Yangzhou is an excellent unique travel destination. You can feel a different style every time you come here. After all, it was known as a paradise-like Jiangnan city in ancient times, and it still retains many unique features. The ancient buildings and ruins are well worth visiting.
This visit to Yangzhou was unexpected and reasonable. Unexpectedly, I originally planned to go to Nanjing with my friends during the Qingming Festival, but my friends were unavailable.
The reason is that there is a friend in Yangzhou who came to Shenzhen a while ago. After chatting with me, he recommended Yangzhou: Fireworks in Yangzhou in March.
This suddenly brought back my impressions of Yangzhou in my memory, such as the famous capital of Huaizuo, the best place in Zhuxi, and the first journey of Xie An Shaoqiu
; Twenty-four On a moonlit night on the bridge, where can a beautiful woman teach how to play the flute? One third of the world is a moonlight night, and two is a scoundrel in Yangzhou. On the ten-mile road to Yangzhou in the spring breeze, it is not as good as rolling up a bead curtain; for example, if you are strapped with a hundred thousand guan and ride a crane down to Yangzhou, etc.
Anyway, this is my first time coming to Jiangsu. I simply came to a city where I have friends who can serve as guides. This way I can avoid some detours in travel, so I started my first trip in 2021.
Next, I would like to share with you some of the scenic spots I visited during the past few days, some food, some things I bought, and some insights.
In the past few days, I have visited several scenic spots, Slender West Lake, Songjia City, Geyuan, Dongguan Street, Grand Canal, Daming Temple, almost two scenic spots a day, and some scenic spots visited more than once.
Let’s talk about Slender West Lake first. After all, Slender West Lake is Yangzhou’s business card and the first scenic spot I went to.
On the day we went to visit Slender West Lake, the weather was unfavorable and it rained a little. When we left the park in the afternoon, we were all wet. If we could express it more aesthetically, it would be: Huaiyang is misty and rainy.
I basically stayed in Slender West Lake for a whole day. I took a motorcycle in the park to tour the entire park. I also took a cruise in the lake to see the pavilions of Slender West Lake and the iconic twenty-four bridges. I went shopping twice.
When I was walking around, I kept thinking about what Du Mu was thinking when he wrote "Twenty-Four Bridges on a Moonlit Night, Where Can the Beauty Teach the Flute"? It was to reminisce about the time he spent with his beloved concubine in Yangzhou. Good times, or something.
Because I usually like to read ancient poems and study the allusions in them. Now that I have come to the city where this allusion occurs, I want to find out what the place where this allusion occurs looks like, which will help me understand more about it. understanding of these poems.
To put it another way, this time I actually did some research. After all, theory still needs to be combined with practice, if I want to do research on classical poetry.
Let’s talk about the second attraction, Songjia City Sports Park.
Songjia City is a compound word, and its full name should be the city sandwiched between the Song Dynasty. This scenic spot has now been transformed into a sports park, and many sports training bases are located here.
I came to Songjia City yesterday morning. The weather was very good. The breeze blew over and the catkins danced in the wind. It reminded me of a beautiful poem, "If the catkins are blown by the wind."
The catkins are dancing in the wind. Is it the pursuit of the wind or the unwillingness of the trees? I have no time to investigate, because I continue to look at the scenery.
The entire Songjia City is very open, with many willows and ginkgo trees planted, both of which are the city trees of Yangzhou.
It is said that the willow tree was the first tree planted by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty after the completion of the Grand Canal. Because Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was named Yang Ha, it was called the willow tree.
Well, it’s the willow that the willow clung to when I passed away in the past.
My friend Amy took me to a private restaurant in Songjia City to experience the morning tea eaten by Yangzhou locals. I originally planned to go to Yechun Tea House for morning tea on the first morning, but I didn’t expect that the queue reached table 236. , instantly made us give up our morning tea plan.
This private restaurant has fewer tourists, and most of them are locals. After all, the location is too quiet, and it is difficult for foreign tourists to find it without a local guide.
After having the authentic morning tea, I rented a scenic electric car and went around the entire ancient city. There were many flowers and plants planted in the entire scenic spot, the most common of which were the city flowers of Yangzhou: Qionghua and Peony.
The peony is what Jiang Kui mentioned in "Yangzhou Slow". The red medicine beside the bridge is only given to someone every year, because the peony is red.
