Traveler notes

Today I finally fulfilled my dream. I went up Cangshan to pick mushrooms and saw all kinds of mushrooms and ferns. The guide Xiaomi was very nice. I didn't expect there would be a picnic along the way. The little dog Xiaoxi was also very cute. Thanks to the guide Xiaomi, I got many beautiful photos. The natural flavor itself is great, and the taste of the pinecones is amazing! It was such a happy day.

2026.10.2-Day 3- This Cangshan hike brought us a lot of gains. I'm not sure whether it sparked new inspiration for You. Throughout the whole process, Chongchong stayed at the back, and he was more willing to interact with the dog [laughing through tears][laughing through tears]. But for me and You's dad, it brought a lot of new inspiration, as if we had found a new shared hobby. In the past, when we walked across a patch of grass, it was just a patch of grass. Now we know that within a patch of grass, many vivid stories may be happening, as long as you are willing to observe carefully. What impressed me most was when Yoyo (another hiking teammate) parted a blade of grass and saw two stink bugs "getting to know each other." There was another one nearby, and Yoyo said, "Wow, I wonder what just happened here." She said she often sees two insects mating in the grass, while the third is either waiting or has been rejected. Yoyo really has excellent eyesight, and I admire her a lot. Basically, apart from what the guide found, everything else was found by Yoyo. But we just couldn't spot anything, maybe because we observe too little. She is the owner of Bobo (the dog), and her family has also recently adopted a cat. She grows many succulents and all kinds of flowers at home, and she shared with us a scene she photographed of hoverfly larvae eating aphids. It was quite an educational moment. It turns out aphids can be controlled this way. In Dali's climate, growing plants and flowers is truly a happiness. Guide Phoebe is a very warm guide. When we first met, she gave us a children's picture book she had translated herself, called "Crocodiles Can't Skip Breakfast." After returning, You has already made me read it with him again and again, maybe ten or twenty times. The picture book is really interesting. In Phoebe's bamboo basket, she had also prepared small chairs for us to rest on at any time. The fruit, food, tea, and dining utensils in picture 6 were all carefully prepared by Phoebe. This reminded me of Grandma Kojima in Japan, who, regardless of the extra weight, gave the people around her that beautiful dining experience, and perhaps that alone made them feel very satisfied. Phoebe introduced the insects, grasses, and trees in great detail. Besides what we saw along the way, she also shared many interesting materials with us, making us feel more familiar with and closer to this mountain. Nature is truly so much fun!

Get up close and personal with nature in the real Cangshan environment. Observing carefully with full focus and attention, the process of hiking across a small stream is itself like a meditation, and you gain the joy of seeing plants and animals with your own eyes 😁. Gaze into the distance at the beautiful Three Pagodas, and feel the threads of history and culture. The teacher also prepared various tea snacks, text and picture recording boards, and insect-catching clip tools. A very meaningful journey!

The baby joined with dad. After coming back, the baby said it was very interesting and he really liked this activity. Nothing is more healing than being in nature.

Under the guidance of Zhenhao and Zhamao, I got to know all kinds of wild plants and the companions who joined the trip~ A comfortable local route, a relaxed and pleasant picnic time, and a mushroom feast full of wok hei! A highly recommended experience.

