Jiang Guan
Fuchun River
There is a greenway on the Xin'an River in Jiande, starting from the Xin'an River Dam and going along the river to Xiaya, Daitou, and Meicheng , and finally Qiantan, with green mountains and green waters all the way.
The greenway is divided into four sections. The urban section is called "Purple Sweet Potato Greenway", which is the Xin'anjiang slow-traffic system in the urban area, with a total length of 3.5 kilometers.
Pictures released by Hangzhou of the Zishu Greenway unveiled at the end of last year
The second section of the "Huangrao Peninsula Greenway" is 20.18 kilometers in total.
The third section "Jiande/Sanjiang Greenway" is about 18 kilometers in total.
The fourth section "Sandu Greenway" is 9.8 kilometers in total.
The most poetic and picturesque section is the third section, which starts from Yandongguan in Meicheng in the west and ends in Qiantan Town in the east. The first time I came into contact with this most beautiful greenway was because of a coincidence.
That day I was going to a newly opened hotel. I drove from downtown Hangzhou along the Hangzhou-Xinjing Expressway and drove for about an hour and a half to Qiantan Town, Jiande City. When we arrived at Qiantanxuxi Pier, we found that we were late and the ritual of "entering the hotel by boat" could not be fulfilled. The hotel staff prepared a battery car for me, parked the car, walked a short distance, and then crossed the greenway directly after crossing the bridge.
Although I couldn’t swim on the Fuchun River, I still had the unexpected pleasure of “don’t listen to the sound of beating leaves through the forest, why not just scream and walk slowly”.
Early the next morning, we walked back to the pier along the greenway, with green mountains on one side and green water on the other. Hearing the sound of gurgling water, I instinctively approached the nest and took a sip of water.
Because of "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains", Fuchunjiang has always been endowed with an aloof and celestial spirit. The peaks, hills, rocks, clouds and trees are dense and dense. The scenery moves with people, and people move with the scenery. The Fuchun River scenery has an unmodified natural luxury, and it has always been a secluded place in the hearts of Chinese literati.
The name of the hotel I stayed in is "Fangwai", which is poetic. The word "Fangwai" comes from the "Book of Changes·Xici", "A gentleman respects the inside, and the righteousness is outside." It also specifically refers to the "fairyland" or "the living environment of monks and Taoists."
Since it is so magical, when you enter again, you must take a boat. Unexpectedly, there was a speedboat, which took about 15 minutes to the west bank of Xuxi River, a tributary.
Riding the wind by speedboat
Nowadays, hotels are becoming more and more culture-oriented, and using hotels as a vacation destination is not idle. For example, this is the first time I heard about the layout unit of "group".
There are several independent suites in a "group". Cooperate externally and gather internally, hiding wind and gathering water. Buildings stand in clusters, and people return to the traditional Chinese gathering life. Each group has a name: Jimao, Yumu, Huaqing, Zhufang, Yuqiu and Zhilu, which respectively correspond to metasequoia, elm money tree, maple, bamboo forest, pine and cypress and reed, all of which are lush as far as the eye can see. vegetation. It's so poetic and picturesque.
This is also the first time I have heard of the profession of "concierge". Compared with the "concierge officers" that many hotels have today, concierges have to do more than arrange travel, dining and deal with daily needs. In addition, he is also responsible for cultural popularization among guests.
For example, why is the room I live in called Huaqing? Because Huaqing is the maple tree at the door.
Li Shi explained that because maple leaves contain a special substance - anthocyanin, which is exactly the opposite of chlorophyll. As the weather cools, the numbers gradually increase, causing the maple leaves to turn red.
Gained knowledge.
People are willing to spend a lot of money to sleep in hotels. In addition to expensive mattresses, ecological food, and being able to post on WeChat Moments, it is best to make them feel that this trip has opened up a new world. New horizons open up new fields.
The environment is good, you sleep well, you gain knowledge, and the rest is food. When you arrive in Jiande, you must eat Jiande cuisine. I have a friend who is obsessed with food and calls Jiande cuisine "Zhejiang's Hunan cuisine".
Compared with Sichuan cuisine, which mostly uses dried chili peppers and red oil, Hunan cuisine uses mostly tempeh, fresh green and red chili peppers, spicy millet, and also likes to use soybean paste. The temperament and taste of Jiande cuisine are very similar. Hunan cuisine.
The Nine Surnames Fish Head Emperor, Yanzhou Tofu Buns, Yanzhou Salted Rice Balls, and Yanzhou Dried Vegetable Duck are all Yanzhou famous dishes that must be eaten at the hotel.