Some historical relics of the Southern Song Dynasty's military and civilian Kang Jin Dynasty are still preserved here. When it comes to the resistance to the Jin Dynasty, Zhenjiang, which is opposite Yangzhou, should be more famous because Xin Qiji wrote the well-known poem "Dengjingkou Beigu Pavilion" "Nostalgia": Throughout the ages, heroes have never found Sun Zhongmou, dancing on the pavilion and singing stage, the wind and rain always blow away the romance.
I really like the big lawn in Songjia City. It is very suitable for weekend spring outings. Bring some snacks and drinks with friends, sit on the blanket, play cards, chess, drink, chat, bask in the sun, and read a book. Enjoy the beauty of spring.
To be honest, Songjia City is my favorite among these attractions. I didn’t expect that the free attractions would be the most impressive to me.
If I have to find a reason, it is probably the circles of catkins swaying in the wind at the entrance to the city wall, which reminds me of He Zhu's "The Sapphire Case": How much leisure and sorrow are there? Sichuan tobacco, the city is full of wind and rain, and plums are yellow and rainy.
After visiting Songjia City, I went to a garden for a walk.
The owner of Geyuan likes the word bamboo very much, which can be seen from the name of Geyuan. The first one in the garden is in the shape of bamboo, and the second one is in the shape of bamboo, which is quite interesting.
Ge Garden, together with the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou, the Summer Palace in Beijing, and the Summer Resort in Chengde, constitute the four major gardens in China. Of the four major gardens in China, there are exactly two in the south and two in the north. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence.
I happened to visit the Summer Palace in Beijing a few years ago. When I was in school, my primary school course mentioned that the north was full of imperial gardens, and the south of the Yangtze River was full of merchant gardens.
So northern gardens are generally more luxurious, and they like to use red bricks and yellow tiles to highlight the royal and aristocratic atmosphere. Southern gardens are generally small and elegant, and they like to use blue bricks and gray tiles to highlight the exquisiteness of the small bridges and flowing water in the south of the Yangtze River.
There are indeed a lot of bamboos in Geyuan, with dozens or hundreds of species. Moreover, the famous capital of Huaizuo mentioned in Jiang Kui's "Yangzhou Slow" and the best place in Zhuxi are located in Geyuan.
So when I was visiting a garden, I unknowingly read Jiang Kui's "Yangzhou Slowness" aloud. Fortunately, I can recite the entire poem.
This poem "Yangzhou Slowness" was written by Jiang Kui when he was traveling for the first time. He was only in his twenties at that time. As soon as this poem came out, it became very expensive in Luoyang.
My personal favorite is "Secret Fragrance" by Jiang Kui. The moonlight in the old days shines on me several times, and the flute is played by the plum blossoms. Because this poem expresses that kind of pure and ethereal feeling, the kind of walking in the snow on a moonlit night looking for plum blossoms and playing the flute beside the plum blossoms, which greatly satisfied my romantic feelings!
After visiting the garden, I went to I walked around Dongguan Street for a while. There were quite a lot of people in Dongguan Street.
Each city has its own pedestrian street, such as Hubu Lane and Chuhehan Street in Wuhan, Tianzifang in Shanghai, Tongluogu Lane in Beijing, West Street in Yangshuo, and Dongguan Street in Yangzhou. .
Dongguan Street has a long history. Just outside the gate is the South Gate Wharf of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. It has also been rich for a long time.
I rented a motorcycle to shuttle back and forth in the alleys near Dongguan Street. When I went to a strange city, I really like riding bicycles or electric bicycles.
Walking back and forth through the small alleys of the city, without any purpose, just follow my heart. If there is no turning point, I will keep going straight without looking back until the end of the road.
There are many Yangzhou specialty snacks on Dongguan Street, such as Yangzhou old goose, Wensi tofu soup, hot three shredded noodles, osmanthus cake, brown sugar, crab roe soup dumplings, sandwich buns, etc.
I have eaten most of these during morning tea, so I didn’t buy them on Dongguan Street.
The two snacks that impressed me most were on an unknown side street. I saw a lot of people queuing up, and my sixth instinct told me that these snacks must be very yummy.
One is a bowl of stinky tofu that I queued for 40 minutes to eat, and the other is a beef patty that I queued for an hour to buy.
Just two for five yuan a portion, the portion of stinky tofu is quite large, there is a lot of beef in the beef patties, and the fillings are well mixed.
