Reluctantly i walked on from Wuli, my destination is Qiunatong, not Wuli, i had to remind myself. i could hear the dogs barking from across the river and remembered the warnings from the notes i've gathered of fierce dogs in that village. Hence i had to make do with admiring Wuli from afar and not trespassed into its territory. Though, if i had company, i would really love to take a look in the village especially knowing there remained a path in that village which is part of the ancient Tea Horse Caravan route. i had by then, given up on hitching a ride as none of the vehicles that had passed me were willing to give me a ride. (Yea, not attractive enough). In any case, my cramps and the 8kg didn't seem a problem up to that point yet though my previously sprained ankle was begining to hurt. According to the notes, Qiunatong is 1 &1/2 hours walk from Wuli, so i pressed on....
The path to the right after crossing the bridge leads to Wuli and is supposedly part of the Ancient Tea Horse Caravan Route.i should have crossed the bridge but i guess the big black dog that was hovering around must have upset my train of thoughts and i walked straight on, somehow with the impression that i should not cross this first bridge....
On and on i walked till i saw the few huts from a distance. i was quite happy, thinking i'd reached the foot of Qiunatong village, a little surprised that i had arrived so soon. 
Alas, there was no more path behind the huts. i waved off a few yelping puppies and called out to the villagers behind the huts to ask for directions. They turned out to be very friendly people warmly inviting me to have a cup of tea at their home, told me i had to turn back and cross the steel bridge next to Zhao Hong Bridge and walked from between 1/2 to 1 hour before i could reach Qiunatong. i declined their kind offer of tea as i wanted to reach Qiunatong as early as possible to explore around and turned back once more to the path leading to Zhao Hong Bridge
The road opposite the river should be the track to Qiunatong
Back to cross the bridge, thank God the dog had disappeared
This notice warns of the danger of the winding road that may collapse at many parts and forbade any tourists vehicles from using it. i guess that's the reason there's no official transport from Bingzhongluo to Qiunatong?
And obviously the warning was not without its point
Nope, not Qiunatong yet, but a small settlement of a few huts , all built similary with the lower half of the hut made of stones, the upper half of wood, and the roof made from loose slabs of stone pieces. This looked to be the common style of architecture in this area
And more picturesque views along the way
Finally, at the end of this picture above and round the corner, i arrived at the second bridge, the Sennidala Bridge (森尼打拉桥), which is a short stone bridge and crossing it brought me to the foot of Qiunatong where there was a path that continued ahead with some huts and to the right another path that led upslope. i tried the path upslope and thank God it was the right path, after confirming with the family on the slope. Again i was invited to rest and have tea in their home but the over enthusiastic doggie and my impatience to reach Qiunatong stopped me from accepting their offer once again. i was told i should arrive at the village up there in 1/2 hour.....hmmm...
The path up the slope to Qiunatong was typical of hill treks, narrow and not paved, full of small stones and animal droppings, thank God though, for it was dry weather else it could be muddy, slippery and tricky on a wet day.
Basically, the path runs along a stream which not only supplied water but also provided hydroelectricity for the villages up the hill.
And mules are still the best mode of transport here, like in many remote places in other parts of the world, not the motor bike or 4 wheel drive or ferrari or...
The gradient increased as i climbed higher and my lungs were not working fast enough so i was totally exhausted after walking for about 40mins from the foot without sign still of Qiunatong. i was panting for breath when i met this lovely 7 year old girl -王心萍 (Wang Xinping) who invited me to rest next to her. She's out to shepherd her flock of cows and pigs and also to carry some wood back for her family. Asked if she attended school and she said yes but school was closed for winter vacation till 1 March in that area so she's free to help out the family. Asked if she knew the Yu family, the family where all the notes had recommended to put up with in the village, and she said no. Asked how far was the village and she pointed up and said not far... :) the kind of answers i've been getting always from villagers, which invariably meant the contrary. Anyway, i decided to press on and not rest there.
After 10mins, i just couldn't lift another step anymore, decided to stop and have a bite, the first since my breakfast that morning. Finished off the Snickers bar and the big pear from home, felt recharged and continued the seemingly endless and ardous climb up the final leg...........
Phew! at last! i see the village!!! There were some villagers at the beginning of the village and when asked directions to Yu's home, they directed me to walk on till i see the church square.
As i was trudging into the village, little Xinping and her herd had caught up with me and i found out later she's actually the neighbour of the Yu's but somehow she knew not the name of Senior Yu when i asked her earlier.
First impression of Qiunatong village in the late afternoon sun
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