Introduction
This year’s National Day holiday, I and my two friends Alger Galsworthy and Stephanie Adela went hunting in Yongzhou, Hunan. We signed up for this activity through a professional hunting club, with the aim of experiencing the landscape and hunting culture of southern China, as well as relaxing ourselves, away from the hustle and bustle and pressure of the city.
We chose WildGuarder brand night vision equipment as our hunting tools, because we heard that this brand’s night vision equipment has excellent performance, can observe and record targets in complete darkness, and is easy to operate, suitable for beginners. We ordered two products online: WildGuarder NB1 night vision binoculars and WildGuarder NR1 night vision monoculars, respectively used for observation and shooting.
This trip impressed me, not only because of the beautiful scenery and rich culture of Yongzhou, but also because of the surprises and fun that WildGuarder night vision equipment brought us. In the following article, I will introduce in detail our itinerary in Yongzhou, as well as the advantages and use experience of using WildGuarder night vision equipment.
The background and preparation of the hunting trip
I am a person who loves outdoor sports and adventure, and I have always been interested in hunting, which is a primitive and exciting activity. I have participated in several hunting trips abroad, experiencing the thrill and tension of chasing wild animals. However, in China, due to legal and environmental restrictions, hunting is not an easy thing. I have been looking for a suitable place and opportunity, where I can enjoy the fun of hunting under the premise of complying with the rules and protecting the ecology.
After searching online, I found a professional hunting club that organized a hunting trip from Yongzhou, targeting wild animals in Jiuyi Mountain National Forest Park. I immediately signed up and started my preparation work.
First of all, I need to choose the appropriate prey and hunting location. According to the information provided by the club, Jiuyi Mountain National Forest Park has a rich and diverse wildlife resources, including pheasants, wild ducks, hares, deer, wild boars, wild sheep and so on. Among them, pheasants and wild ducks are relatively easy to catch, suitable for beginners; hares and deer are more alert and agile, requiring some skills and patience; wild boars and wild sheep are more fierce and strong, requiring higher level and courage. Considering my experience and preference, I decided to take hares as my main target, while also not missing other opportunities.
Secondly, I need to choose the appropriate weapons and equipment. According to the information provided by the club, they will provide professional hunting guns and ammunition, and provide corresponding training and guidance. In addition, I also need to bring some necessary equipment, including protective clothing, anti-skid shoes, gloves, hats, backpacks, water bottles, first aid kits and so on. Moreover, since this hunting trip is most important of all, I need to choose the appropriate night vision equipment. According to the information provided by the club, this hunting trip will last for two days and one night, among which night hunting is an important part, because many wild animals are active at night, which can increase the difficulty and fun of hunting. However, night hunting also has many challenges, such as unclear vision, unclear direction, difficult target identification and so on. To solve these problems, I need a night vision device with excellent performance, simple operation and reasonable price.
After comparing several different brands and models of night vision devices online, I finally chose WildGuarder’s night vision binoculars. This binoculars has the following features:
1.It uses advanced infrared technology that can provide clear images and videos in complete darkness, allowing me to observe and capture targets at any time.
2.It has high magnification and high resolution that can let me see distant details while also adjusting focus and brightness to suit different environments and needs.
3.It has a lightweight and durable design that can be easily carried and mounted on guns while also resisting water dust vibration and other harsh conditions.
4.It has a long battery life that can support continuous work for more than 8 hours letting me not worry about insufficient power.
5.It has a reasonable price that is more affordable and cost-effective than other brands and models of night vision devices.
The customs and culture of Yongzhou, Hunan
Yongzhou, Hunan, formerly known as Lingling, is a famous historical and cultural city, and one of the birthplaces of Chinese landscape poetry. It is located in southern Hunan, bordering Guangdong, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces, and is a transportation hub of Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces. It has rich and diverse historical, cultural and geographical features, as well as unique lifestyles, customs and traditional culture.
Historically, Yongzhou is the mausoleum of Emperor Shun, an important territory of the Chu state, the Lingling Prefecture of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, a place where literati and inkmen used their talents in the Tang and Song dynasties, an important military fortress in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and a revolutionary base area since modern times. Yongzhou has produced many outstanding figures in history, such as Emperor Shun, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Lu You, Li He, Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Anshi, Han Yu and so on. They left a lot of poems and stories here, adding a strong cultural atmosphere to Yongzhou.