My impression of Dongguan Street is so-so. After all, it is just a commercial pedestrian street. Many small commodities are wholesaled from Yiwu and have no special characteristics.
After shopping on Dongguan Street, we went to visit the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, because exiting from the Dongguan Street gate is the South Gate Wharf of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. This wharf has a history of more than 1,300 years, which is considered to have a long history. .
In fact, I visited the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal twice yesterday. Before going to Dongguan Street in the morning, I rented an electric car and rode along the banks of the Grand Canal for several kilometers. In the afternoon, I walked along the banks for two days. kilometer.
The banks of the Grand Canal are planted with Yangzhou’s city tree: willows. As mentioned before, after Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty excavated the Grand Canal, he planted the first willow tree with his own hands in order to protect the river embankment, so the willow trees in Yangzhou became willows.
Yesterday afternoon I walked along the river bank road and walked to another ferry terminal to experience the scenery of the Grand Canal.
The afternoon spring breeze blew over and messed up my permed hairstyle a few days ago, as if it was giving me a greeting gift.
The river surface is sparkling and golden under the sunlight, which is very beautiful. I stared at the river for a long time, and the reflected light was a bit dazzling, but I stubbornly insisted on continuing to stare at the river because I liked that scene.
After arriving on the canal cruise, the tour guide began to explain the historical allusions of the Grand Canal. Well, after getting on the cruise ship, I discovered that the Grand Canal is much wider than I thought.
On the river bank in the morning, I visually observed that the canal is more than 20 meters wide. I am still curious about how to drive a dragon boat on a canal more than 20 meters wide. When I got on the cruise ship in the afternoon, I found that the canal was more than 30 meters wide, almost 40 meters wide. This width could allow the dragon boat to pass unimpeded.
As expected, the tour guide was talking about the dragon boat rides on the Grand Canal when Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River. When the sun set, the willows on both sides seemed to be reluctant to say goodbye to me under the gentle breeze. .
There are Buddhist temples, Islamic mosques, and Christian churches on the banks of the Grand Canal, which well reflect the prosperity and inclusiveness of the Grand Canal back then.
After visiting the canal, we visited Daming Temple again during the day.
The Daming Temple is known as the most beautiful temple in East China. Like the Grand Canal, it also has a history of more than a thousand years. There is also a Jianzhen Museum inside to commemorate the historical allusions of the Jianzhen monks who traveled east to Japan to spread Buddhism. .
Why do you want to visit Daming Temple again? Because after visiting Slender West Lake the day before yesterday, I went to Daming Temple, but there were many people, so I just walked around and left the temple.
Because I applied for the Yangzhou Tourism Annual Card, which allows unlimited travel to several major attractions within a year, I took it easy on the first day.
Of course, I didn’t burn incense or go up to Lingqi Tower to overlook Slender West Lake and the entire Yangzhou city center.
Yesterday my friend Amy strongly recommended that I go to Daming Temple to burn incense and climb Lingqi Tower to overlook the scenery of Yangzhou city center. She said that making wishes in Daming Temple is quite effective. I thought that since I am here, I would go there. Let’s go.
Fortunately, there were not many people this morning, so I climbed the tower smoothly. Because there is a height limit for buildings in the center of Yangzhou, you can have an unobstructed view of the entire Yangzhou city center from the seventh floor of the Lingqi Tower.
I also took a video with my mobile phone and put it in my video account. Friends who want to watch it can click on the video account to see the scenery of Yangzhou city center.
When I climbed up to the Lingqi Tower and looked down at the entire Yangzhou city center, the biggest feeling I had was that the field of vision was very broad. The buildings I had seen from the ground were all flat, but the buildings I saw from the tower were all three-dimensional. It's like God's perspective.
If you want to use a poem to describe it, it would be Wang Anshi’s: Don’t be afraid of the clouds covering your eyes, you are at the highest level!
Then I have introduced you to the above. Here are some attractions to visit in Yangzhou.
Next, let me introduce to you what I ate in Yangzhou.
As one of the eight major cuisines in China, Huaiyang cuisine naturally has a profound heritage!
The Huaiyang dishes that impressed me deeply include crab roe lion head and crab roe soup dumplings , Blanched Sansi, and Green Vegetable and Kidney Soup, you can try these next time you go to Yangzhou.
