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湘南石资源丰富，石文化氛围浓郁。湘南常宁白沙镇的藏石大户沈华生邀请我们去找石头，于是便成行，到湘南去访石头。
“大璞不雕”的美丽
古城衡州是清康熙时“三番之乱”吴三桂的帝都，衡阳玩石藏石之风颇盛，有规模的奇石藏家有数十家之多。过衡阳，沈华生带着我直奔耒阳古城。在湘南大地行走，看到听到的都是石头的传奇。置身于奇山奇水奇石之中，体味大自然的神奇，感受石文化的氛围，我们终于懂得什么叫“大璞不雕”的美丽。
三江口有房子般大的两块巨石，石顶平坦如禾场，可以晒几担谷子。两石相距不过五步，当地百姓都称此石为“神仙石”；紫巾峰下有一洞，洞口有大石状如铜钱，人称“铜钱石”；有个村子名字叫“屙米石”，据说这个村的一些石头的石缝中曾经屙出过米来；这里有座山名“石留仙”，石上出现文字“人不留仙石留仙”，这算是最神奇的文字石了。此外，这里还有山名“石牛壁”，村名“四十八撇”。
唐代诗圣杜甫有诗：“巨璞禹凿余，异状君独见。”诗人看来，大地上这些奇形怪状的石头都是大禹治水时留下的，只有眼光独具的赏石人，才能看见它们的美丽。最近有人在奇石美学范畴中提出，赏“石景”能观照爱石人的理性思维，面对湘南大地上的奇石世界，我们对此论似有所悟。
我们伴石而眠
被称为“荆楚名区”的耒阳市，是中华大地上最早设立县治的古城之一。城中有杜甫墓、蔡伦墓。蔡子池相传为蔡伦故居，就是在这几间木头房子里，这位大发明家用树枝、麻头和鱼网，造出了世界第一张纸，人类文明由此迈出了一大步。
古城多古迹，多文化底蕴，也多奇石。奇石来自耒水，耒水发源于湘赣交界的万洋山，它流经桂东、汝城、资兴、郴县、永兴之后，从耒阳市东南入境，再流经衡阳耒河口入湘江。耒水两岸地质结构复杂，水流落差大，因而带来了历经千磨万击后的各类奇石。早在宋代，奇石专著《云林石谱》对“耒阳石”就有记载：“衡州耒阳县土中出石，磊块嵯岩，大小不等，质稍坚，一种色青黑，一种灰白，一种黄而斑，四面奇巧，扣之无声，可置几案间，小有可观。”
这次沈华生带着我们下榻在老朱家中，老朱是书法家，两口子退休后玩起了石头，耒水石藏了一屋子，还加上楼下满满一仓库。客厅门口有只脚盆大的“乌龟”缩头缩脑，怡然自得地蹲在木座上，守护着这个家庭。王姐给我们夫妇安排的睡房，也摆满了形态各异的奇石。这一夜，我们头顶奇石，脚踩奇石，真正与大自然零距离接触，可谓伴石而眠。
小沈睡在装有榻榻米的房间。这间房是过往石友的“招待所”，老两口热情好客，对远道而来的石友包吃包住，石友们相见恨晚，宾至如归。这里称得上是个温馨的“石友之家”。
在耒阳，像这样藏石颇丰的家庭有许多家。吕绍奇的家也是一个琳琅满目的奇石世界。客厅中一座名为“盘古”的奇石，似出自抽象派大师之手的雕塑，那身子姿势，活脱脱的一位盘古老人巍巍从太古走来，吕家这个石头世界，楼上楼下都是石头，连儿子备作新房的套间里也摆满石头。我原以为耒水石不外是灰黑青黄，色彩较为单调。但在吕家石馆中见到的石头，却红的鲜红，绿的碧绿，五彩纷呈，斑驳夺目。
白沙镇浏览奇石
从耒阳出发，乘中巴行40公里，来到河面宽阔的汤汤河边，华生说这是舂陵水。
舂陵水，俗称茭河，发源于九疑山区，经流嘉禾、桂阳，因为它九曲回环，给湘南大地带来无穷财富，带来价值不菲的彩硅石、黄蜡石、彩卵石……
江河往往与奇石密切勾联。白沙镇近年来因舂陵水带来的奇石而名声渐扬。广西人、山东人、广州人以及本省的长沙、郴州人，不时穿梭于街巷店铺之中，他们当然用不着到这僻远之地购百货，唯一目的是看奇石。小镇上成规模的奇石馆有十数家，规模最大的首推“华生奇石馆”。
十多年前，华生与父亲偶尔接触奇石，从此父子成痴，集石藏石，一发而不可收。华生年过花甲的父亲，每天早饭过后便一根扁担两只麻袋，步行四公里到牛角湾采石，中午就在农家吃点烤红薯蒸芋头，黄昏时挑七八十斤担子回家，天天如此。几年下来他们的房子里塞满了各色石头，而老人家声称：“石头留着耍，一个也不卖。”
中专毕业的沈华生则更具眼光，将开书店攒下的十来万元全部投资奇石。白沙镇过去大店铺多，现在空房子多。“华生奇石馆”就占了一栋大房子，高高石架上都摆满奇石，门前的空地也是满满一坪。我问华生到底藏了多少石头?他说，根据车拖人抬的次数，大略估计有120多吨，坐在石馆厅中，清茶一杯，清风徐来，手摸那只重200公斤的黄蜡“苍鹰”，耳听门外舂陵水锣鼓湾有如鸣锣击鼓的滩声，眼观屋中多姿多彩的奇石，享受大地江河的慷慨赐与，悠悠然心与自然融合，真不知几生修得!
