At the foot of the western mountain, ten kilometers outside Weishan city, lies Shuangdui Village. Beyond the village, there is a pond of over 400 mu (about 66 acres) filled with lotus roots and arrowheads. Due to continuous rainy days, the lotus pond has only lush green leaves all summer, standing tall like umbrellas. Even though autumn has arrived, few lotus flowers are in full bloom; occasionally, buds hide shyly under the umbrella-like leaves. Visitors who wish to admire the lotus here may need to wait another week.
Standing on the wide concrete road in the fields, the fragrance of lotus leaves wafts gently in the breeze. "Lotus breeze carries fragrance, bamboo dew drips with clear sound." Coming here to admire the lotus on a rainy day would surely offer a different experience. Walking along the field paths, the dense and tall lotus leaves form a maze that blocks out the sky. Finding the few lotus flowers in this maze is no easy task, let alone the scene of boating to pick lotus seeds.
The lotus flowers have not yet burst into full bloom; some delicate petals, unable to withstand the changing season, quietly fall onto the lower leaves. A crystal-clear droplet of water resembles the tears of a lotus bidding farewell.
The buds add a touch of vibrant color to the otherwise dull lotus pond, but it is the sky-covering lotus leaves that dominate the pond. In harmony with the gentle breeze and rain, they sing an ancient Jiangnan melody of "lotus leaves so lush and green."
Nearly half of the ponds in Shuangdui Village are planted with arrowhead, an aquatic crop unique to the southwestern plateau. Seeing the emerald-like stamens held aloft by the pure white petals of arrowhead flowers for the first time was both novel and delightful.
Weishan is dry and water-scarce, so most farmland can only grow drought-resistant tobacco. When I first saw it, I thought it was a unique local vegetable. Only later did I learn it was tobacco, with beautiful small flowers standing tall among the broad leaves, yet no bees or butterflies come to visit.
