The poem depicts the ancient town of Hong 'an, which is known as "three provinces with one foot". Located at the junction of Chongqing, Hunan and Guizhou, it faces the border town of Huayuan County, Hunan Province across the river in the east and is connected with the landscape of Qijia Town in Songtao County, Guizhou Province in the south. It is the "gateway to southeast Chongqing". It is a flower planting land that spans three provinces, and it is also the prototype of the border town written by Shen Congwen.
"From Sichuan (now Chongqing) to Hunan, there is an official road to the east. When this road approaches the border of western Hunan and reaches a small town called "Tea Cave", there is a small stream with a small white tower and a family living under it. There is only one old man, one girl and one yellow dog in this family ... "Border Town describes the scenery of Hong 'an ancient town, a border town in Xiushan, Chongqing, from the beginning.
The ancient buildings in Hong 'an Ancient Town have unique craftsmanship and modeling, and Tujia Miao Village has a unique style. Natural attractions such as "Elephant trunk sucks water", "Jiulongpo" and "Three No Matters" Island are all famous. Hong' an Town is surrounded by mountains and waters, with trees, blue waves and picturesque scenery. The most interesting thing about Hong 'an Old Street is the boat crossing the Sola River, which connects the docks on both sides with a steel wire and is also tied with the power of the ferry. After the passengers were full, Lao Shaogong sat leisurely on the wooden square platform in the boathouse, using a slotted log as a hinge, stuck it on the steel wire crossing the river, and dragged the boat to the other side bit by bit.
There is also the Hongcha Bridge across Chongqing and Hunan.
Go down at Hongcha Wharf on the left side of the bridge, cross bridge opening, and you can walk into the "Three Provinces with One Foot". The so-called "one foot in three provinces" refers to the place where the museum is built, that is, the intersection of the three provinces, including both Chongqing land and Hunan and Guizhou land. Standing in the pavilion, you can not only step on the land in three different provinces, but also hear the crowing from three different provinces. This is the origin of the "Three Provinces Pavilion with Crows".
"Three No Islands" was originally named after an unknown local island. Before liberation, the island did not belong to Hunan, Guizhou and then Sichuan (now Chongqing). Whenever the contradictions and conflicts among the masses are fierce, they will meet on the island to fight or duel, but the officials of the three governments will not ask. Over time, the island has become a well-known "three no matter" island. Known as "Jingyanggang" by locals and businessmen.
There is also an Anle Street in Hong 'an Ancient Town, which is about a kilometer long. The terrain is urgent, so don't have a charm. Standing on the high street, looking forward and backward are rows of stacked conical buildings, irregularly arranged on both sides of the street, and the scale of the building community is extraordinary. It is said that there are 24 quadrangular patios in the town, which were seriously damaged during the Republic of China and the Cultural Revolution, but several of them are still well preserved.
It is conceivable that the bustling scene of Honganji Town and merchants gathered in those days was so prosperous! Today, commercial activities in Hong 'an Town are as frequent as ever, including border people from Hunan and Guizhou who come here for trade activities. Locals call it "border grabbing". Whenever there is a market in town, I see the streets crowded and jostled. Shaving one's head to make up the pot, fortune telling and divination ... all walks of life have everything, and business is booming and very lively.
Today, Hong 'an has become a famous tourist attraction. It is not only an ideal place to relive the story of the border town, taste the civilization of the ancient town and experience the border trade, but also a spiritual home with rich natural scenery and profound cultural accumulation. When Shen Congwen returned to Xiangxi from Beijing and revisited the border town, he was once again infected by the simple, kind and tolerant folk customs of the people in the border town. After returning to Beijing, he wrote the immortal classic novel Border Town at 1934, creating another fascinating paradise. Hong 'an ancient town, as the place where the sad love story in the novel Border Town takes place, has been endowed with more profound cultural implications.
Hong 'an is not only a tourist and leisure resort integrating natural scenery and human landscape, but also a famous old revolutionary base area. During the War of Liberation, when Liu Deng's army marched into the southwest, Hong 'an was the first stop in Sichuan.
On the square in front of Xinhe Hotel in Hong 'an Town stands a monument to Liu Deng's March into the southwest. The inscription was written by Chongqing Mayor Wang. The monument is more than ten meters high and has a unique shape and a triangle shape. The three sides represent a city and two provinces bordering here, and the whole monument is like a sharp bayonet, pointing directly at the sky, which is shocking.
After you have been to many ancient towns, you will find that most of them have already been seriously commercialized, but Hong 'an ancient town is different, and it still retains a strong flavor of local life. An old woman burning firewood in the street, a mother nursing her children, an old man smoking a cigarette in the sun, and a woman practicing square dance with her companions in her yard. ...
They live in their own intermission and enjoy themselves.