Text: Apple Pictures: Nathan

"Surrounded by water is your reflection, and uniformity is your reputation. If you have beautiful water but not beautiful feng shui, you can live with a house by the water. The ancient village is your reflection, and the preservation of its integrity is your reputation. The ancient beauty of the village is your reflection, and the prosperity of your family is your reputation. The egrets standing there are your reflection, and the harmony between people and birds is your reputation. The fengshui is beautiful but the village is beautiful. ”

In the city. Do the high-rise buildings make you forget the simple life you once had, and do the noisy crowds make you breathless? There is also an ancient house surrounded by green water that may allow you to find inner leisure and tranquility.

All the way out of the highway intersection, through a vast field, we came to Longhai Daimei.

What comes into view are 276 uniform ancient houses in southern Fujian, with red tiles and green trees, and clear water surrounding the small village. Teal ducks play and egrets perch in the water.

A few birds chirped on the fallen ancient banyan tree, the incense smoke curled up from Thean Hou Temple, and the sounds of street vendors talking in awkward Mandarin were heard. This is my impression of Daimei, a place known as "Zhouzhuang in Southern Fujian".

About Daimei

The word "Dai" is explained in the "Dictionary of Commonly Used Ancient Chinese Characters": "an earthen dam that blocks water." From this, it can be seen that Daimei is a nearby A village built on water.

Daimei was originally called "Daiwei", and the house number in the ancient village still reads "Daiwei Society". Since "Wei" is unpleasant to hear, the name was chosen with the same Hokkien pronunciation as "Wei". "beautiful".

Daimei Ancient Village is located in Daimei Village, Dongyuan Town, Longhai City, on the bank of Nanxi River in Kowloon City, two kilometers away from the Zhangzhou Port exit of Shenhai Expressway, surrounded by Jilong Mountain, Damao Mountain and Eshan Mountain. .

The ancient village is surrounded by water and ancient banyan trees are everywhere. It is the largest and best-preserved ancient folk building complex in southern Fujian. It is one of the representatives of "Fujian Red Brick" and the fourth batch of provincial-level historical and cultural villages.

Strolling along this ancient village road with a history of more than 500 years, the oldest ancient houses from the Ming and Qing Dynasties face south and the newer ancient houses face south. Rows of roof ridges are tilted upward, and the house pattern They are all the same size, and the side doors are next to each other. If the doors of every household are open, you can probably run from the beginning of the community to the end of the community.

Ancient Banyan Tree

The ancient banyan tree is almost in close contact with the water. A thick branch connects both sides of the river. I heard that in the past when there was no bridge, this branch It also acts as a bridge. People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait walk back and forth on the old banyan trees, and the years have left deep traces on the trees.

In Fujian, the banyan tree is a symbol of auspiciousness. Legend has it that the ancient banyan tree has spirituality and cannot be cut down. In Daimei, although this tall ancient banyan tree no longer carries people back and forth, it still serves as a bridge between people from ancient times to the present. The ancient banyan tree that is now protected still reflects lushly under the dappled sunlight.

Tianhou Temple

Next to the ancient banyan tree, there is an ancient temple built in the Qing Dynasty - Tianhou Temple, which is the main temple of Daimei. Although Thean Hou Temple is small in scale, it has a long history and continuous incense.

In the coastal areas of southern Fujian, if people need to go to sea, they will worship Mazu on the boat to wish them a smooth trip and a safe return. The Tianhou Temple in Daimei also reflects the scene of Daimei people going to the sea to make a living through the river in front of their home.

Several old people speaking Hokkien gathered around a table and played cards outside Tianhou Temple. They were playing their own cards with happy expressions on their faces, as if the whole world had nothing to do with them. Happy.

Ancestral Hall

People in southern Fujian attach great importance to family ties, and the same clan will build an ancestral hall together. There are two ancestral halls in Daimei, divided into the front ancestral hall and the back ancestral hall.

In front of the ancestral hall, there is a big cheng of more than ten meters. General agricultural work is carried out here. For example, during the rice harvest season, rice is dried on the big cheng.

It is rainy in the summer in southern Fujian. What often happens is that the sun shines brightly at noon, but when a heavy rain suddenly comes, the villagers take a quick step, like arrows flying out, shouting: "It's raining, come out and harvest quickly." Rice!" Everyone in the village will go to Dacheng to harvest rice. God seemed to love joking with the farmers. After everyone harvested the rice, the sun came out with a smile. "After the new rain in the empty mountains, the weather comes late in autumn." The fragrance of rice mixed with the smell of raindrops and dust spreads in the beauty of Dai.