Culturally, Yongzhou is one of the birthplaces of Yao culture and Chu culture, and an important part of Hunan culture. Yongzhou has colorful folk arts and festivals, such as Yao’s long drum dance and Yao songs, Han’s local tunes and flower drum opera, various ethnic groups’ dragon dance and lion dance and riding bamboo horses. Yongzhou also has a rich variety of folk beliefs and feng shui theories, such as worshipping Emperor Shun and mountain gods, believing in Buddhism and Taoism, visiting famous mountains and temples and celebrities’ former residences. Yongzhou people love singing and dancing, can sing and dance well, and like to express their emotions and thoughts with poems and songs.
Geographically, Yongzhou has a complex and diverse terrain, including high mountains and plateaus, hills and basins, river valleys and plains. It belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons abundant rainfall and rich products. It has many natural landscapes and cultural attractions such as Jiuyi Mountain National Forest Park Shun Emperor Mausoleum Liu Zongyuan’s former residence Lingling Ancient City etc. It also has many characteristic agricultural products and handicrafts such as Jianghua Yao’s bacon Daoxian dried fish Dong’an bamboo weaving Qiyang wood carving etc.
In terms of life Yongzhou people are hardworking simple enthusiastic hospitable value family and kinship. They like to eat chili peppers and pickles with rice as their staple food meat as their side dish. They like to drink tea and liquor with tea as their beverage liquor as their accompaniment. They like to wear floral cloth clothes embroidered shoes with floral cloth embroidery as their clothing. They like to live in bamboo buildings tiled houses with bamboo tiles as their building materials. They like to grow flowers vegetables raise chickens ducks with flowers vegetables as their gardening chickens ducks as their poultry.
In terms of customs Yongzhou people have many traditional festivals ceremonies such as Spring Festival Lantern Festival Qingming Festival Dragon Boat Festival Mid-Autumn Festival Double Ninth Festival etc. They also have many special folk activities such as celebrating the New Year staying up late pasting spring couplets setting off firecrackers dancing dragon lanterns eating reunion dinner eating glutinous rice balls sweeping tombs worshipping ancestors racing dragon boats eating zongzi admiring the moon eating moon cakes climbing high admiring chrysanthemums etc. They also have many traditional wedding customs such as blind date engagement engagement gifts welcoming bride sending bride banquet worshipping heaven earth entering bridal chamber etc.
In terms of hunting Yongzhou people have a long history culture of hunting which is one of the important origins of Chinese hunting culture. Yongzhou has a rich diverse wildlife resources such as pheasants wild ducks hares deer wild boars wild sheep etc. Yongzhou people like to use hunting guns night vision equipment for hunting activities for fun income sources. Yongzhou people’s attitude views on hunting are complex diverse some people think that hunting is a primitive exciting sport that can exercise their body will also increase food wealth some people think that hunting is a cruel dangerous behavior that will destroy ecological balance natural environment also endanger themselves others’ safety some people think that hunting is a traditional reasonable activity that is the cultural heritage left by their ancestors should be protected inherited. Anyway hunting is an influential force that cannot be ignored for Yongzhou community which has both positive negative aspects. Yongzhou, Hunan, is a picturesque and splendid city, and also a food capital, with a rich and diverse food culture, absorbing the characteristics of Hunan, Cantonese, Gan and other cuisines, forming its own unique flavor. Here, you can taste a variety of delicious and beautiful dishes and delicacies, such as sour and spicy, sweet and salty, that will make you satisfied and linger.
During my trip to Yongzhou, I tried the following foods, which impressed me and left me with good memories.
The first one is Dong’an chicken. Dong’an chicken is Yongzhou’s representative dish, and also one of the national banquet dishes. It uses the local special Dong’an chicken as the raw material, which is marinated, cooked, dried and fried through multiple processes. The chicken is firm and tender, golden in color, tender and fresh, sour and spicy, and melts in your mouth. Dong’an chicken is not only delicious, but also has a good meaning, symbolizing good luck and happiness.