There are three street snacks in Yangzhou that impressed me deeply. All three require queuing to buy, and some require purchase restrictions.
The first one is a cake shop that has been open for many years on Taizhou Road. The purchase limit is one catty per person and costs fifteen yuan per catty. I can’t eat a catty by myself, so I only bought it for ten yuan. Yes, I ate for two days. This cake has a strong egg flavor, a strong milk aroma, and it tastes very soft, which is pretty good.
The second one was Stinky Tofu in an unknown alley. I was tired from walking on the street and really didn’t want to leave. I wanted to find a place to eat, and he just happened to appear.
I saw many people queuing in front of that small vendor, so I also queued behind.
Well, it took about forty minutes to shoot. During this period, there were many new people joining in the queue behind me.
If I had been in Shenzhen before, I would definitely not have queued for so long, but after finally coming to Yangzhou, I still wanted to experience the slow pace of the place, so I queued slowly.
Finally, I got my wish and had this bowl of local authentic stinky tofu. It felt pretty good. The soy sauce was not very salty. I felt that Yangzhou people like to eat soy products, such as Wensi tofu and hot three silk noodles. , stinky tofu, cold shredded pork belly, tofu curd and so on.
The third snack that impressed me most was the beef patties. After eating the stinky tofu, I walked along the old street and saw an old shop in front of me. Many people were there. queue.
My sixth sense as a foodie told me that the food in this store must be delicious, so I also queued up. Unexpectedly, the queue lasted for more than an hour. Well, it also broke my taste. Queue records.
I didn’t expect them to buy eight or six at a time. When they arrived at my place, I only bought one and left. The people behind me were very worried that I would also buy five or six. This way they have to wait another twenty minutes.
Now that we have introduced the food in Yangzhou, let’s introduce what items we bought in Yangzhou.
I mainly bought four large items and one small item.
The first big item I bought was at Slender West Lake. I saw an elder sister setting up a stall to buy a fish bone necklace that could be worn around the neck. It looked pretty good.
I first asked the elder sister about the price and whether I could engrave my name. After getting a positive reply, I decided to come back and buy it later.
After I finished shopping in the entire Slender West Lake Commercial Street, I went back to shop for this fish bone necklace. I gave the eldest sister the words I wanted to engrave, and then I started engraving.
I like to buy some small items with customized properties when I travel, because this can bring me a lot of memories in the future, and recall the stories that happened at a certain scenic spot.
I originally wanted to buy an ocarina, but I gave up after thinking about my time and energy. I bought a Hulusi on impulse before, but I didn’t have time to practice it later, so it was wasted.
The second big item was bought in Geyuan. It was a small customized item. I bought a bracelet with my name on it.
I want to buy this bracelet with my own name on it because firstly, I have a Pixiu that I can wear later; secondly, I bought a fish bone necklace at Slender West Lake the day before yesterday. I might as well buy another bracelet, it will just match it.
The three characters in the middle name of this bracelet are red, which means activeness. The other parts are black. Black is calm and thick. The combination of red's activeness and black's calmness and thickness is quite suitable for my kind of running style. Three's uncle.
The third big item was bought in Geyuan, and I bought a pair of calligraphy: an acrostic poem with my name. Let me share with you the content of this poem:
Promote the true and the good and bring blessings to the wind,
Inherit the good and virtuous achievements.
Jie Zhiling and Yun Hongtu Exhibition,
Wen Tao and Wu Lu served as Zongheng.
This calligraphy master was invited to Geyuan, one of the four major gardens in China, to share and spread Chinese classical culture during Qingming Festival, and sell calligraphy and paintings by the way.
I happen to be very interested in Chinese classical culture. When I saw the master compose a poem in three seconds and add an elegant word, I decisively decided to buy a set of words to hang in my bedroom at home to add a little more charm. The literary atmosphere cultivates sentiments and encourages oneself to become better!
The fourth big purchase was a pair of white Feiyue sneakers on Dongguan Street.
I still have some feelings for old domestic brands such as Hui Li and Fei Yue. In addition, I bought a pair of customized Fei Yue before, and I just bought another pair this time. They happened to be all white, so I made one. Yes, it’s good to change clothes.
I was a little tired from shopping on Dongguan Street yesterday afternoon and saw this Feiyue store. I saw the neatly displayed shoes in the window outside.
