Mengdong River rafting gets popular

Boatmen put inflatable rubber rafts into water at Hani Palace, the starting point of Mengdong River rafting. Each rubber raft can accommodate 12 tourists, and tourists can choose to sit on any rubber raft.

Mengdong River rafting of Yongshun County has a total length of 17 kilometers, and the current drifting route is the upper half of the 11 kilometers. The words “first drifting in the world” catches the attention of tourists. According to the boatman, in 1991, the famous sociologist Fei Xiaotong, who was 81 years old at the time, wrote this inscription for the Mengdong River rafting during his in-depth research in Wuling Mountain Area. He also wrote a poem for it.

Mengdong River is famous for its magnificent mountains, fast-flowing water and numerous caves. During the 3-hour drifting process, rapids and dangerous shoals follow one after another. Mengdong River has 108 rapids and over 20 different sizes of waterfalls. If lucky, tourists will see monkeys jumping on both sides of the river.

Wang Xiumei, general manager of Xiangxi Mengdong River Tourism Development Company, said that on August 7, the Mengdong river rafting received about 3,000 tourists, and over the past week, the peak number of daily tourists has reached over 4,000.

The popular drifting has also driven the sales of local cured meat, rice tofu, and vine tea. “The rice tofu that I make is highly favored by tourists, and I can earn several hundred yuan in a busy day,” said a rice tofu stallholder.