavor of life to the Zhiziluo.

The dogs in the village are very kind. Seeing people just stand up without barking, and then lie down and bask in the sun.

The persimmons in the yard are ripe but unplucking.

There are also new things in the village that are not available in the 1980s, such as solar water heaters and satellite TVs, indicating that Zhiziluo is still keeping up with the times.

The children in the village are getting more and more, and I hope that the school of Zhiziluo can be reopened, that will be more convenient for them to go to school.

The mountain people live here and have maintained their traditional living habits so far. Farming, digging herbs and breeding are their main sources of life. Zhiziluo surrounded by mountains has fresh air and beautiful scenery. It is hard to believe that it has been abandoned and forgotten.

At present, there are more than 800 villagers in Zhiziluo, mostly in poor households. Zhiziluo still has a lot of abandoned buildings so far. I really hope that more local mountain people will come back and rebuild their homes.

A few kilometers away from Zhiziluo, I came to the famous village of Laomudeng (老姆登村). From the viewing platform, we can see the Grand Canyon of Nu River (怒江大峡谷) is sandwiched between the mountains, looks very magnificent.

Compared with the lonely Zhiziluo, the village of Laomudeng(老姆登村) is much more lively. “Laomudeng” is the transliteration of the Nu language, meaning “the place that people like to come.” Due to the government’s support for the Nu Culture Village, the tourism industry has developed in recent years, and the economic conditions are quite good.

The traditional architecture of the Nu nationality(怒族) is a thousand-footed floor-to-ceiling room(千脚落地房) built of bamboo strips and wooden boards. It looks beautiful and generous. However, in Laomudeng (老姆登), there are not many such houses, and there are new projects everywhere. The whole village is like a big construction site. Laomudeng Village was selected as the most beautiful village in China in 2014 and 2017. The environment in the village is really good. It would be better if the village could be clean and tidy.

In the hotel room of the Laomudeng, the curtains were unintentionally opened, it was 180 degrees of beautiful mountains, hey, unwittingly taken the room, good luck.

Early in the morning, I watched the sunrise at the top of the hotel. The words “God loves the world” in the Laomudeng Church are very touching. It is also the largest Christ church in the Nu River basin.

The most famous “landscape” of Laomudeng is the Crown Mountain(皇冠山) opposite the mountain of Gaoligongshan Mountain (高黎贡山), because it resembles the crown. Its unique shape is quite conspicuous in the continuous peaks.

The village of Laomudeng(老姆登村) is 2,000 meters above sea level. It is a condescending place. The Nujiang Grand Canyon, which is more than 800 meters above sea level, stretches for 300 miles and can’t see the end at a glance. In the morning of the Nujiang Grand Canyon, the clouds are raging, and you can imagine looking at the Laomudeng in the low places, just like sitting on the clouds.

Compared with the Laomudeng village, I still prefer Zhiziluo, because it has been dusty for 30 years, very original, and has a rare and simple beauty. Also because it awakens the memory of my childhood, as if a familiar meeting with a long separation.