As soon as the rainy season in Weishan Ancient City pauses, it ushers in 30°C "high-temperature" sunny weather, with only the mountains still shielded in the coolness of 20°C+.
Driving from Weishan Ancient City along the Weimi Line for 40 minutes brings you to the gate of Bird Passage Pass. Continue on a single-lane stone road deep into the dense, sky-covering forest for about 3 kilometers to reach the end of the road, where the hiking trail of Bird Passage Pass begins. Bird Passage Pass is free to visit, and parking is also free.
Bird Passage Pass is about 2,700 meters above sea level. It was once an important pass on the Ancient Tea Horse Road and part of the Southwest Silk Road. Years of horse hooves stepping on the same spot of the same stone have left a deep, clearly visible hoof print. The Longqing Pass, where Bird Passage Pass is located, still retains traces of the Ancient Tea Horse Road, which remain intact due to its deep mountain location, allowing visitors to personally experience the ruggedness of the ancient path.
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, a stone tablet inscribed with the four characters "Bird Passage Pass" was erected here, considered the earliest and oldest record of a "bird path" discovered in the world.
From mid-September to mid-October each year, thousands of migratory birds pass through here on their way to winter in Myanmar, India, and other places. Due to frequent rainy and overcast weather during this season, thick fog obscures the moon and stars, causing night-flying migratory birds to lose their way and circle around this area, creating the spectacle of "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix."
Bird banding work is carried out here, using marked birds to study their migration dynamics and patterns. In the autumn of 1985, experts conducted the first banding of night-migrating birds here, opening the first page of Yunnan's bird banding history.
This season, there is no "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix," only the surging green of midsummer. This vast forest oxygen bar feels like a vacuum sealed off from the world, with the sweltering heat kept outside and only endless self-circulating freshness and coolness inside, much like the Land of Oz in "The Wizard of Oz." The mountains are awash with green; one can slowly return.
