The desert Gobi, the snowy plateau, the bony loess slope and the warm and generous valley land, all the images you can think of are related to Lanzhou, indirectly or directly.

With Lanzhou as the axis, Hexi Corridor is like a back supporting two arms, supporting Qinghai-Tibet and Xinjiang. The Silk Road is connected with different customs, and people in Lanzhou have seen it too much. For them, there is nothing new under the sun.

Iron horse, autumn wind, Saibei. There is not an inch of land in Lanzhou that has not been trampled by war horses, because her real name is Jincheng, which is impregnable.

For any city in China, it is a great honor for the Yellow River to pass through the city. Lanzhou is such a lucky dog.

The Yellow River roared all the way from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but suddenly became quiet and gentle in Lanzhou, passing through the hilly loess. A cramped place in the embrace of the Loess Plateau, the story of Lanzhou begins here. For more than two thousand years, Lala has scattered the past of Lanzhou people.

Everything here seems to be related to drifting. It seems that even identity is a vague concept. More north than the northwest, is it the mainland or the frontier? As for Lanzhou, we seem to know everything, but in fact we know nothing.

1. Face in hometown, people in the distance.

Lamian Noodles in Lanzhou is the most incisive city symbol in Lanzhou. But no one in Lanzhou will admit the existence of Lanzhou Lamian Noodles. There is only Lanzhou beef noodles in this world. "Niuda" is the nickname of Lanzhou people for that bowl of noodles.

People in Lanzhou always start with "a big bowl of cows" in the morning.

The rolling of beef soup with mellow aroma, the collision between the master's face and the chopping board, the "squeaking" sound of diners eating noodles, and the buzzing of people in noodle restaurants all over the street. The morning in Lanzhou is noisy and lovely, and it is also full of subtle life breath.

One clear and two white, three red and four green, Huang Wu, these standards are familiar to Lanzhou people, but no beef noodle restaurant can be recognized as the first. The only certainty is that a real bowl of Lanzhou beef noodles can only be eaten in Lanzhou.

As one of the three pilot varieties of Chinese fast food designated by China Cuisine Association, today's Lanzhou beef noodles have already left the Loess Plateau and blossomed everywhere in China, becoming the most powerful and magnificent catering army in the world's favorite country.

Not only a bowl of noodles, but also young people who have left Lanzhou, and their departure is even more decisive.

The annual return rate of non-normal college graduates trained outside Gansu Province is less than 50%. Even fewer students from other provinces go to Lanzhou to study.

Lanzhou University, which has won almost all the fame that China University can get, is called the loneliest university in China. The newly-built Yuzhong Campus is 45 kilometers away from the downtown area of Lanzhou, backed by the loess high slope. It is hard to believe that it is one of the universities with the deepest accumulation in China.

There is no doubt that the attraction of Lanzhou is declining. When the young people left, they took away part of the hope of the city. Lanzhou has the fifth national new district in China, but it is not enough.

For the runaway Lanzhou people, hometown seems to be lovely only in the distance, and beef noodles are particularly mellow only after a long separation.

The water of the Yellow River has been flowing.

The Yellow River cut Lanzhou from it, revealing her extraordinary fate.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing, the youngest and most outstanding general of the Han Dynasty, led the cavalry across the Yellow River and entered the hinterland of Xiongnu. On the other hand, Li Xi, who is self-serious, was ordered to find a ferry on the Yellow River to meet them.

Li Xi, who is in his fifties, can't be as aggressive as Huo Qubing, but the battle on the battlefield has given him enough keen judgment. He chose a relatively wide and gentle section of the Yellow River, a narrow strip where three river valleys meet, and the army could advance and retreat freely. The troops that built the city quickly entered, so a fortress, Jincheng, appeared along the Yellow River.

During Zhao Han's reign, Jincheng County (now Xigu, Lanzhou) was formally established and belonged to Jincheng County. Jincheng West reaches Hexi Corridor, the most golden position on the Silk Road; Passing south through Hezhou (now Linxia, Gansu) is the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; The north is a vast land where riders have been cruising for thousands of years. Needless to say, the rich Guanzhong Plain is within reach. Jincheng, with its superior geographical position, has since become an important pawn of the Central Plains dynasty in the frontier.

As the birth of frontier fortress, Jincheng Lanzhou is full of iron and blood. This character has been written in the genes of Lanzhou people. Lanzhou writer Zhang Hailong once told such a story:

There used to be a beautiful woman in our school who was both rigid and flexible. Once I went to eat beef noodles, and the seat she had just occupied was robbed by some rascally young people. The young people didn't say that they occupied the seat, but looked at her with that provocative look.