The shoes are all white. The white color reminds me of winter plum blossoms, giving me a very pure and elegant feeling. It makes me want to go in and try them on and buy a pair of Feiyue sneakers.
In the end, I followed my instinct and bought this pair of sneakers.
The fourth small item was bought in Slender West Lake, and I bought a folding fan.
Actually, there are two reasons for buying this folding fan. One reason is that the old folding fan was not easy to use, and the other reason is that I fell in love with the prose behind this folding fan.
The folding fan I bought after I graduated from high school has been used for nearly ten years and is already worn out. I am very nostalgic and reluctant to throw it away, but the fan’s function of fanning has been greatly reduced.
Secondly, I was mainly interested in the prose behind this folding fan: "Preface to the Lanting Collection" by Wang Xizhi.
I can recite the first half of the "Preface to the Lanting Collection", but I can't recite the second half. I thought about buying this fan and then reciting the entire prose of "The Preface to the Lanting Collection".
Next time I travel to the former residence of Wang Xizhi in Shaoxing, look at Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy, and recite the full text of "The Preface to the Lanting Collection". It feels great to pretend to be X!
For the sake of uncertainty one day in the future I have been preparing for X for so long in advance, but it is not easy.
After introducing what items I bought in Yangzhou, let me introduce the most important gains from my trip to Yangzhou: some of my insights.
First, making yourself better is the key to solving all problems.
Compared to four years ago, when I traveled from Shenzhen to Beijing and Shanghai during my gap year after graduating from college, this trip to Yangzhou was much better in all aspects.
There is no need to sit on the train for more than ten or twenty hours. The green car is very suitable for chatting, but it is really tiring after sitting for a long time.
This time I took a two-hour flight and arrived at my destination quickly. I spent a lot less time on the road and had a lot more time to see the scenery.
You don’t have to worry about the price when buying gifts. You can buy whatever you want. Financial freedom is really important. It will make you feel safe and accomplished when shopping. So my main goals for this year are still two. Words: Make money!
Second, true success is to find your own way of living and have the ability to defend it.
This trip is in 2021.
This is the first time I have enjoyed more than two days of vacation. After starting work this year, I have taken a solo vacation, which is 996. 996 is a bit scary, so this time I took a day off to relax my tense nerves and slow down.
Many friends saw the Slender West Lake short video I posted last time. Many of them were blessings, and some were jealous and hateful. I don’t know what the mentality of these jealous and hateful people is. I just like to see it. Are other people's lives worse than her/him?
So the circle of friends is visible for three days, which is a very good product feature. Thumbs up for Brother Long.
My circle of friends has been visible for five or six years. Now it is set to be visible for three days. Maybe I have seen more of the world and the warmth and warmth of people.
A particularly intuitive feeling I have this year is: I have more confidence in myself and a better life in the future, because I have found my own way of living. Now that the goal and direction have been determined, the rest It’s time to move forward!
This trip to Yangzhou has strengthened my feelings. Especially after having in-depth exchanges with the excellent sister Amy for several days, I gained a lot. Communicating with people who are better and have a higher level of your circle can indeed improve your own level.
Third, growth, in a certain sense, is actually the process of constantly exploring oneself and the world with various bugs, and constantly evolving.
This trip to Yangzhou has enriched a lot of my previous knowledge of literature, history and philosophy. This time I am not just traveling, but also pursuing the beauty of classical culture mentioned in books. This trip to Yangzhou is extremely exciting. The earth has enhanced my perception of the beauty of classical culture.
Many poems mentioned Yangzhou before. I can also recite these poems. Many historical allusions also happened in Yangzhou. I also know the time, place and historical role. But if I had not come to Yangzhou, I would not be like this. Deep feeling, because I failed to achieve: the unity of knowledge and action.
Yangzhou has been prosperous and prosperous for more than a thousand years in history. However, after the Opium War, the canals were silted up, and many business and travel goods were transported by sea instead of canals. Naturally, it became lonely.
Although I have many shortcomings, fortunately, I keep learning and summarizing, constantly learning from better people, making progress every day, and sooner or later I will become a better version of myself.
The above 6,500 words are what Jack saw, heard, felt and understood during his trip to Yangzhou. If it can inspire you, then I will be very happy.
On the way to the airport expressway after leaving the hotel, Sister Amy and I shared what we have learned in Yangzhou these days. She said that you have learned a lot from this trip, but you are missing a girl.