The second one is Yongzhou blood duck. Yongzhou blood duck is another famous dish of Yongzhou. It uses the local specialty blood duck as the main ingredient, which is cooked with chili peppers, peppercorns, star anise and other spices and seasonings. The duck meat is red and shiny, full of chili peppers. It looks very stimulating, but it tastes not spicy or greasy. It is soft and chewy, fragrant with sweetness, sweet with spiciness, spicy with a bit of sourness. It is smooth and refreshing.
The third one is Qiyang qu rice fish. Qiyang qu rice fish is one of the traditional dishes of Qiyang County. It uses the local specialty qu rice (a kind of small freshwater fish) as the main ingredient. It is marinated with salt ginger garlic peppercorns etc., dried in the sun fried in oil until golden and crispy then taken out. Then add chili peppers peppercorns bean paste etc. to stir-fry red oil in the pot then put in the fried qu rice fish stir-fry evenly. This dish looks red and appetizing tastes spicy and delicious qu rice fish meat is soft and tender with a fragrance and sweetness.
The fourth one is Jianghua Yao’s eighteen stuffed foods. Jianghua Yao’s eighteen stuffed foods are one of the traditional delicacies of Jianghua County’s Yao people. It uses eighteen different ingredients as raw materials (such as eggplant tofu skin beans green peppers etc.), fills meat into them then fries or steams them. The skin is crispy the filling is tender the taste is delicious the nutrition is rich. This dish not only reflects the wisdom and creativity of Yao people but also reflects their unity and harmony.
The fifth one is Yongzhou drink snails. Yongzhou drink snails also called Yongzhou suck snails are one of Yongzhou’s famous snacks. It uses the local abundant river snails as the main ingredient which are cooked with chili peppers peppercorns ginger garlic etc. to make soup then put river snails into soup to cook them. The way to eat snails is very interesting you have to use a toothpick or iron needle to pick out the snail meat from the shell then suck a mouthful of soup then put snail meat into your mouth to chew it. In this way between sucking and eating you can feel the snail meat’s toughness crispness freshness soup’s deliciousness spiciness very addictive.
In addition to these foods I also tried some other characteristic foods such as Dong’an water ridge mutton Qiyang ink fish tofu silk Ningyuan stuffed tofu orange sugar etc., each one impressed me made me understand appreciate Yongzhou’s food culture more. I think Yongzhou’s food is not only a taste enjoyment but also a cultural inheritance they carry Yongzhou people’s history stories emotions show Yongzhou people’s life attitude spirit.
Conclusion
This hunting trip has given me a lot of gains, not only experiencing the hunting culture and local customs of Yongzhou, but also feeling the superior performance and convenience of WildGuarder night vision equipment. I think this trip is not only an entertainment and relaxation activity, but also a learning and growing process.
First of all, I learned about the attitude and views of Yongzhou people towards hunting, as well as the impact of hunting on the local community, through hunting. I found that Yongzhou people have complex and diverse views on hunting. Some people think hunting is a primitive and exciting sport, some people think hunting is a cruel and dangerous behavior, and some people think hunting is a traditional and reasonable activity. I respect their different opinions and try their different practices, from which I learned a lot of knowledge and skills. I also realized that hunting has both positive and negative impacts on the local community. It can increase income and food, but it can also damage ecology and safety. Therefore, I followed the local laws and regulations when hunting, and tried to minimize the damage to the environment and animals.
Secondly, I felt the food culture and flavor characteristics of Yongzhou by tasting delicious food, and also enhanced my understanding of Yongzhou history and stories. I found that Yongzhou’s food is very rich and diverse, with various dishes and delicacies that are colorful, fragrant, spicy, sweet, salty and delicious. I tried Dong’an chicken, Yongzhou blood duck, Qiyang qu rice fish, Jianghua Yao family eighteen stuffed, etc., each one made me enjoy it very much and linger on. I also felt the wisdom and creativity of Yongzhou people from the food, as well as their emphasis on family and affection.
Finally, I improved my hunting efficiency and safety by using WildGuarder night vision equipment, and also increased my fun and confidence. I found that WildGuarder night vision equipment is very advanced and practical. It can clearly observe the target and environment in the dark, accurately locate and shoot the target at a long distance, and work stably in any weather and temperature. It not only made my hunting easier and more successful, but also made my trip more interesting and memorable.
