There is nothing unusual about the origin of the bystreet. There is a street across the street, and many places have this street name. However, the origin of the gatehouse has its origins. At first, it was named "Fengmenmen" because of Feng Yushan, and there were many ponds around it. Farmers often rock their boats to Fengmentang to trade their chickens, ducks, fish, shrimp, rice, water bamboo and so on. It's in the cross street. The word fennel was interpreted as the vegetable name "Fei" in ancient Chinese, which also means fennel is the root of water bamboo, so the street name was changed to "Fenmen".
In 1950s, the city gate was demolished. In 1980s, cement hexagonal slab pavement was changed. Most of the buildings on the street still retain the style of the late Qing and early Ming dynasties and real people. Now, Qianjie Street and Houhe Street are parallel, maintaining a prosperous open-air market for so many years, and gradually becoming the characteristics of Fengmen Old Street, becoming one of the four famous food markets in the old city of Suzhou, with a strong street flavor and being able to experience the original Suzhou indigenous life.
Fengmen Street is the only well-known and well-preserved street in Suzhou. It is 690 meters long and 5 meters wide from east to west street, which is no different from many Jiangnan towns, but it is enough to interpret the street culture of Suzhou people.
Walking into the bystreet, you see the street with white walls and Daiwa. There are many shops on both sides of the street, and people are coming and going, which is very lively. A century-old shop reveals a golden plaque, a striking commercial cover, and continues the ancient commercial atmosphere.
There are no elegant and nostalgic scenery and celebrities' former residences in the whole street. There are no famous specialty silk and handmade works of art Shuang Mianxiu representing Suzhou. There are no imported products and brand-name products in the shops. Some ordinary people have everything to eat, drink, wear and use, and the goods are all-encompassing and diverse in style. In a word, they are as small as a needle and thread and as big as a jar.
There is a plaque on the facade of almost every household. The name of the shop is written in gold with a black background, which is quite satisfactory. It is not a masterpiece of calligraphy. The name of the store can be called a hundred flowers, which shows the cultural atmosphere of the market.
There are stalls on both sides, and there is not enough space for pedestrians to walk. If you meet two fatter people, you need to get out of the way slightly. Imagine the ancient crosswalk, not to mention the carriage and ox cart. It is difficult to cross this narrow street even with a little donkey. Now, once in a while, a few bicycles and battery cars ride by, and they can only crawl in the crowd.
The wooden buildings in the shop are very old. They were eroded by the wind and rain of time, they wrote all the vicissitudes of life, or they suffered from carved beams and painted buildings that were considered damaged, which proved their brilliance. The tiles on the roof are getting darker and darker, calm and stable, and they are humiliated in the sun. Perhaps, one of them experienced the ups and downs of the Tang and Song Dynasties and witnessed the changes of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Hengjie is just a market, an enhanced rural market. Suzhou, no matter how fashionable and modern it is, actually constitutes the three primary colors and original ecology of its life, or the ubiquitous and ever-present market atmosphere, fireworks smell and grassroots nature, where a real and real life flows.
People who go to fengmen crosswalk for the first time will feel very chaotic and crowded, and this impression will change after walking around. Fengmen Hengjie is not completely a crowded food market, either noisy or quiet, completely regular, and everything has no sense of disobedience.
There is little difference between Fengmen Street and the farmers' market in the city, but it is fresher, with more fish and shrimp and a little cheaper. When you enter Hengjie, you don't have to worry about early adopters, which are not only fresh, but also "old", such as old ling, old goose, old turtle and old soy bean curd. Suzhou is full of time, freshness and tenderness, and the convenience of logistics in metropolis makes it icing on the cake.
