The Tongyuan Gorge Creek is rich in water, inexhaustible for thousands of years. The high mountains on both sides face each other, the canyons are secluded but winding, the strange stones are scattered and unique, and the waterfalls are continuous and beautiful, forming a unique and rare group of waterfalls and water mills in China.
A water hammer (pronounced "dou") is a device that uses water power to pound rice. A water wheel is set up at a place with a large drop in water flow by a stream or beach, and a small channel is built with stones to guide water towards the water wheel. It relies on the impact of the water flow to drive the water wheel to rotate and drive the two stone hammers inside the house. It takes turns pounding and chiseling bamboo chips, turning them into fine bamboo powder as fine as smoke and dust (widely used and a scarce substance), which floats out of the gaps in the water hammer and spreads out, Like the faint smoke of a kitchen.

 

 

 

 

　　The group of water mills in Tongyuan Gorge is a unique scenery in the local area. These water mill houses left over from history continue their ancient function - pestle incense powder (used to make sandalwood and incense, locally known as incense powder). The raw materials are wood chips, shavings, or bamboo bags. Its working principle is very simple, using water power to drive the water mill, and then pressing the knife shaped stones on the wooden pins, continuously hammering the raw materials until they become powder finer than flour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking past the water mill house, the thumping sound shook the ground to the point where it trembled. In the twilight, the fragrant dust that rose seemed like a gentle smoke that lingered for a long time, adding a touch of poetic and picturesque charm, making it unimaginable. What a beautiful scenery and natural sentiment it was.
According to relevant experts' research, the famous Qing Dynasty painter Badashan Ren (Zhu Da) was buried here.