My understanding of Quanlin began with my literary friend, Cheng Kun, a scholar of Surabaya culture. I saw the text introduction and pictures about Quanlin from his blog. I know that there are many Gu Quan and Kangxi Qianlong who have stayed in Dragon, and there is an ancient covered bridge that can be compared with Zhao Zhouqiao and Lugou Bridge, which makes me fascinated. Later, driving eastward along the Ridong Expressway, I saw an intersection marked "Quanlin", where mountains and shadows overlap. I really want to see the scenery of Quanlin Scenic Area by the way. Unfortunately, time was tight that day, so I couldn't do it, so I had to come back and dream of the spring water gushing from the mountains and rivers. Later, a younger generation brought some cultured sturgeon from Quanlin and gave me some early adopters. Because of the fate of this rare and environmentally friendly sturgeon growing in Heyuan, I indirectly got involved with Quanlin.
I really went to Quanlin in early March this year. I took the opportunity of seeing someone off at Qufu East Station and drove there specially. Not from the highway Quanlin intersection, but from Qufu along the 327 National Road eastbound for nearly 50 kilometers, directly to Quanlin Town, surabaya county. The road is very flat, and there are no peaks in your eyes. Even the spring forest scenic spot is not the spring in the mountains as imagined before. Even the associated Weishan recorded in ancient books such as Shui Jing Zhu is only a small hill with a height of only a few meters. It turns out that there are mountains on the north and south sides of Sishui County, but the middle part is flat. It is this corridor-like area that we have walked all the way.
In front of the spring group, on the neat stone platform, stands a tall archway with four pillars and three spans, stone-based wooden columns, a bucket arch, golden glazed tiles, and the inscription "Wonder Spring Forest in the World". There is a big spring pool behind the archway, several meters square, with a stone guardrail and clear spring water. The stone tablet is engraved with the word "red stone spring". This spring spews red sand from the bottom, such as stars and sunsets, hence its name.
I summarized the whole scenic spot as one road, two districts and three lakes. All the way, that is, the main road extending straight from the archway to the north, passes through the gorgeous and exquisite stone imperial bridge in front of it, connects the tall and towering inscription tablet of Qianlong in the middle, and then connects the palace site where Qianlong was stationed in the Qing Dynasty. The road is divided into two areas, Zijin Lake between Pei Wei Mountain and Yuquan Mountain in the east, Jinhe Lake and Zhaoyang Lake in the west.
There are many springs in the scenic area. Impressive springs are Baotu Spring, Pearl Spring, Black Lake Spring, Zhu Yongquan and Ganlu Spring. Spring water gushes from the ground, or like a string of pearls, or like a jade ball, or like a splash of fish, or like a water spot trampled by mosquitoes, or slowly rises or dies quickly. The spring is a deep stream, clear and transparent, as blue as jade. The grass swayed with the water and became clear into Xu Zhimo's beautiful poems. The stream gurgled into the lake and became a fairy's cosmetic mirror. Then it set off south, accepted the water from the tributaries, rushed down and finally flowed into the sea. There is also a ginkgo tree in the garden, which is vigorous and tall. It has survived 1500 years and is regarded as a sacred tree. In addition, the inscriptions in Ming and Qing dynasties still stand among pines and cypresses, and it retains the traces of the emperor's inspection.
Gan Long's tablet is engraved with The Story of the Spring Forest written by Emperor Jiuzhi Chunlin. The article describes his yearning for the spring forest, with an emperor's new eyes. The naming of Quanlin is not only the source of Surabaya, but also the source of Confucian culture. It is believed that what is recorded in ancient books about "Confucius talking about Sichuan" should be in the spring forest, which ultimately boils down to the immortality of culture, which shows that ancient rulers attach great importance to education.
Choose a restaurant in the street to taste delicious sturgeon and rainbow trout, and then take some live ones home to cook for yourself. Go back to the southern mountainous area and get on the expressway at the entrance of Quanlin. I'm sorry about the death of Mr. Cheng Kun. Things have changed. I have no chance to see my old friends when I come to Surabaya. I only sigh that life is too short to be with rivers.