With a straight face, the beauty only said to the master below, "The next one is wider, with more peppers and more coriander and garlic seedlings!" "

Later, when a bowl of steaming beef noodles was brought to her hand, the beauty slowly walked to the table and suddenly changed her strength. With a unique skill of "breaking the plum hand in Tianshan Mountain", she suddenly put a bowl of noodles upside down on the head of the young man sitting in her seat, and then another bowl hit him on the head.

Lanzhou people take evil as their enemy, and their nature is like fire. Accordingly, what has been lacking here for a long time is the meticulousness of becoming a metropolis.

This situation began to change slowly in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty set up general manager office in Lanzhou, named Gaolan Mountain. The name of Lanzhou appeared for the first time, and the division of Lanzhou gradually stabilized. Compared with Jincheng, the name is not so sharp, although Lanzhou is still at the front of the war.

Lanzhou is the most important transit city on the Silk Road. In fact, until today, tourists who choose to go to Dunhuang, Zhangye, Wuwei and even Xinjiang will choose Lanzhou as a transit point. This is the luck and misfortune of Lanzhou.

In ancient times, there were no planes. In addition to car-drawn transportation, Lanzhou also had a sheepskin raft that looked a little cute. Fortunately, the Yellow River suddenly slowed down in Lanzhou, making crossing the river less thrilling.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River gave Lanzhou another honor. The Ming army, which pursued the Yuan army everywhere, came to Lanzhou and crossed the Yellow River here as usual. Instead of choosing sheepskin rafts, they built pontoons to facilitate transportation. Since then, Lanzhou has had the "first bridge in the world"-Zhenyuan pontoon bridge. Nowadays, Zhongshan Bridge reinforced with steel is the successor of that pontoon bridge.

With the Yellow River Bridge, Lanzhou's position is even more important. In the Qing Dynasty, in order to better rule the western regions, the governor of Shaanxi but Gansu moved to Lanzhou, which became the throat of the northwest. Zuo, who rebelled in the northwest in the future, once supervised military affairs in Lanzhou and set up Lanzhou Manufacturing Bureau, which made Lanzhou's modernization in the forefront of the northwest.

The thirst of the Loess Plateau can only be alleviated by the nourishment of the Yellow River. Wherever the Yellow River flows, as long as there are valleys, it will inspire vigorous vitality. Most people's stereotype of "desolation" in northwest China. Whether this impression is correct or not, the bitter water in the northwest has poured out even the sweetest melon in China. For example, the white melon in Lanzhou, from the United States, has become a symbol of sweetness on the Loess Plateau.

Lanzhou seems to have been witnessing "crossing the road". Some people stay and others leave. From the ferry, to the Silk Road, to the western expedition of the left Xiang Army, and now to the northwest transportation hub. Lanzhou, has been on the road.

3. Lanzhou people continue to walk.

Lanzhou is a city with a deep understanding of roads. The Longhai Line, which starts from Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province in the east and ends in Lanzhou in the west, has always been an artery in China's traffic network. In the new planning of 20 16, Lanzhou is included in the "eight horizontal and eight vertical" land bridge passage.

In addition to the Longhai Line, there are also important railway trunk lines such as Lanxin Line, Lanqing Line and Baolan Line, which radiate the vast northwest with Lanzhou as the center.

The influence of the railway on Lanzhou continues to this day. 1952 Lanzhou station was completed and put into use. The following year, the First Five-Year Plan was launched immediately. 156 among the national key projects, 8 have settled in Lanzhou. In addition to the assistance of the Soviet Union, builders from all over the country came to Lanzhou, where the dust was flying in the northwest, and then their bags were full and they were integrated with heaven and earth.

With their arrival, Lanzhou began its own rapid development process. The population increased rapidly from10000 in 1949 to 700000 in 1959. The dilapidated urban area has also been transformed by industrialization. The deep foundation laid at that time and the unchanged "throat" status for thousands of years made Lanzhou still have no chance of winning in today's urban competition.

If you walk in Lanzhou, or happen to know Lanzhou people, you may hear them speak a special dialect, just like Mandarin with a nonstandard accent. That is Jinglan dialect, the most vivid remains of Lanzhou immigrants.