其余几家石馆我们也匆忙浏览一遍。有一家方桌上摆了一尊观音，那玉立的身姿，那动人的曲线，那飘然流畅的衣带，惟妙惟肖得使我目瞪口呆。如果不是实地看到，谁相信这是天工独造?有人出2000元求购，主家笑而不答。问到底要价多少，他漫不经心伸出四个指头。我因囊中羞涩，只好依依而别。
第二天，华生当向导我们租摩的去牛角湾寻石。
我们在河滩上寻了一阵，只捡到三坨不起眼的小石，有些令人失望。华生说，这段十里河滩，不久前满河满滩的人手持镐头挖地三尺寻石，以后又不断有外地人来，好一些的石头都被捡尽了。
滩边樟树下，见农民老杨的农舍前、禾场上摊满了石头，我们一边吃着杨嫂端出的红薯、芋头、花生，一边选购他家的石头：一般的十元八元，凡搬进屋藏在床下的，就得几十元几百元不等。杨嫂笑道：“红薯芋头卖不出去，好石头却俏得很。这些舂陵石运到郴州柳州，被说成彩陶石、九龙壁……”。
上堡觅石乐陶陶
我们又坐车去上堡镇。只见路边汉白玉堆叠如雪山，大卡车拖着数十吨一坨的汉白玉原石送向加工场地。这里用名贵石材奢侈得很，就是农舍猪圈厕所也都用汉白玉砌成，十分抢眼。车行50公里后，舍车登舟进入大河滩。
雾气中远远看见有船停在水中央，那是挖沙船在作业。我们的小船靠上去，老朱高声喊：“有石头吗?”船上的人大声答：“有哇，快来呀。”
大家跳上大船。原来，那机器如摩天轮似的转动，又如老式筒车一斗一斗将沙舀起，同时也将河底的石头带出来。值班的工人眼盯着铁斗，如果舀起的是美石、怪石，就赶快捡起，于是他的采沙船板上便堆满了五颜六色的石头，供觅石者选购。
这些石头从河底舀起，应属于河卵石一类。河卵石如长江石、黄河石等，大都因水的冲刷滚动而呈圆形或圆柱形，而上堡耒水石却多是扁平的块状，每块上有结晶体石脉，构成各种图案，很是奇特。这些石头石质好，花色丰富，是上好的观赏石。我们哪里见过这样的场面，呵!大家就像牛进了菜园，这块好，那块也不错，大家比眼力，比手快，也比运气。
又有一斗石头从河底舀上来了。工人将一块十多斤重的彩硅石放在船板上，那青绿色石面上，纵横金色石脉，勾勒出了一只向前奔跑的梅花鹿。那大眼睛，那长角，竟是如此清晰生动。我抢先喊出声：“我先看到!”这一喊引得全船人哈哈大笑……
这一天，我选购了40多块美石，老朱又帮着讨价还价，以每块8元敲定，加上牛角湾舂陵石，共装了18袋运回家。
耒水两岸流传一首民歌：河滩对河坳，金银十八窖；摸到一小窖，买得湖南到。
我们这些石痴，千里迢迢行走江湖，不惜钱财，不辞辛劳，终于如愿以偿，捡到了“金牛屎”，摸到了“金窖”。我们无心买湖南，有意藏美石，让大自然的美丽，在石馆中熠熠闪光。
A Journey to Stones in Southern Hunan
By Li Yucun, Yi Xianzhuang
Hunan province is well known, among other things, for its rich resources of exotic stones. The stone culture is popular there. At the invitation of Mr. Shen Huasheng, a stone connoisseur with a large collection based in White Sand Town in Changning, a riverside town in southern Hunan, we took a trip there to see the world of treasure stones.
