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Mysteries of Sichuan
by Paul Stonehill
FATE :: May 2007
Sichuan Province is located in southwest China, near eastern Tibet. The province is home to numerous anomalies, ancient mysteries, cryptozoological creatures, and paranormal phenomena. Only an hour away from Changdu, the province capital, is one of China’s most sacred mountains, O-Mei. The province also hosts Xichang Space Center, Rocket and Launch Center, an important part of Beijing’s program to reach the stars. The largest province of China, with a population of almost 100 million, is also a very esoteric place.
Few people in the West know of the mysterious, foggy Heizhu Valley (Black Bamboo Valley) located in the Sichuan Province. The valley, nicknamed the Valley of Death, is sometimes considered to be one of the most anomalous zones in China. Comprising 180 square kilometers, it has rarely been disturbed by humans. Perilous topography has been baneful to a number of scientific expeditions. The valley has a unique geological location, complex natural conditions and primitive ecology, as well as mysterious past and present. This is a land of dense forests, wild animals and rare plants, numerous lakes, mountain peaks, waterfalls…and a strange fog.
The Yi people, native to the valley, claim that one should speak in a low voice here so as not to disturb the mountain god, lest he produce a thick fog that will sweep away all signs of life. Stories about the disappearance and deaths of humans and livestock have been long known in the area. One tells of 30 Kuomintang soldiers who once entered the valley when Red China was first established in 1949; they were never seen again. In 1966, a military expedition on a mapping mission disappeared without a trace. In 1976, three members from a Sichuan forest prospecting team also disappeared in the valley; three skeletons were found three months later. Then, in 1995, two soldiers disappeared when they passed through the valley, and only their weapons were found some time afterward.
Could the disappearances be explained by strange, thick, perhaps poisonous fog that lasts almost all day long in the valley? According to Russian sources, those who made it out of the fog tell of strange noises and report the loss of time. Witnesses tell of a thick fog that envelops people, and they are gone by the time it lifts.
There have been unexplained plane crashes in the valley. Some Chinese scientists believe that strange accidents probably happen there because of saturated fumes of decaying plants that choke people; victims then lose their bearings and die in deep fissures that are abundant in the area. The scientists remind us that the magnetic field at Heizhu is so strong that it can disable compasses and actually cause plane crashes. Others are not so sure.
The Yi people who have inhabited the valley for thousands of years have their legends; one of the most interesting ones describes the city of their origin, Shimenguan. According to an ancient Yi teaching, entrance to Shimenguan was strictly forbidden, and anyone who dared attempt it would be severely punished.....
Read the rest of this article in the May 2007 issue of FATE
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