This is not the first wave of immigration in Lanzhou's urban history. In the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Jiangnan immigrants moved to Lanzhou. It is said that nearly 50,000 people followed Wang Su to Lanzhou. People in Lanzhou are like sand blown by strong winds. With this in mind, all doubts about Lanzhou seem to be solved.

People unload their bags here, but they don't really open them. Did all the soldiers who followed Li Xi to Jincheng City take root here? How many businessmen are left on the Silk Road? Even many warm-blooded young people who made up their minds to build the great northwest left this yellow land full of tears and sweat in the future.

Regular greetings and farewells make Lanzhou people always find the most appropriate emotion, which is warm and fiery. I would like to believe that Lanzhou is not a place to stay for a long time, and I would like to believe that there is a life aesthetics worth experiencing there.

4. North by northwest, fierce and elegant

Gao Ertai, an aesthete, once said, "This is an aesthetically desolate city, so you can stay indoors". Yes, Lanzhou people grew up in a bumpy environment, however, this did not hinder the emergence of Lanzhou people's wonderful nightlife.

As soon as the night fell, Lanzhou city began to smell of wine, and Lanzhou people began to feel hot with wine. People exchange excess hormones for dopamine to the greatest extent, and alcohol is the catalyst of this chemical reaction.

People in Lanzhou don't just bump beer into their stomachs. That's heartless for the dazzling array of food in the night market.

Cold noodles with barbecue are enough to punch the night. Egg and milk mash, or candied fruit, is a kind of sweet Zui Xiang different from pure drinking. The smoothness of water fish is enough to drive away heat, and the dense taste of gray beans has always been suitable for winter and summer. It was not until a black Lanzhou full of food and wine flashed in neon lights and night that satisfaction began to spread in the body.

In a trance, Lanzhou is so Jianghu. If you want to know Lanzhou, you must take advantage of the night and follow the buzzing voices to get a glimpse of the city. The prosperity of this school always gives people a real feeling of living in the world.

Only by understanding this feeling can we find out why this city has the strongest folk songs in China.

"Stranger, please give me a Lanzhou." Lanzhou appeared in the dreams of young artists in various names. Lanzhou became fertile ground for China folk songs, much earlier than Miss Dong's singing. Wild children and absinthe, including Chen Xiaohu and Lan Zhou, the younger generation, have appeared in songs for countless times, striking the eardrums and hearts of wanderers with a series of intriguing roars and whispers.

Zhang Hailong, a writer in Lanzhou, once named a book describing Lanzhou as "North by Northwest, Knights". The autumn wind, loess and Yellow River in the northwest always make people feel fierce. Including the undisguised feelings in northwest folk songs, Lanzhou is often straightforward.

Lanzhou contacts are earlier, more calm and euphemistic. This is another business card of Lanzhou-reader.

Reader magazine was founded in 198 1, with a monthly circulation of over 10 million at its peak, ranking first in China and fourth in the world. In such a large readership, I wonder how many people are interested in writing because of its inspiration. For more than 30 years, it is very warm to think that there has always been such a group of people who constantly choose and present the most simple beauty and goodness.

Since then, the story of changing hometown to another place, or changing from a foreign land to hometown, has been staged in Lanzhou. She seems to be the most wandering city in China, and she doesn't know where she will go.

This kind of life experience just provides the singer with the source of inspiration for singing, the psychological motivation for readers to cook chicken soup for the soul, and the perfect logic for wanderers who leave Lanzhou.

In Lanzhou, there seems to be a loose relationship between people and cities. However, a wanderer in Lanzhou is hard to live up to the word "Lanzhou".

You can say that she is romantic, desolate, Jianghu and decadent. Unfortunately, any of the above definitions is grandiose or thin. Lanzhou is home to Lanzhou people, but it is far away to others. Maybe that's it.

References:

Kang Min's pioneering work in the history of Lanzhou-documentary of Shanghai enterprises moving to Lanzhou, Westernization Movement in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Rise and Fall of Modern Industry in Lanzhou, Selected Works of Lanzhou Literature and History, Selected Works of Chengguan Literature and History, Lanzhou Refinery, Summary of the Historical Organization Evolution of Lanzhou by the Office of Geographical Names Leading Group, and Memorabilia of Lanzhou in Past Dynasties by Zhang He. , Cai's Discussion on the Countermeasures of Human Resources Development and Talent Gathering in Gansu, North-northwest Knife-wielding Man, Ye Zhou's Shan Ye Today and chinese national geography No.663 &; Gansu album 664.