We stopped over at Leiyang. It is one of the earliest counties in Chinese history. Du Fu (712-770A.D.), a great poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-960), was buried there. Cai Lun (ca.63-121 A.D.), the paper inventor, was born and buried there. He made the world’s first batch of paper using fish nets, tree twigs and rags. Their tombs are still in the ancient county capital. It is said that Cai Lun’s former residence still stand in the city today.
Steeped in history and cultural heritage, Leiyang has acquired its stone fame from the Leiyang River. The river originates in the Wanyang Mountain wedged between Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces, and passes Leiyang before finally joining the Xiang River. Along the way, the river drops into steep valleys which present complex geological structures. For this reason, the river exhibits a great variety of stones polished by nature. A special book was written in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) on treasure stones for connoisseurs and collectors. The book mentioned Leiyang as a place full of strange-shaped stones in black, gray and pied yellow. A knock on such a stone produces no sound.
In Leiyang, We stayed at Mr. Zhu’s house. Zhu used to be a calligrapher. Retired now, Zhu and his wife enthused about stones. Their house was full of treasure stones culled from the Lei River. At the door of the sitting room a turtle served as a sentinel, its head half under the shell. Of course, it was a stone that resembled a turtle. Odd-looking stones were everywhere in the guest room. We spent our night there with the treasure.
Shen Huasheng slept on the tatami in another guest room, which also somehow served as a stone storage. Most of Mr. Zhu and his wife’s visitors were stone aficionados. The hospitable couple provided visitors with free accommodations and meals.
There are many such families in Leiyang. We visited another collector’s house during our stay there. The house was like a museum.We had believed Leiyang stones were in dark colors, but to our surprise, we saw bright red and green stones from the Lei River.
Leaving Leiyang, we took a 40-km journey by bus to the Tangtang River. In ancient times, it was called the Chunling River. We took a boat trip to White Sand Town, Shen Huasheng’s hometown. The town hugged the river tightly. The 2.5-km-long main street was narrow with shops in traditional businesses. There were blacksmith’s shops in the street. Pedestrians could hear the hammering from afar. In this part of Hunan Province, rivers mean stones. The reputation of White Sand Town has grown in recently years because of the beautiful stones found along the river. The town now boasts of dozens of stone collectors?houses.
Shen Huasheng’s passion for stones went back to more than 10 years ago. By accident, his father and he tumbled on stones and became fascinated. Since then they have been hooked. The father in his 60s now goes every day to a place called the Ox Horn Bay in search of stones and carries about 40 kg stones back home every evening. Now their big collection has grown to an aggregate of 120 tons by weight.
Shen Huasheng has put more 100,000 yuan into the collection. The capital came from his bookstore business. In the past, there were many big shops in the town. Nowadays, there are many houses where stones are collected and displayed. Sitting at Shen’s house, we enjoyed appreciating his arrays of stones stored orderly on display racks and in the front courtyard. We could hear noisy sounds of the river surging past the Gong and Drum Bay.
We visited some stone collectors?houses in the town. In one house, we saw a statue of Kwan-yin Buddha. Of course it was a natural stone, but we were amazed at how nature produced such a wonder that looked exactly like a statue made by a sculptor.
The next day, we went to the Ox Horn Bay in search of stones. It was a large bend of the Chunling River. The river beach was shallow and looked like an ox horn. We learned that stones on the beach came with floods from upper reaches. Colorful silicon stones are washed down in rushing waters. The beach here is 10 km long. But we were disappointed to find no good stones were left.