"The number one scholar in the standing flagpole", the flagpole erected high in Dacheng symbolizes how many officials there are in the clan. The flagpole of civil and military officials will also be different.

The flagpoles of civilian officials are mostly decorated with textures such as cranes, while those of military attachés are decorated with textures such as tigers. A lot of knowledge hidden in architecture is the wisdom of ancient people, and it is also a silent culture. I hope we can study more and figure out the essence.

"Two waters"

Daimei has two waters, inside and outside. The outer water connects Nanxi Bay and reaches Haichengyue Port, Xiamen Port and Taiwan. It is the window connecting Daimei with the outside world. Daimei people use this river to transport some crops and do small business.

The inner water runs through the village to the left and right, so Daimei is called "Zhouzhuang in Southern Fujian".

When "the breeze is coming slowly and the water is calm", I go boating in Daimei. "I am friends with fish and shrimps and elk. I ride a small boat with a leaf and hold up a bottle to join each other." Su Shi was like that at that time. When you come to Daimei, you may write a piece of "Ode to the Former Red Cliff". The scenery here is so unforgettable that you will only lament that "between heaven and earth, everything has its own owner, even if you can't take any of it."

Local delicacies

In the village, you can taste authentic southern Fujian snacks, or you can make your own, make mochi, grind rice slurry, and grind with stone to make pot paste. wait.

Watching the old man selling pot paste while pushing the grinder, he slowly scooped up a small spoonful of white rice and put it on the stone grinder. The stone mill grinds the rice and slowly flows out thick rice milk, which is the raw material for making pot paste.

Put a few spoonfuls of rice milk into the pot, starting from the edge of the pot and slowly going down. After a while, the batter on the edge of the pot will be completed. Add your favorite ingredients, such as large intestine, braised eggs, and fried dough sticks.

Faced with the fast pace of life, the uncle chose to return to his hometown, cook authentic Southern Fujian food, slowly push the grinder, and tell the story of Daimei and his to the guests who came. story. Let these old stories meet new people and pass them on.

Experience the taste of life in Daimei

Renovate the quaint building and transform the courtyard house in southern Fujian into a modern B&B. Maybe you can stay there and experience the taste of living in a courtyard house in southern Fujian. .

The room is not big, but it is very warm to live together as a family. Sitting on the long stone bench in the yard, which is full of flowers, smelling the fragrance of the flowers and counting the stars, it will be a simple life. Be satisfied.

There are also farmhouses in Daimei, where you can experience farm life, pick dragon fruits, and escape the heat under the grape trellis. The rice fired by firewood should make you more satisfied. Everyone lives a self-sufficient life of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely seeing the southern mountains."

Strolling among Dai Mei, this water town with Fujian charm evokes nostalgia. It is the way we return to our original nature after washing away all the charisma. It is the beautiful and quiet flowing water that gives people a leisurely life.

"I still marvel at the vastness of the world, and I am also intoxicated by the love words of my childhood." When we were children, we would jump on grids and ropes in the big houses in southern Fujian, and hide in front of the houses. Catch fish and shrimp in the crystal clear river...

When I was a child, my mother would come to the door and shout your name to go home for dinner at meal time. I thought pointing at the moon would The childhood of having our ears cut off seems to be getting further and further away from us.

No matter how big the world is, southern Fujian is our root and the hometown that we dream about. It's like an uncle who has been guarding Dai Mei all his life, making pot paste for tourists, telling those stories, whether it's the southern Fujian on the tip of his tongue, or the southern Fujian in the story, it's a legacy.

After you are exhausted physically and mentally, why not take advantage of the east wind to go to this simple southern Fujian town to find a piece of leisure, a memory of your childhood, and a inheritance of southern Fujian culture.

Travel tips:

① By car: Take the exit of Longhai Dongyuan Expressway and walk two or three minutes to Daimei. It takes 50 minutes from Zhangzhou city to Daimei Expressway.

②Bus: From Zhangzhou, get off at Longhai Bus Terminal and take the Dongyuan bus. Friends who came from Xiamen took a speedboat from Xiamen Pier to Zhangzhou Port, and then took a bus from Zhangzhou Port to Dongyuan.