As I've heard from friends who have been there before, Zhouzhuang is famous, but the commercial atmosphere is too strong, while Wuzhen is more able to reflect the daily life of the people in the water towns, which is why I chose to go to Wuzhen rather than Zhouzhuang on this trip to East China.
8:30 a.m. by the Hangzhou Automobile East Station car departed, the car line half, Hangzhou October sky will be a long drizzle, it is really the south of the day easy to change ah. But along the way is not bad, nearly ten o'clock will arrive at the destination. Get out of the car and look around, a little disappointed, presented in front of the eyes is a little noisy modern township, not a little water township atmosphere. In the station wondered to buy a guide map, only to learn that the attractions from the station is still a long way away, need to take a 10-minute bus to reach. I've been waiting at the bus stop with an umbrella for half a day, and I've got a broken down bus, and I've got to wait for the bus to fill up before I can leave.
After more than 10 minutes of bumps, the bus stopped at the door of the Xijie attractions, get off to spend 120 yuan to buy a single ticket Xijie attractions, into the gate, across a stone bridge, the water under the bridge is very dirty, the drizzle on the surface of the river is also few boats, more blow my fun. The famous Wuzhen is just like this? Then the boat sailing through the 30 meters of the small pond is really into the scenic area.
The next boat, turn the corner, gradually have a little bit of the old town feeling. Continue forward not far, the tourists gradually more, vaguely the sound of the play came. This will come to the assembly point of the town, one side of the Tongxiang flower drum theater, the other side is a Taoist temple, is the first stop on today's visit to Xiuzhen view. The area between the theater and the Taoist temple is Wuzhen's only meeting place, similar in nature to Shanghai's People's Square, where all the town's events, big and small, gather.
Crossing into the temple, too many tourists, people next to people, but also the rain and fog, it is difficult to see, think nothing more than some statues of gods. In front of the tour group lecturer's voice drowned in the tourists, it is rare to hear. Into the second temple, will not be interested to listen to what is explained, the statue of a few tables placed in front of each sitting in front of a person, dressed as Taoist priests, colorful and listless in the face of the tourists to and fro. Just see one of them wearing a white lab coat, head combed Taoist hair bun, emaciated face, two eyes downcast, drowsy, limbs spread in the seat, is amused, and then to the table in front of the sign on the look, no way, this person is a full of true religion forty-seven generations of preachers Chen Moumou Abbot, if the full of true religion ancestor of the ancestors are really like the novels of the Golden Mean that as heroic, mighty rivers and lakes, the springs got to see the preachers of their own is a look of honor, I do not know what to think.
Cultivation of the world's most famous martial arts teacher and ancestor
Cultivation of the view out, follow the flow of people from the back door into the Xia Tongshan Hanlin mansion, few people know Xia Tongshan, but no one knows Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage, when the Yang Ge case shocked the whole country, and finally it is the Xia Hanlin for the case of Chinese cabbage. Xia Tongshan once served in the Ministry of War, left minister, equivalent to the current vice minister of defense, but also the Hanlin Academy, a very large official position. Because of the Yang Ge case he offended many powerful officials in the court, and ultimately difficult to tolerate, fifty years old to return to their hometowns, but unfortunately the end of the water countryside in the realm of the good enjoyment of life, 51 years old and passed away. Legend has it that in order to repay the favor, before being sent to a nunnery, the cabbage had quietly lived in this residence for three months to serve Xia Tongshan, lived in a dark room on the second floor, not known.
The Hanlin residence is not as magnificent as imagined, just like a small family in Jiangnan. Although there are layers into the front hall and backyard, but they are pocket-sized. Hall structure is also very compact. A few clusters of bamboo in the back garden, two rows of rockery, a bay fish pond, plus a theater only enough for two people to stand down, and then come in three or five tourists have been full. Through this miniature garden, came to the front hall, "De Xin Liu Yuan" De plaque on both sides of the parallel each put a mahogany box, painted on the dragon Xiangyun, is said to be placed in the place of the emperor's imperial decree. Turn around and see a about two or three feet high threshold, which is a symbol of the family. In ancient times, the higher the status of the family the higher the threshold, Xia Tongshan once served as the left minister of the Ministry of War, the threshold is naturally not generally high. And this over the high threshold when you have to pay attention to not be able to step on the threshold, but must be a step across, otherwise it will be regarded as stepping on people's heads. General threshold is divided into three layers, the upper two can be removed, only in the emperor's decree to the time, only need to remove the upper two threshold.
