I can imagine my old classmates' sense of loss. Because, I used to live in the old city that filled me with memories. However, today's old city is half submerged in Hanfeng Lake and half has been razed to the ground.
Once or twice this summer, after dinner, I walked along the lakeside road with Ugly, watching the bright lights across Hanfeng Lake. We suddenly remembered this ancient city. Compared with today's new city, the old city can't be smaller, but this can't affect our love for it.
The old city is embedded in the folds of mountains, and Nanshan and Fenghuang Mountain quietly guard it. The old city is too old, sui generis and disdains planning. The layout of the old city depends on the terrain and extends on several main roads. It is small and crowded, but it is warm, just like the little girl next door. You can laugh and cry as much as you want without worrying about disturbing it.
There are many streets and lanes in the old city, each with its own characteristics, hidden in the strewn at random houses.
The third school in my primary school is surrounded by a spider's web of alleys. No matter which direction I go to school, I have to go through alleys of different sizes and widths to get to school. In the alley, there is always hidden food waiting for us. Spicy and delicious three-school bean skin, crispy cicada pupa, white rice and popcorn exploded by hand machine always stimulate our taste buds, and no one can resist it.
People in hutongs live next to each other and live in harmony. If you pass by an alley, you will often see a small table at the door, and the family will sit around and eat together like this. The smell of food will float in the air in the alley and enter the breath of passers-by. Clothes drying in the street, dogs sleeping on the roadside, old people sunbathing, and a strong atmosphere of life and street life can no longer be found in high-rise buildings.
Most of the alleys in the old city are very narrow, just like a line made of a brush across the street at will. In particular, the crosswalk is very narrow and only one person can pass. Those tile houses are low and old, so our children can reach out and touch the tiles on the roof.
My great-grandmother lives in a small yard in Hengjiezi. There are six people living in such a small house, and there is an attic. It's amazing to think about it now. Standing on the top of the attic, I saw gray tiles and white clouds in the sky, and my thoughts had flown to the horizon.
The most beautiful alley is Pijia Lane, the alley of the government nursery. Compared with other alleys, this alley is wider, with all kinds of flowers in full bloom and long vines winding around the walls, which makes it bright in spring and green in summer. I like this street best. I always slow down and admire those vibrant flowers and plants from the pane, from the balcony, from a small clearing in front of the door and from the wall. They bloomed all the way and were surprised all the way.
But those streets are more beautiful when it rains in the old city. With the size of the rain, different landscapes are interpreted. Heavy rain, like a waterfall, accompanied by wind and thunder, poured down from the eaves of tiles and swept the whole street. Suddenly, the street turned into a river. Light rain, like a bead curtain, dripped on the ground from the eaves of tiles, with a long sound, like a long tune; The drizzle is like misty rain, as thin as hair, and the whole street is shrouded in light smoke.
At this time, you can recite Dai Wangshu's famous poem Rain Lane:
Holding an oil-paper umbrella alone
? Wandering in the long, long
? Lonely rain lane
? I hope we can meet.
? Like cloves.
? A girl with a grudge.
The largest number of trees in the old city is the yellow horn tree. They grow freely in the streets and lanes, not limited by topography and width. They survive in the cracks and still grow into towering trees. The yellow horn trees on both sides of the drip highway are the most distinctive. These thick yellow-horned trees came out of other people's houses, pigsty and cowshed, and they didn't damage a brick or tile. Somehow, the yellow horned trees are tired of this kind of climbing, and they are looking for new places in a tortuous way. The whole huge trunk extends across the East River, and the gloomy canopy overlooks the river!
I still remember the old yellow horn tree on the wall of the old city next to the cinema. Its roots cling to the city wall, and its crown is like a huge umbrella, covering the sun. Many old people just drink tea, play cards and chat on the wall of the old city, and the days have passed slowly.
Next to the old city wall is a light stadium, where basketball games are often held in the county. Once, I took an ugly 3-year-old to watch a basketball game. The ugly man clapped his hands for the athletes. She asked me expectantly, "Mom, do you support the US team or China team?" I couldn't help laughing and saying, "There are all China teams here, but there are no foreign teams."
The most lively places in the old city are the stadium and the Great Hall. Especially on weekends, these two places are crowded with people, and people are jostling with each other, perhaps to be in a daze, perhaps to bask in the sun, perhaps to take their children to play, or perhaps to meet friends. In short, there are many reasons, and they are all gathered here as if they had been ordered.
Phoenix Mountain is another place we like. In spring, the citrus blossoms in the mountains and plains are white and flawless, and the whole Phoenix Mountain is full of flowers. In summer, there are many lush trees here, and Phoenix Mountain is a green ocean. In autumn, oranges in Huang Cancan are covered with branches. At that time, Phoenix Mountain was a treasure house of bumper harvest. In winter, you can enjoy plum blossoms in Meixi, Fenghuang Mountain, and the fragrant plum blossoms will warm you all winter.
Every day after dinner, adults, children and the whole family in our family area like to climb the Phoenix Mountain and enjoy it. Some old people even bring back a bucket of mountain spring water every day. There are 12 zodiac signs, long corridors and tortoise stones on the mountain. Now that we have moved to a new city, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for people to climb the Phoenix Mountain.
The wide river dam is a good place for our picnic. Spring is full of flowers, everything is revived, and the sun is shining, which is most suitable for picnics.
There is a large green meadow in some parts of the dam. We will race on the grass, dig a hole in the grass, wrap a chicken in dried lotus leaves, then wrap a little thin mud and put the whole chicken in the hole for barbecue. After the chicken is cooked, peel off the mud and the lotus leaves fade. The burnt smell of chicken is mixed with the smell of lotus leaves, which is delicious!
There are many pebbles in some places on the dam. After years of baptism and time erosion, you don't know where the pebbles under your feet once came from and where they will go. Children will look for those unique pebbles to take home along the river beach, while adults will spread tablecloths on the river beach, put their own carefully preserved cold dishes and build a simple stone stove. After a while, a few mouthfuls of smoke came out, delicious noodles were cooked in the pot, and the river gurgled in front of you. Children play in front of you and enjoy the food given by nature, which is much more interesting than those luxury restaurants!
When you are tired of playing, you always want to eat delicious food. Over the years, the mutton in the old city of Lion Building, the steamed stuffed bun of Li at the gate of the city, the pancake of Liu opposite to Xijie Middle School, the noodle king of biochemical factory, the cold noodle in the family area of township enterprise bureau, and the comfortable jiaozi beside the cinema have all left a delicious taste.
There are too many memorable places in the old city, everything seems to be yesterday, and everything seems to have gone away, but I will always remember the old city-the old city that has returned to my dream countless times!