"Yanzhou" is an old name. The land merger of the original Yanzhou County has become today's Tonglu County, Chun'an County and Jiande City under Hangzhou. The seat of the ancient Yanzhou Prefecture was called Meicheng. Meicheng Town is a thousand-year-old town under the jurisdiction of Jiande City, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province.
Although Yanzhou Prefecture is no longer an administrative unit, Jiande people are still proud of Yanzhou cuisine.
Ancient Yanzhou Prefecture has a profound cultural heritage, and there are stories behind its food. The famous dish "Nine Surnames Fish Head Emperor" is a special delicacy compiled based on the local folk custom of fishermen with nine surnames "having good luck and returning home with a full load".
The "nine surnames" refer to the nine surnames Chen, Qian, Lin, Yuan, Sun, Ye, Xu, Li, and He. Their ancestors were Chen Youliang's subordinates in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. After failing in his quest for world hegemony, he was demoted to live in the waters of Yanzhou Prefecture and was never allowed to go ashore.
Meicheng is located at the intersection of Xin'an River, Lanjiang River and Fuchun River. It is rich in fish and can be used for cooking all year round. In addition, 17% of the high-quality water resources of Fuchun River are available everywhere, fish bone soup is made, and the fish tail meat is used to hand-make fish fillets, which fully utilizes the role of fish.
The hotel has also developed its own special dish - a large fish head made of crushed pumpkin and other whole grains and cooked in soup, which has a delicious sour and spicy taste. If you think the taste is too strong, you can also choose Oolong mountain spring water fish head.
Wulong Mountain is a place name located in the east of Jiande and north of the ancient town of Meicheng. The main body of Wulong Mountain is fan-shaped, and the upper peak is 909 meters above sea level. It was the most famous peak in Yanzhou Prefecture in ancient times. In "Water Margin", Song Jiang's attack on Fangla took place on Wulong Mountain.
There is a local saying, "Meicheng people will cry if they don't see Wulong Mountain for a day", which expresses their nostalgia for their hometown. There is Yuquan Temple on the mountain. When my friend, a monk who became a monk in Putuo Mountain, heard that I was building virtue again, he asked me to go and see it. He had a very good impression of the place where he lived at that time.
A scene on the Fuchun River
Yuquan Temple was built in the 10th year of Emperor Dezong’s reign in the Tang Dynasty. It was founded by Master Shaokang, the fifth ancestor of the Pure Land Sect. It has a history of more than 1,200 years and was destroyed by the Japanese army in 1942. , rebuilt in 1990. It leans against Wulong Mountain and faces the ancient town of Meicheng. It is surrounded by peaks, towering ancient trees, gurgling mountain springs, and the surging waters of the Three Rivers can be seen in the distance.
This kind of Buddhist temple wonderland is different from Mount Putuo. I can't help but think of the scene described by Chen Chuncheng in "Zhufeng Temple". I imagine that there is a very narrow gap at the boundary between dusk and night, and the wind from another world blows from there. After sitting there for a few evenings, I seemed to understand a little bit. There is a depressing force, a vast despondency, that comes at dusk. At that moment, the meaning of things drifts away. In the darkening sky, nothing seemed to matter. You panic first, then you feel relieved, and then you cease to exist.
Let’s talk about food.
Yanzhou Tofu Buns are also very famous. The tofu inside is not tofu cubes, but a mixture of pickled mustard and minced meat. "Suck" is the correct way to eat tofu buns. Because the traditional tofu buns are spicy, there was a debate about whether to improve them after coming to the hotel. Some people say, "Since it is a local delicacy, you should eat the original flavor." Some people also think that the hotel's guests come from all over the world, so the taste is a bit mediocre.
The slightly spicy Yanzhou shortbread has a crab shell yellow shell. The best thing is the filling made of fat meat mixed with top-quality dried vegetables. It is crispy when you bite it. As for glutinous rice balls, local people love to eat them with fresh meat fillings, so they are commonly known as "salty glutinous rice balls".
Salted glutinous rice balls
According to legend, there was a poor scholar in Longshan Academy in Yanzhou Prefecture who married a beautiful and intelligent daughter-in-law. Everyone praised him for his good fortune. On Lantern Festival, the scholar reluctantly agreed to his classmates’ request to eat glutinous rice balls at his home. The scholar's family was poor and had no money to buy sugar, so his clever daughter-in-law used winter pickles and diced tofu as fillings to make unique salty glutinous rice balls to entertain the guests. After everyone tasted it, they felt that the glutinous rice balls were smooth, salty and delicious, and Yanzhou salted glutinous rice balls have been passed down to this day.
