Pingwang is located in the center of Wujiang River, where the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Old Canal, the Taipu River, and the Diotang River converge. Together with the Huqiu Tower, Baodai Bridge, and Fengqiao Night Mooring, they form the "Ten Canal Scenes" of Suzhou.

Historical records record: Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there has been a pond, road and tripod between Jiawei from south to north. The sky is bright and the water is flat as far as the eye can see, so it is named Pingwang.

It has always been a water and land transportation hub for Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. In the Tang Dynasty, a post station was set up in Pingwang. In the Northern Song Dynasty, big merchants and giant ships came and went, and the people were prosperous. It has always been a place of military disputes. Therefore, the ancient buildings in the town have been severely damaged by wars, and the remaining

There are only a few, and its popularity is inferior to Tongli and Lili in Wujiang that have not been affected by war.

But before the 1980s, in the eyes of my family, Pingwang’s status was far superior to that of Songling, where the county capital is located.

First, family members were seriously ill, and most of them went to Pingwang District Hospital for treatment.

That year, my brother's appendicitis turned into peritonitis, and he had to go to Pingwang Hospital for treatment before he recovered his life.

Secondly, the crematorium was located in Pingwang at that time, and "go to Pingwang" became a synonym for "death". For example, an old smoker replied to his wife: "Humph, you want me to quit smoking? Let's talk about it in Pingwang!".

Therefore, people refrain from saying "go to Pingwang", and when they have to say "go", they will add suffixes such as "to see what's wrong", "to buy fishing rods", "to be a guest", and "to have something to do" after the word "go".

Growing up, I have sat in a car and passed by it on National Highway 318 and Provincial Highway 227 countless times, but I have never gone for a walk in the town. To me, it is like a lotus in a pond - far away

Just watching.

The fragrant osmanthus is fragrant and the autumn light is just right. Friends meet up to have a walk and go there happily.

At about ten o'clock in the morning, we took the 748 bus. An hour later, we arrived at the famous Xiaojiuhua Temple, adjacent to Yingzhou Lake in the south.

When my father was young, he once led an army of ducks to gallop on Yingbo Lake. He talked about Xiaojiuhua Temple many times. I always thought it was just a small temple.

Unexpectedly, when I stood in front of the rebuilt temple, I saw that the buildings in the temple were well-proportioned, with majestic eaves, temples, and towering golden pagodas.

According to records, Xiaojiuhua Temple, also known as Jiuhua Zen Temple, was originally named Dongyue Temple. It was built in 1685 to worship Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

We took a look at the screen wall, archway and white marble Guanyin on the water near Yingbo Lake.

Then enter the mountain gate, worship Maitreya Bodhisattva in front of the Heavenly King Hall, then walk in, worship Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in front of the Main Hall, continue forward, pass the Ksitigarbha Pavilion to the northernmost part of the temple, turn right to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda.

It is said that the tower is illuminated at night and has become a landmark that can be seen at night.

After worshiping the pagoda, we headed south back to the mountain gate.

Although I have never paid homage to the Buddha one by one, I walked slowly around the fragrant temple, and the solemn and quiet Zen spirit quietly entered my heart along with the Sanskrit sounds.

After exiting Xiaojiuhua Temple, turn left and walk a few steps forward, you will see the ancient canal with clear water flowing through the town from north to south.

There is a leisure trail between the temple wall and the ancient canal. The courtyard wall is designed as a cultural stele gallery according to local conditions, displaying the historical relics and clog marks of Pingwang, as well as the historical materials of Zhang Ji, Zhang Zhihe, Lu Yu, Yan Zhenqing and other sages.

Reading slowly, one can't help but be surprised by Pingwang's profound historical and cultural heritage.

At the end of the more than 200-meter-long trail is the famous Ande Bridge.

It is said that there are two theories about the origin of the name of the bridge: one theory.

It turns out that crossing the river here relies on ferries. One day, a poor scholar who came to Beijing to take the exam but only had three cents on him repeatedly begged the boatman Diao Hua to help him. However, Diao Hua, who had always been demanding money for ferrying, insisted: "The minimum price for taking my boat is six cents."

Money, three cents can only be used half way." After saying that, he turned the boat around.

The helpless scholar jumped into the cold river... A few years later, the poor scholar became the patrol supervisor. He donated a hundred silver taels, and with donations from various parties, a stone bridge was built. To commemorate the merits of the patrol supervisor, the people built it with it.

The bridge is named "Ande".

In another story, Ande was a ferry worker. He saw that people had many inconveniences when crossing the river by ferry, especially in windy and rainy weather, so he asked the county magistrate to build a bridge, but the magistrate ignored him.

One day there was a strong wind, and when Ander was carrying the ferrymen to push the boat to the middle of the river, a strong wave capsized the boat and people fell into the water.

He calmly rescued the ferryman in the face of danger. After learning that this person was actually a patrol officer traveling incognito, he implored him to ask the local government to build a bridge.

The inspector immediately ordered the county magistrate to build the bridge and reprimanded him for his inaction.

The county magistrate later took the opportunity to fabricate charges and sent Ander to the army, where he was tortured and died in a foreign country.

Later, the people named the bridge "Ande".

Although the plots of the two legends are different, the theme is the same: the virtue of benefiting the people will last forever.

Information about the bridge shows that it was first built in the Dali period of the Tang Dynasty, rebuilt in the third year of Qingyuan in the Southern Song Dynasty, built many times in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and rebuilt again in the eleventh year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty.

This historical fact of reconstruction and reconstruction demonstrates its important role in the history of transportation.

The north-south Ande Bridge sits astride the intersection of the ancient canal and Diotang. It is ten meters high and more than 50 meters long. The bridge deck is more than four meters wide. The single-hole stone arch is reflected in the water, and the shapes and shadows are connected, which is quite a sight.

When Yan Zhenqing was the governor of Huzhou, he traveled to Pingwang and wrote a five-character poem called "Climbing to Pingwang Bridge to Compose". There is a sentence in the five-character poem "Looking at the pole and the balance". In the poem "Crossing Pingwang" by Yang Wanli, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, there is a line "A chaotic port crosses the city, and the high bridge

"It's over the mast", which is enough to prove the magnificent shape of Ander Bridge.

There are thousands of bridges in the water town of Wujiang, and Ande Bridge is the most bridge in the country!

Climb up the stairs and climb the bridge to look south, with a panoramic view of the vast Yingbo Lake and the cigarette-filled Xiaojiuhua Temple. Turning to the north, you can see the rows of pink walls and black tiles in the town.

Although the weather is cloudy and there is no blue sky to be seen when looking up, the gentle autumn wind carries the scent of cinnamon to the nostrils, which makes people feel relaxed and happy, and the heart is as pure as washing, forgetting both things and myself.