From the main hall to the side door through the Xia Tongshan study, a bamboo collapse, a few chairs, a table, a water tank, a cabinet, is the study of all, only the word can be commented on simple. Side door to go out and then turn to cultivate the true view, the original this Hanlin residence and cultivate the true view is only a wall apart, after the convenience of visitors, open a small door of interoperability.
This time has come to noon time, according to the introduction of the tourists, came to the Xunyang House, ordered here famous plum dishes buckle meat, fried stinky tofu and a plate of green vegetables. Eat while looking out the window, the street is a restaurant, and unified each store in front of two pots, one boiled turnip mutton, one boiled with mustard buckwheat, it is also a feature to attract guests. Speaking of food, in addition to the above mentioned mutton and pork with preserved vegetables, and then is the white water fish, white water fish is freshwater fish, to eat white water fish here to eat a fresh. When it comes to specialties, there are two, one is the three white wine, the so-called three white - white water, white rice and white flour refined, and the other is the sister-in-law cake.
The end of lunch, a look at the time of 12:30, the next to go is the pawnshop, just across the door into the pawnshop, close to the face is a wooden wall, is wondering, look up, only to understand that this is when the platform, exaggerated a little bit said in addition to reaching out but also pawing the feet to be able to the window of the cast when. Such a kind of condescending, not to mention the old poor desperate to cast when, even now also feel pressured. That kind of mood, but experienced some. Into the pawn store in the hall, the wall hung three big God of Wealth portrait, the general family only for a God of Wealth, the only store for the three, pawn store owner's greed can be seen a little. Portrait of a side of the two tables on one side is the equivalent of the cashier now sits, the other is the accountant's seat. The cashier sat on the stool, in fact, is a box, box side of a just can be stuffed down a coin hole, the box key only pawnshop owner only have, it is called only in and out. Through a door, is the storage of goods when the room, wooden cabinets partitioned into a locking drawer, I think only the pawnshop owner can open it.
The back door of the pawnshop is not far from the square in front of the Cultivation Observatory. Without having time to do a little recuperation, they hurried to the next location - Mao Dun's former residence. So far it has been in the house around, and I ran to come to the Wuzhen bridge and water and rainy promenade? I have to wait until after the visit to Mao Dun's residence to find out.
Wuzhen has a typical Jiangnan streets, along the Guanqian Street to the contradiction of the former residence, but all the streets in front of the Taoist temple, will be called Guanqian Street. Guanqian Street in Wuzhen is very different from that of Suzhou. Although both are crowded and lively street, but here the street is long and narrow rather than called a street is more aptly called a city lane. Both sides are erected with high doors, along the street paved with green stone is no longer intact, more or less left the traces of the years, but still clean and tidy. Side by side three people have been very crowded on the street to and fro are all visitors, not careful not to touch the shoulder of the front tourists is to go side tourists squeezed to one side, it is said that the year Liu Ruoying starred in the movie "Watery Years" and a short time ago the hot "dark calculations" on the scene here.
Mao Dun's former residence in this street is not deep, from the Lizhi Academy, a door, face to face will see a stone statue of Mao Dun when he was young and wearing a long shirt, head held high, spirited. Above the head of the stone statue hangs the horizontal plaque of "Where there is a will, there is a way", and in the glass windows on both sides are some introductory illustrations of the academy and of Mao Dun's childhood studies here. When you enter the back room, there is a fragment of the manuscript of "Sunset" from Mao Dun's famous novel "Ziyou" engraved on the wall, and in front of it stands a bronze bust of Mao Dun in his old age. Going around to the left of the bronze statue and through a small door, Mao Dun's former residence is connected. From the backyard to the study and then through the kitchen to the front hall out the door, the narrow aisle crowded with tourists, in turn next to each other, step by step to move forward, already do not know whether it is a fair or visit, just the same push and squeeze out of the front door, a breath of fresh air.