2026.10.2-Day 3- Cangshan Hiking Nature Observation Notes This time our nature observation route was the light hiking route on Cangshan in Shangyin Village, Dali. Before going up Cangshan, Phoebe (the leader of this hike) had us pick a few nasturtium leaves and taste them. The leaves had a mustard flavor. Youba said it tasted like a Japanese restaurant, and it really did. When we reached the entrance to the path up Cangshan, Phoebe told us to be careful. On the right, the nettles were extremely lush. Nettles and false nettles (ramie) were growing intertwined in a complicated way. One kind stings painfully, while the other can be used for weaving. Under the macro lens, the nettle's needles are very dense. This is a plant you must know. When you see it, remember absolutely not to touch it. If you accidentally touch it, locals mash mugwort leaves and apply them to the painful area, but Phoebe felt this is more of a psychological effect. The pain usually takes about 24 hours to ease. Strangely enough, this plant is most abundant at the Cangshan mountain entrance, as if guarding the mountain. By about the middle section, it begins to disappear. Not long after entering Cangshan, another hiking teammate (also named Yoyo) found a Chinese mantis, greenish-brown. Then we saw golden buckwheat, a small white flower that can be used as medicine (it can treat bronchial diseases and lung diseases). Right after that, we saw my favorite stick insects, some brown and some green. Here I finally pushed past my limits and handled a stick insect! I was super happy. The moment I held it, it felt like connecting with the plants and trees on this mountain... After that, I list the insects, plants, and flowers we encountered below in the order of the photos in the photo collection, as notes. - Persicaria perfoliata (can treat venomous snake bites, grows in a very cute and pretty way, very suitable for drawing in a journal) - "It may be a larva of a moth in the family Eupterotidae, not entirely sure. The larvae of tiger moths and eupterotid moths are both very hairy." - Mantis egg case (when the Chinese mantis lays eggs, it secretes a foam-like liquid. After it dries and solidifies, it forms an egg case that feels like foam plastic. In traditional Chinese medicine it is called piaoxiao. The egg case keeps the eggs warm so they can survive the winter successfully. They hatch again the following spring.) The egg case we went to see today had already been somewhat damaged by other insects. Waste recycling - Mystic-eye butterfly, and we also saw one mystic-eye butterfly caught in an orb-weaver spider's web - Equisetum (the Lego of the mountain, it can be "taken apart" and "put back together") - Impatiens dianthus (its English name is Touch me not. "Don't touch me" is because when its seeds are almost ripe, if you touch the seeds they shoot out. Touch the green, round, plump ones and the seeds will launch. Very interesting.) - Limacodidae, genus Thosea, Thosea larva. As its name suggests, it is both flat and spiky. "Yanglazi" is the common name for the larvae of this kind of moth in the limacodid family, and none of them can be touched. - The "Jorogumo" of the genus Trichonephila is a spider woman monster in Japanese. Its English common name is Joro spider. Joro corresponds to the Japanese kanji for "woman." This shows that this spider is native to East Asia and has now invaded the United States. - Silver orb weaver, a "walking spider-shaped piece of jewelry," extremely beautiful to the naked eye (Leucauge celebesiana. Silver orb weavers have long jade-like legs, and the silver scales on the back of the abdomen give off a pearly luster. You can see some fine, neatly arranged auditory hairs at the base of its fourth pair of legs, used to catch air currents and vibrations, so it can sense whether prey or predators are nearby.) - Orb-weaver spider, said to be characterized by leaf-shaped markings on the back of the abdomen. You can see its small eyes. Its appearance is very amusing. - Cayratia japonica (characterized by one leaf divided into 5 leaflets, can be used as medicine) - Dactylicapnos torulosa (can be used as medicine to treat coughs. Phoebe picked one and gave it to Xiaoyou to play with as a water pen. When broken open, it stains paper orange.) - Ageratina adenophora (purple-stemmed eupatorium, like morning glory it is an invasive species and will crowd out native plants) - "A spittlebug of the genus Philagra. Attached to a grass stem, it looks just like a grass seed." - "A female cricket of some kind, possibly genus Anaxiphomorpha or genus Amusurgus. The ovipositor is covered by one cercus, at almost the same position in the photo. Male crickets have a mirror membrane structure on the forewings for resonance in order to make sound, and their wings look very different from those of females. The female's wing veins are arranged relatively regularly and longitudinally." - A newly discovered harvest mouse nest - In focus is the female reproductive receptacle of the liverwort Marchantia. When the spores mature, you will see yellow powdery material hanging under the umbrella-rib-like parts. - A pair of mating crane flies. Crane flies do not suck blood. Adults drink flowers and dew and do not eat much. After mating and laying eggs, they complete the great task of continuing the family line and then die. - Larva of the moth genus Sphragifera, one of its host plants is golden buckwheat. - A mature male spider. You can see its darkened, swollen pedipalps

Stepping into the unknown and enjoying picturesque scenery is another kind of life that many people long for ❤️

A completely surprising hiking experience 🥳 Leader Yangliu was very nice, and it felt like we hit it off right away! It just so happened that I was the only one in the group that day, so I brought my dog along and we had a wonderful time together. Along the way we walked and stopped, and the leader introduced the plants. You could feel different textures and smells, and all five senses were fully unleashed—something you can't experience in the city. The leader also prepared lots of tea snacks and seasonal fruit. Lying quietly in the mountains was so relaxing. I'll definitely come again next time 🥹🥹

Deep in the woods, in a warm bed woven from the fine pine needles beneath the pine trees, a beauty of life offered by mycelium, sunlight, and rain. All kinds of mushrooms break through the soil, and we are lucky enough to encounter their cute and beautiful forms, as if discovering little precious gems one by one, carefully separating them from the earth.

The experience was pretty smooth overall, and I did get to learn about the stars, but I still wish the content and format had been a bit richer and more interesting. Also, it was said there would be fruit and snacks on the boat, but in the end it seemed like we only got yogurt.