Title: Conghua Secret Realm | Step into Hayao Miyazaki's Summer Rice Paddy Fairy Tale
——A Healing Journey in Harmony with Nature——
🌿First Encounter · Rice Field Sanctuary
Walking through the lush trails of Fengyunling Forest Park, a thousand acres of rice paddies suddenly appear like green waves rushing toward you. In May, Aimi Rice Town showcases tender rice seedlings stretching their young leaves, creating ripples in the gentle breeze. In the distance, egrets glide over the field ridges, triggering a string of crisp bird calls. Standing under the "Wings of Hope" art installation, the white steel structure glistens in the sunlight, like a pair of wings supporting the entire rice field, connecting the sky and earth into a flowing oil painting.
📸Photo Spots · Poetic Landmarks
Stroll along the wooden boardwalk, each step crushing the clouds reflected below.
▫️Gate of Time: The circular mirror creates a fascinating interplay with the rice fields. Standing in the center feels like being in a sky mirror, with endless green fields behind you—every casual photo resembles a scene from a Hayao Miyazaki animation.
▫️Wheel of Seasons: The 24 solar terms are engraved on the ground, with mirror frames capturing the rice waves like a picture frame. As you turn, the light and shadows of the four seasons flow through the mirror.
▫️Harvest Platform: Climb the platform for a panoramic view—the green and golden rice fields spread out like a chessboard, with red flame trees blooming along the ridges like rubies scattered on a green carpet.
👩🌾Experience · Earth Classroom
Change into rubber boots and step into the rice field, where mud squeezes between your toes, instantly reconnecting you with nature. Staff members teach rice planting hands-on—as you bend over, your nose catches the fresh scent of rice seedlings, and looking up, you can see drones spraying nutrients at low altitude—a fascinating collision of traditional farming and AI technology. In the evening, join the "Journey of a Rice Grain" educational activity, painting the rice growth cycle on straw hats while children's laughter mingles with frog croaks, even the evening breeze carries the scent of rice.
🍚Taste · Rural Feast
As dusk falls, the aroma of bamboo tube rice fills the field ridges.
▫️Traditional Bamboo Tube Rice: Fresh green bamboo filled with farm-grown rice, cured meat, and mushrooms, roasted over charcoal until the bamboo fragrance permeates each grain. When you bite into it with a "crack," the crispy shell and soft texture create a duet on your tongue.
▫️Rice Field Fish Hot Pot: Freshly caught crucian carp from the field, cooked with watercress from Liuxi River. The sweet fish soup with floating golden rice flowers feels like drinking in the entire summer.
▫️Firewood Kiln Chicken: Clay-baked chicken wrapped in rice straw. Tear open the crispy skin, and meat juices mixed with rice straw fragrance burst out—even the bones exude a primitive smoky flavor.
🏕️Night Stay · Starry Rice Fields
Choose the Sky Rice Field campsite, where frog choruses surround your tent while warm lamps flicker inside. In the evening, gather around the stove to brew tea, as the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes blends with the richness of Pu'er tea. At night, lie on a bean bag counting stars—the Big Dipper hangs low, seemingly within reach. For more privacy, stay at the Tianyuan Flower Lodge, where rice waves greet you outside your window, and morning mist floats past your windowsill, making you feel as if you're floating among clouds.
💡Tips · Travel Guide
✅ Transportation: Drive to "Aimi Rice Town" (parking: 3 yuan/hour); or take Metro Line 14 to Conghua Bus Station, then transfer to a bus to "Nanyi University Fifth Affiliated Hospital" station and walk 15 minutes.
✅ Seasons: May for green waves and white egrets, July for golden wheat waves, October for harvest experience—beautiful in all seasons.
✅ Must-bring: Sunscreen, mosquito repellent, telephoto lens (for photographing egrets), loose clothing (for field work).
✅ Hidden activity: Morning hike to Fengyunling—when sea clouds roll at the summit, the rice fields look like green islands floating in the clouds.
🌾Afterword
As you leave, scarecrows gently sway in the twilight breeze, while distant harvesters turn on yellow lights, cutting the sunset into fragments. The magic of Aimi Rice Town lies in allowing urbanites to feel the warmth of the land—the backache from planting rice, the satisfaction of harvesting grains, the spreading aroma of cooking rice—these forgotten emotions are reawakened here. Perhaps this is what Hayao Miyazaki's "Valley of the Wind" looks like: humans and nature coexisting, with time flowing slowly and gently.