During a Lantern Festival many years ago before Dianping, I suddenly wanted to eat salty glutinous rice balls, so I took the bus to look for some in the possible small alleys, and finally found it in a small restaurant in Jiande. . Come to think of it, this kind of spirit is rare nowadays.
If you have the physical strength to walk the third section (18 kilometers) of the greenway, you will have the opportunity to experience the authentic taste of Yanzhou cuisine. The conventional one is by car, the romantic one is by boat. Take a boat from Qili Yangfan Pier, or negotiate with your hotel to charter a boat and go down the Fuchun River. As we were approaching, the ancient city wall made of blue bricks in Meicheng Town had battlements in the shape of half a plum blossom, and the yellow flag of "Yanzhou Prefecture" was fluttering in the wind.
Yanzhou Ancient City
Yanzhou Ancient City Wall
Meicheng is a thousand-year-old ancient town with a history of more than 1,700 years. It has been the governor of Yanzhou Prefecture and Jiande County in the past dynasties. The location was only determined as the official place name of Jiande County in 1938. The humanistic landscape of Meicheng has been described in classical literature such as "Water Margin", "The Scholars", "The Appearance of Officialdom", and "Plum in the Golden Vase".
"Mei" refers to plum blossoms, and "Plum City" is named after the battlements (zhi die) along a section of the ancient Yanzhou Prefecture city wall along the river were built in the shape of plum blossoms. Generally speaking, only the city walls of the capital city can be built in the plum blossom shape, which reflects identity and status.
"There are two and a half plum blossoms in the world", one in Beijing, one in Nanjing, and the other half is in Yanzhou. But this half flower is enough to make the people of Meicheng proud, which means that it can be on an equal footing with the northern and southern capitals.
Every ancient town must have an ancient street, with bluestone paved roads and Hui-style buildings with white walls and black tiles. The Xinhua Bookstore and cinema, which have a strong sense of the times, are still preserved, and there are shops on both sides.
In August 2018, the protection work of the ancient city began. With the help of the remains of the archway stone components and existing monuments, the thousand-year-old ancient city of Yanzhou Mansion has reappeared in Meicheng. The Jiandehou Archway stands in the middle of the main street with exquisite stone carvings to commemorate the achievements of Jiandehou in guarding Yanzhou City at that time.
What Sifanfang misses is Fan Zhongyan. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan was demoted to Muzhou (Yanzhou) for one year and had outstanding political achievements.
He founded Longshan Academy, the first school in Jiande, dredged the East and West Lakes in Meicheng, presided over the construction of Yan Ziling Ancestral Hall, and personally wrote "Mr. Yan's Ancestral Hall", with "the clouds and mountains are green, the rivers are strong, the wind of Mr. Yan, the mountains are high" "The water grows" is a famous saying to praise Yan Ziling's noble character and integrity.
However, local people said that the archways passed down from ancient times were all short and not as majestic as what is now in front of people. “The commercial street used to be directly opposite the water transport terminal, and I grew up listening to the sound of steam whistles,” locals all lamented.
In the 2019 "Meicheng Beautiful Town Construction", Meicheng made new additions and renovations on the basis of the original "ornamental ancient town".
The Yanzhou Daqing Post Office located on Sanxing Street has been restored and renovated into the Yanzhou Post Cultural Exhibition Hall, where you can learn about the cultural overview of Yanzhou's letter era
Inside Meicheng Ancient Town Cinema
No. 22 Zhengda Street is a bed and breakfast with a typical Republic of China building. It used to be the Jinyuanchang Cigarette Factory, which mainly produced local cigarettes. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, hand-rolled cigarettes developed into machine-made cigarettes, mainly producing "Double Golden Bell" and "Golden Cat" brand cigarettes. However, even if you don’t stay there, the Tobacco Museum in the inn is still a check-in point. The local government collected the account books, material registration books and records of Kim Jong-han’s life. It also interviewed employees who worked in the cigarette factory at that time and displayed the life story of the owner Jin Zhong-han. , Jin Yuanchang Cigarette Factory, Hangzhou Cigarette Factory and related history and tobacco culture.
Stand on the city wall and overlook the ancient town of Meicheng
At the end of the ancient street is the city wall. The Yanzhou Jinshi Pavilion is located under the ancient city wall of Meicheng, with the theme of "Preaching on Wall Tiles" , showing the historical development, cultural heritage and humanistic spirit of Meicheng. Climbing the ancient city wall, the Xin'an River landscape spreads out in front of you, shrouded in smoke and light boats passing by. It is a natural style painting in itself.
Proofreading: Liu Wei