A Chance Encounter in Juyukou: A Rain That Turned the Village into Poetry

On the way back to Jiangshan Station, we took a detour into this village as raindrops dotted the car windows. Known as the "Hometown of Woodblock Prints," Juyukou Village captivated us with its yellow earthen houses veiled in mist—slippery bluestone paths winding ahead, bamboo sieves under the eaves still dripping with water, and the distant mountain ridges fading in and out of the clouds. The moment the rain stopped, sunlight suddenly illuminated the old camphor tree at the village entrance. Rainwater pooled in the cracks of its weathered trunk, and the stone trough at its roots was covered in moss, resembling a casually placed bonsai. Walking along the stream, we saw wooden doors of a few homes slightly ajar, their red lanterns above the thresholds gleaming from the rain. Waterdrops falling from the eaves tapped a rhythm on the stone slabs, startling the sparrows perched on the drying racks. The most unexpected sight was the stone bridge by the stream. The wooden bench still bore traces of rain, and the bridge railings were polished smooth by countless hands. In the distance, a farmer woman crossed the stone bridge with a bamboo basket on her back, the vegetables inside still flecked with soil. While crouching at the bridgehead to photograph the flowing water, I noticed a fern growing from a crevice in the stone pier, its leaves dripping water into the moss below. For a moment, the entire village seemed like an ink-wash painting—no need to search for anything deliberately. Just breathing in the earthy air was soothing enough. Only when leaving did I realize the village was tucked into the folds of the mountains, where even phone signals came and went. Looking back at the photos on the return trip, the rain-washed earthen walls, the drying racks beaded with water, and the clouds reflected in the stream became the quietest footnote of the journey. Some scenery doesn’t demand haste—just a serendipitous detour to pocket the tranquility of the wilderness.