We went by bus to Upper Fortress Town. The road to the town was flanked by high heaps of white marbles. Lorries rumbled past, carrying huge pieces of white marbles to processing mills. Excellent marbles here were cheap. We saw pigsties made with white marbles. After a 50-km journey by bus, we continued our trip by taking a boat upstream. At the end of our
“大璞不雕”的美丽
古城衡州是清康熙时“三番之乱”吴三桂的帝都，衡阳玩石藏石之风颇盛，有规模的奇石藏家有数十家之多。过衡阳，沈华生带着我直奔耒阳古城。在湘南大地行走，看到听到的都是石头的传奇。置身于奇山奇水奇石之中，体味大自然的神奇，感受石文化的氛围，我们终于懂得什么叫“大璞不雕”的美丽。
三江口有房子般大的两块巨石，石顶平坦如禾场，可以晒几担谷子。两石相距不过五步，当地百姓都称此石为“神仙石”；紫巾峰下有一洞，洞口有大石状如铜钱，人称“铜钱石”；有个村子名字叫“屙米石”，据说这个村的一些石头的石缝中曾经屙出过米来；这里有座山名“石留仙”，石上出现文字“人不留仙石留仙”，这算是最神奇的文字石了。此外，这里还有山名“石牛壁”，村名“四十八撇”。
唐代诗圣杜甫有诗：“巨璞禹凿余，异状君独见。”诗人看来，大地上这些奇形怪状的石头都是大禹治水时留下的，只有眼光独具的赏石人，才能看见它们的美丽。最近有人在奇石美学范畴中提出，赏“石景”能观照爱石人的理性思维，面对湘南大地上的奇石世界，我们对此论似有所悟。
我们伴石而眠
被称为“荆楚名区”的耒阳市，是中华大地上最早设立县治的古城之一。城中有杜甫墓、蔡伦墓。蔡子池相传为蔡伦故居，就是在这几间木头房子里，这位大发明家用树枝、麻头和鱼网，造出了世界第一张纸，人类文明由此迈出了一大步。
古城多古迹，多文化底蕴，也多奇石。奇石来自耒水，耒水发源于湘赣交界的万洋山，它流经桂东、汝城、资兴、郴县、永兴之后，从耒阳市东南入境，再流经衡阳耒河口入湘江。耒水两岸地质结构复杂，水流落差大，因而带来了历经千磨万击后的各类奇石。早在宋代，奇石专著《云林石谱》对“耒阳石”就有记载：“衡州耒阳县土中出石，磊块嵯岩，大小不等，质稍坚，一种色青黑，一种灰白，一种黄而斑，四面奇巧，扣之无声，可置几案间，小有可观。”
这次沈华生带着我们下榻在老朱家中，老朱是书法家，两口子退休后玩起了石头，耒水石藏了一屋子，还加上楼下满满一仓库。客厅门口有只脚盆大的“乌龟”缩头缩脑，怡然自得地蹲在木座上，守护着这个家庭。王姐给我们夫妇安排的睡房，也摆满了形态各异的奇石。这一夜，我们头顶奇石，脚踩奇石，真正与大自然零距离接触，可谓伴石而眠。
小沈睡在装有榻榻米的房间。这间房是过往石友的“招待所”，老两口热情好客，对远道而来的石友包吃包住，石友们相见恨晚，宾至如归。这里称得上是个温馨的“石友之家”。
在耒阳，像这样藏石颇丰的家庭有许多家。吕绍奇的家也是一个琳琅满目的奇石世界。客厅中一座名为“盘古”的奇石，似出自抽象派大师之手的雕塑，那身子姿势，活脱脱的一位盘古老人巍巍从太古走来，吕家这个石头世界，楼上楼下都是石头，连儿子备作新房的套间里也摆满石头。我原以为耒水石不外是灰黑青黄，色彩较为单调。但在吕家石馆中见到的石头，却红的鲜红，绿的碧绿，五彩纷呈，斑驳夺目。
白沙镇浏览奇石
从耒阳出发，乘中巴行40公里，来到河面宽阔的汤汤河边，华生说这是舂陵水。
舂陵水，俗称茭河，发源于九疑山区，经流嘉禾、桂阳，因为它九曲回环，给湘南大地带来无穷财富，带来价值不菲的彩硅石、黄蜡石、彩卵石……
江河往往与奇石密切勾联。白沙镇近年来因舂陵水带来的奇石而名声渐扬。广西人、山东人、广州人以及本省的长沙、郴州人，不时穿梭于街巷店铺之中，他们当然用不着到这僻远之地购百货，唯一目的是看奇石。小镇上成规模的奇石馆有十数家，规模最大的首推“华生奇石馆”。
十多年前，华生与父亲偶尔接触奇石，从此父子成痴，集石藏石，一发而不可收。华生年过花甲的父亲，每天早饭过后便一根扁担两只麻袋，步行四公里到牛角湾采石，中午就在农家吃点烤红薯蒸芋头，黄昏时挑七八十斤担子回家，天天如此。几年下来他们的房子里塞满了各色石头，而老人家声称：“石头留着耍，一个也不卖。”
中专毕业的沈华生则更具眼光，将开书店攒下的十来万元全部投资奇石。白沙镇过去大店铺多，现在空房子多。“华生奇石馆”就占了一栋大房子，高高石架上都摆满奇石，门前的空地也是满满一坪。我问华生到底藏了多少石头?他说，根据车拖人抬的次数，大略估计有120多吨，坐在石馆厅中，清茶一杯，清风徐来，手摸那只重200公斤的黄蜡“苍鹰”，耳听门外舂陵水锣鼓湾有如鸣锣击鼓的滩声，眼观屋中多姿多彩的奇石，享受大地江河的慷慨赐与，悠悠然心与自然融合，真不知几生修得!