All kinds of vegetables are available, even all kinds of fruit and vegetable seedlings can be bought. Suzhou people are also very particular about eating vegetables. They love to eat seasonal vegetables, and they are particularly particular about what to eat in what season. For example, eat three kinds of fresh vegetables in the long summer, namely: green broad beans, green garlic seedlings and rice leaves. Suzhou people seldom eat out-of-season vegetables. They only like to buy local vegetables. For example, green vegetables are only planted by suburban farmers, broad beans are like Wu Jiangqing, and green beans are like green beans planted in the open air. If foreign dishes are collectively called Hakka dishes, old Suzhou generally won't buy them home.
Grocery and non-staple food are also a highlight on the street. There are all kinds of household groceries. There are all kinds of dry goods from north to south, only what you can't think of, nothing you can't buy.
On the street, from beginning to end, you can see fixed or mobile vendors. Listening to the accent, most of the stalls are from outside. Most vegetable farmers around the local area temporarily carry the burden to sell vegetables, mostly elderly people, and the most common vegetables, such as green vegetables and radishes, are neatly packed inside. Most old people sit on the floor and wear farm work, while a few old women wear homespun blue headscarves and are kind-hearted. Compared with fixed stalls, they are guerrillas with fresh vegetables and meager profits.
When it comes to eating meat, we can't help but say that Suzhou people love to eat three pieces of meat, the sauce meat in Ming and Qing dynasties, the cherry four-happiness meat at the wedding ceremony, the steamed meat with lotus leaf powder in summer, oily meat and small fresh meat with five spices. The old Suzhou people are unique in what season to eat what meat, and they will never be confused.
There are all kinds of aquatic products, rivers, lakes and seas, and Suzhou people also pay attention to draught products, such as eating screws before Qingming, eating turtles in cauliflower season, eating eels in summer and so on.
Eating in all directions is just a bowl of fireworks. Dim sum shops can be seen everywhere in Hengjie. There is a lot of hot air in the shop, which is curling up, and the fragrance of all kinds of food is filled in the air.
Yang Yuxing at the entrance of Hengjie specializes in Su-style noodles and various snacks. A batch of fried buns that just came out of the pot were sold out in a short time. Zhao Tianlu's oil dumplings are a must, and the golden fried glutinous rice dumplings are refreshing. Pancake fritters in Zhangji Bakery are standard for many people's breakfast. Yuji Pie Shop has been open in Hengjie for many years. Most of the people who come here to buy pancakes and fried dough sticks are old customers around. There is a long queue at the gate of the famous Huangfuxing Cake Group.
At the end of Roy Street is the rising sun. At the moment when the sun rises, the warm light brightens everyone's smile.
In several wineries, dozens of pot-bellied jars with mud-sealed jars are neatly placed in front of the door and indoors, and a big word "wine" is written on red paper. The jar must be full of wine and the fragrance of years.
Chunqinyuan Teahouse is the only civilian teahouse preserved in Hengjie. As early as the Qing Dynasty, it was Chunqinyuan Bookstore, which reopened after the renovation of Hengjie and became the present teahouse. Most people who come to drink tea are ordinary people, and most of them are old tea drinkers. When participating in the US presidential election, people who drink tea talk about everything. If they are strangers, they will occasionally go to the teahouse for tea, and the old customers will look at you up and down with strange eyes and treat you as a foreigner.
Every morning, the endless cries of vendors and the haggling of customers can last until the evening. People joked that walking into a crosswalk is just like Chinese New Year, and an endless stream of people can sometimes block the whole street.
The soft Wu dialect of the local people and the southern accent of foreigners are mixed together to form a wonderful Jiangnan symphony. There are housewives who look idle and lazy, wearing high heels, walking on the uneven flat stone road and making a "drumming" sound. These stereos are the best places for ordinary life and people's families.
There are thousands of flavors of life, and a short Fenmen Street condenses all the flavors in the world and shows the customs of Gusu City.
The topic of "Light of Words" adheres to the value concept of "finding readers for good articles and finding good articles for readers" and does not accept submissions at present.
Platanus acerifolia is its preferred theme, welcome to submit and recommend.
Editor-in-chief Han Hanyu and all the editors are waiting for you to find us with wonderful words.