Mao Dun's former residence so hastily turned around, swallowed a date in one gulp. And then not far along the street forward, is Yu Yiliang coin museum, in addition to the display of a few glass windows of the liberation of circulating banknotes and did not see anything else, continue to the next place to go, is a family of handmade workshops, into a courtyard, rows of high drying racks full of long blue prints, a rustic and natural feeling immediately came to the back of the rows of the two rooms are placed in the production of blue prints of tools. An old man is demonstrating how to brush wax, laying a thin divider engraved with an openwork pattern on the white fabric, then repeatedly brushing wax on the divider so that the openwork is filled with wax, and then removing the divider so that the fabric is left with a pattern made up of dots of wax marks. The waxed cloth is then placed in a vat full of dyes and heated repeatedly. All the dyes are made of special blue grass, and with the constant heating during the dyeing process, the colors are bright and long-lasting. The dyed cloth is dried in the shade in the house, then exposed to the sun on a drying rack in the yard, and finally the wax on the cloth is scraped off to make the blue-printed cloth we see. The production process may seem simple, but the dyeing process, especially the making of the dyes, is something that requires exquisite skill to accomplish.
Further ahead to the end of Guanqian Street, the river seems to have turned its head here, forming a small round lake, the green stone slabs here paved into a platform, the waterfront side of the several steps made to facilitate the use of water. Once upon a time, all the water used by the residents of the town was taken from this river. To the other side of the river you need to pass through a wooden bridge, and other bridges are different, this bridge has a zigzag top, and by a thin wooden wall made of wall is divided into two sides, half of the wooden wall is hollow, walk on both sides of the bridge can see each other's faces. When I approached the bridge, I read the description on the stone slab and realized that this is the "Double Bridge of Feng Yuan". It is said that men and women walk on each side of the bridge, and unmarried men and women can meet their destined partners here. And from the opposite side of a group of tourists, is listening to their guide to introduce the bridge method, "one side on behalf of the promotion, one side on behalf of the wealth, want to promote the right side of the person, want to get rich on the left side of the person". Regardless of the marriage or, promotion or wealth, are people's pursuit and desire, and the bridge is still a bridge.
Over the bridge, is a section of the rainy promenade, which is drizzling days, see the scenery is the most beautiful. Under the promenade with benches, sitting in twos and threes or tourists or the elderly living here, are all cozy. The bench under the corridor has a nice name - Beauty Leaning. Imagine in the haze of smoke and rain, the beauty leaning against this bench, gazing at the river, reverie unlimited, it is a beautiful picture ah. In such an environment, people do not realize that the footsteps are light, and the body and mind are extremely relaxed.
After walking along the promenade, the sunlight sprinkled down, and the willows along the river welcomed the wind. On one side of the river boats come and go, on the other side of the forest shade, cozy no words. On the other side of the forest came a drum, stepped on a wooden planks in the forest made of a winding path to follow the sound, opposite the water in the bay parked a slightly larger than average cruise ship, the bow of the front fluttering, on the deck only to see a body strong man, dancing sword waving fists, very powerful. Rush around a stone bridge to go in to watch, the original front written on the "fist boat" two words. The big man at this time has ended the show, into the cabin to rest. This water bay is called the God of Fortune Bay, where visitors wash their hands after the hand wash, do not easily wash their hands again, because it has been stained with fortune, will bring fortune. Along the side of the Bay of Fortune is a small commercial area, all kinds of stores, there are selling Wuzhen specialties, before the side of the mentioned three white wine and Gouxiao cake mostly, and then there are blue printed cloth made of all kinds of knick-knacks and clothing.
Tired, you can sit down anywhere along the river to rest, a section of the promenade and a section of the beauty leaning shiny, cool and comfortable, and not wide river every few hundred meters there is a small bridge, connecting the two sides of the river to freely come and go. Nowadays, most of the young people have moved out of town to live in modern comfortable houses, the town left the old elderly to guard the old and clean house, the continuation of the old town of the past habits. The whole town is not big and very concentrated, houses are built along the river, close together. Some houses are also low to the river, window sill planted with a few pots of small flowers, standing in front of the window, look down in front of the river can be seen in front of the flow, night sleep will be able to clearly hear the sound of the river wave wave wave wave swaying. I envy the people who live by the water and have such a wonderful happiness.
Around 2:40 p.m., after the tour of the West fence attractions, I heard that there is also a East fence, due to the fear of not enough time, directly back to the station waiting for the train. On the way back to the rain more and more heavy car speed slower, back to Hangzhou to stay in the hotel is 6:30 p.m., Hangzhou downtown has been lights flashing. In the room to change the rain wet clothes, go to the restaurant to order a Dongpo pork and West Lake vinegar fish, drink a bottle of Yanjing beer to warm up. After a good meal, back to the room to take a hot shower, pillow Jiangnan wind and rain, once again dreaming of the water village ......