其余几家石馆我们也匆忙浏览一遍。有一家方桌上摆了一尊观音，那玉立的身姿，那动人的曲线，那飘然流畅的衣带，惟妙惟肖得使我目瞪口呆。如果不是实地看到，谁相信这是天工独造?有人出2000元求购，主家笑而不答。问到底要价多少，他漫不经心伸出四个指头。我因囊中羞涩，只好依依而别。
第二天，华生当向导我们租摩的去牛角湾寻石。
我们在河滩上寻了一阵，只捡到三坨不起眼的小石，有些令人失望。华生说，这段十里河滩，不久前满河满滩的人手持镐头挖地三尺寻石，以后又不断有外地人来，好一些的石头都被捡尽了。
滩边樟树下，见农民老杨的农舍前、禾场上摊满了石头，我们一边吃着杨嫂端出的红薯、芋头、花生，一边选购他家的石头：一般的十元八元，凡搬进屋藏在床下的，就得几十元几百元不等。杨嫂笑道：“红薯芋头卖不出去，好石头却俏得很。这些舂陵石运到郴州柳州，被说成彩陶石、九龙壁……”。
上堡觅石乐陶陶
我们又坐车去上堡镇。只见路边汉白玉堆叠如雪山，大卡车拖着数十吨一坨的汉白玉原石送向加工场地。这里用名贵石材奢侈得很，就是农舍猪圈厕所也都用汉白玉砌成，十分抢眼。车行50公里后，舍车登舟进入大河滩。
雾气中远远看见有船停在水中央，那是挖沙船在作业。我们的小船靠上去，老朱高声喊：“有石头吗?”船上的人大声答：“有哇，快来呀。”
大家跳上大船。原来，那机器如摩天轮似的转动，又如老式筒车一斗一斗将沙舀起，同时也将河底的石头带出来。值班的工人眼盯着铁斗，如果舀起的是美石、怪石，就赶快捡起，于是他的采沙船板上便堆满了五颜六色的石头，供觅石者选购。
这些石头从河底舀起，应属于河卵石一类。河卵石如长江石、黄河石等，大都因水的冲刷滚动而呈圆形或圆柱形，而上堡耒水石却多是扁平的块状，每块上有结晶体石脉，构成各种图案，很是奇特。这些石头石质好，花色丰富，是上好的观赏石。我们哪里见过这样的场面，呵!大家就像牛进了菜园，这块好，那块也不错，大家比眼力，比手快，也比运气。
又有一斗石头从河底舀上来了。工人将一块十多斤重的彩硅石放在船板上，那青绿色石面上，纵横金色石脉，勾勒出了一只向前奔跑的梅花鹿。那大眼睛，那长角，竟是如此清晰生动。我抢先喊出声：“我先看到!”这一喊引得全船人哈哈大笑……
这一天，我选购了40多块美石，老朱又帮着讨价还价，以每块8元敲定，加上牛角湾舂陵石，共装了18袋运回家。
耒水两岸流传一首民歌：河滩对河坳，金银十八窖；摸到一小窖，买得湖南到。
我们这些石痴，千里迢迢行走江湖，不惜钱财，不辞辛劳，终于如愿以偿，捡到了“金牛屎”，摸到了“金窖”。我们无心买湖南，有意藏美石，让大自然的美丽，在石馆中熠熠闪光。
A Journey to Stones in Southern Hunan
By Li Yucun, Yi Xianzhuang
Hunan province is well known, among other things, for its rich resources of exotic stones. The stone culture is popular there. At the invitation of Mr. Shen Huasheng, a stone connoisseur with a large collection based in White Sand Town in Changning, a riverside town in southern Hunan, we took a trip there to see the world of treasure stones.
