Text/Old Dream of Nancheng

In 213, in order to be closer to home, I resigned from Nanchang alone and went back to Nanning to look for a job.

I was standing at the confusing bus terminal in Dashatian, and from time to time, I heard the voice of the electric car master shouting for customers and the noise of subway construction.

Now, five years have passed quickly. Two subway lines have been opened in Nanning, and the other three lines are being built in full swing. The Shajing area where I work is already full of high-rise buildings and a busy scene.

As the provincial capital, Nanning bears the expectations of too many Guangxi people. From the national strategy of developing the Beibu Gulf to the grand hosting of the World ASEAN Expo, Nanning, as the core city of the Beibu Gulf Economic Development Zone, is heading for prosperity.

Nanning is a famous southern city with a long history, beautiful scenery and full of poetry and painting.

here, mountains, rivers, lakes, streams and green trees and flowers complement each other, and the trees are shaded all the year round, and the flowers and fruits are fragrant, so it is known as "Garden City" and "Green Capital of China".

Most foreign tourists who don't know much about Nanning come to visit Nanning. The basic route is as follows: in the morning, they relax in Qingxiu Mountain, which is full of green eyes and lungs and overlooks the downtown area of Nanning. Then, after coming out of Qingxiu Mountain, it is noon, they go to Zhongshan Road Snack Street for lunch. In the afternoon, they visit Guangxi National Museum, and then enjoy leisure and water color in Nanhu Park. Go to Genting for sightseeing in the evening and overlook the beautiful night view of Nanning.

from the establishment of Nanning to now, the city has gone through 168 years of vicissitudes. In the eighth year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 634), Emperor Taizong named it as Yongzhou, and Nanning was called "Yong" for short.

In ancient times, Nanning belonged to the "Land of Hundreds of Yue", in which two branches, Xi 'ou and Luoyue, were ancestors of Zhuang people in Nanning, and later developed into the largest minority in China.

since ancient times, Nanning has been a famous commercial port and main material distribution center in southern China. Because it is located at the junction of the economic circles of South China, Southwest China and Southeast Asia, it is also an important economic center around the Beibu Gulf coast and a newly emerging hub city of the Southwest Sea Passage.

With its geographical advantages of facing Southeast Asia, being backed by Southwest China and being adjacent to Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, Nanning plays a supporting role as a central city for coastal cities in Guangxi, a connecting role as a hub city for economic circles in South China and Southwest China, and an opening role as a frontier city in China for Southeast Asian countries.

Because it's not too cold in winter and Nanning's unique subtropical climate, people in this city have a unique way of traveling-cycling. This city was once called "a city on motorcycles", but its population of seven million owns half a million motorcycles, and there are countless traffic accidents caused by motorcycles every year. Later, due to air pollution and the need of urban management, motorcycles were banned in downtown Nanning and replaced by electric bicycles. Now, there are 2 million electric donkeys in Nanning.

Nanning has been transformed from a "city of motorcycles" to a veritable "city of electric bicycles".

When I first came to Nanning, traffic lights such as intersections are often shocked by the huge flow of electric bicycles, and countless "electric donkeys" are ready to go, waiting for the green light to pass.

Many people laughed and said that without electric bicycles, Nanning is like an angel with a broken wing, which shows the importance of electric bicycles to this city.

However, the popularity of "electric donkeys" has also brought many problems, such as littering, battery theft, running red lights, driving without a license and so on. The battery thief who claimed that going to jail was more fun than going home became popular on the Internet, which made many people helpless.

Walking in the streets of Nanning, the most common ones are all kinds of powder shops, such as snail powder, old friend powder and sour powder, which have various tastes. If you don't try the powder in Nanning once, you will come in vain.

It is conservatively estimated that there are 26, large and small noodle shops in Nanning, and some delicious shops even have to wait in line to eat.

in addition, there are many supper stalls here. On a hot summer night, when the high temperature fades during the day, the streets and alleys of the city begin to be crowded with people, and they come out to go shopping one after another. The richness of nightlife is comparable to that of Guangdong.

Nanguo Street, which specializes in midnight snack and all kinds of beef offal;

Yuanhu Road, which is not sleepy and has porridge in spring, summer, autumn and winter;

Zhongshan Road Food Street with all kinds of fish, shrimp, shells and oysters

...

Just listing these snacks has left people drooling.

Oh, yes, there are Nongyuan Road and Chaoyang Road. One is a holy place for young people to go shopping and relax, and the other is a favorite shopping paradise for girls. You can go shopping and eat all day.

Wandering in this south city, with the rapid development of this city, more and more villages in the city have been eliminated. Perhaps one day, the old streets with the characteristics of the old city, such as Water Street, will gradually disappear and be replaced by towering office buildings and commercial houses.

on that day, will people in this city walk in the street view of this city with a little sadness and nostalgia like me?

Nowadays, places such as Tingzixu, which represent Nanning's human history and urban personality, have gradually declined and disappeared. Emerging wuxiang new district and subways extending in all directions are impacting every old corner of the city. The wheel of historical development keeps crushing and burying the loneliness of the older generation, which makes people feel deeply sorry.

the dream of the south of the city, the old days are gone forever.

Nanning is losing some precious things in the process of urbanization. These history and past can only be sealed in our hearts, and future generations can only recall the stories that happened here through fuzzy old photos.

there are many strange and contradictory places in the development of cities. There is a balance between the pursuit of development and the preservation of tradition. People hope that it will preserve the old streets and lanes, but they are worried that it will be left behind by modernization. Only the lively midnight snack stalls on summer nights can soothe people's hearts.

What have you gained and lost in this city full of fireworks and self-satisfaction? Is the roadway you miss most? Or the man I haven't seen for a long time?