We stopped over at Leiyang. It is one of the earliest counties in Chinese history. Du Fu (712-770A.D.), a great poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-960), was buried there. Cai Lun (ca.63-121 A.D.), the paper inventor, was born and buried there. He made the world’s first batch of paper using fish nets, tree twigs and rags. Their tombs are still in the ancient county capital. It is said that Cai Lun’s former residence still stand in the city today.
Steeped in history and cultural heritage, Leiyang has acquired its stone fame from the Leiyang River. The river originates in the Wanyang Mountain wedged between Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces, and passes Leiyang before finally joining the Xiang River. Along the way, the river drops into steep valleys which present complex geological structures. For this reason, the river exhibits a great variety of stones polished by nature. A special book was written in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) on treasure stones for connoisseurs and collectors. The book mentioned Leiyang as a place full of strange-shaped stones in black, gray and pied yellow. A knock on such a stone produces no sound.
In Leiyang, We stayed at Mr. Zhu’s house. Zhu used to be a calligrapher. Retired now, Zhu and his wife enthused about stones. Their house was full of treasure stones culled from the Lei River. At the door of the sitting room a turtle served as a sentinel, its head half under the shell. Of course, it was a stone that resembled a turtle. Odd-looking stones were everywhere in the guest room. We spent our night there with the treasure.
Shen Huasheng slept on the tatami in another guest room, which also somehow served as a stone storage. Most of Mr. Zhu and his wife’s visitors were stone aficionados. The hospitable couple provided visitors with free accommodations and meals.
There are many such families in Leiyang. We visited another collector’s house during our stay there. The house was like a museum.We had believed Leiyang stones were in dark colors, but to our surprise, we saw bright red and green stones from the Lei River.
Leaving Leiyang, we took a 40-km journey by bus to the Tangtang River. In ancient times, it was called the Chunling River. We took a boat trip to White Sand Town, Shen Huasheng’s hometown. The town hugged the river tightly. The 2.5-km-long main street was narrow with shops in traditional businesses. There were blacksmith’s shops in the street. Pedestrians could hear the hammering from afar. In this part of Hunan Province, rivers mean stones. The reputation of White Sand Town has grown in recently years because of the beautiful stones found along the river. The town now boasts of dozens of stone collectors?houses.
Shen Huasheng’s passion for stones went back to more than 10 years ago. By accident, his father and he tumbled on stones and became fascinated. Since then they have been hooked. The father in his 60s now goes every day to a place called the Ox Horn Bay in search of stones and carries about 40 kg stones back home every evening. Now their big collection has grown to an aggregate of 120 tons by weight.
Shen Huasheng has put more 100,000 yuan into the collection. The capital came from his bookstore business. In the past, there were many big shops in the town. Nowadays, there are many houses where stones are collected and displayed. Sitting at Shen’s house, we enjoyed appreciating his arrays of stones stored orderly on display racks and in the front courtyard. We could hear noisy sounds of the river surging past the Gong and Drum Bay.
We visited some stone collectors?houses in the town. In one house, we saw a statue of Kwan-yin Buddha. Of course it was a natural stone, but we were amazed at how nature produced such a wonder that looked exactly like a statue made by a sculptor.
The next day, we went to the Ox Horn Bay in search of stones. It was a large bend of the Chunling River. The river beach was shallow and looked like an ox horn. We learned that stones on the beach came with floods from upper reaches. Colorful silicon stones are washed down in rushing waters. The beach here is 10 km long. But we were disappointed to find no good stones were left.
We went by bus to Upper Fortress Town. The road to the town was flanked by high heaps of white marbles. Lorries rumbled past, carrying huge pieces of white marbles to processing mills. Excellent marbles here were cheap. We saw pigsties made with white marbles. After a 50-km journey by bus, we continued our trip by taking a boat upstream. At the end of our