Changshu: a small town in the south of the Yangtze River that started from a bowl of noodles (photos)

The finishing touch is a small town carved by time, where the cultural context inherited for thousands of years is branded with connotation, green Yushan, vast Shang Hu, simple dishes and green tea. ...

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This is a small town that needs to be read slowly. There are mountains in the city and lakes under the mountains. The charm of the south of the Yangtze River outlined by the lakes and mountains has made people who have lived here for generations live in harmony with nature. This is a small town carefully carved by time, and the cultural context handed down for thousands of years has branded its connotation here, such as green jade mountain, big Shang Hu, simple dishes and green tea ... this is Changshu.

When I set foot on the Yushan Ecological Trail, my trip to Changshu officially began. "One city, one mountain, one water, comfortable life", Changshu Yushan Cultural Tourism Resort is full of elegance. It is the "Four Seasons Song" here to see Shang Hu Peony in spring, pick Bayberry in summer, enjoy Yushan Hongfeng in autumn and listen to the bells of ancient temples in winter. At this time, in late spring and early summer, trees became shady, and full of green. From time to time, I can see scenic spots maps and signs that are convenient for tourists on the street at the intersection, which makes me, a newcomer, feel a little cold in this already sultry season.

Yushan was named after Yu Zhong, the ancestor of Wu culture, who slept here. "Seven streams all lead to the sea, and ten miles of green hills and a half enter the city." This castle peak entering the city is Yushan. Lushan Mountain is like a snail, and the ancient city wall that extends eastward into the city is built on the mountain. Climbing into the city, you can see green mountains and green waters and ancient city alleys.

Shanghu and Yushan depend on each other. The so-called "Jiang Taigong fishes, and the willing takes the bait"-Shang Hu is named after Jiang Shang's seclusion here for fishing. Shang Hu's mountains and rivers set each other off, gentle and pleasant, rendering a charming charm of the south of the Yangtze River. Hundreds of acres of Taxodium ascendens forest, known as the "aquatic forest" in the lake, is a paradise for thousands of herons.

The golf course on the coast of Shang Hu is surrounded by mountains and rivers. The fairways are lined with trees and trees. Rabbits and birds are jumping in the Woods and grass, and you can see all the lakes and mountains.

Changshu was called Qinchuan in ancient times. The ancient city is a combination of mountains, waters and cities. The poem says: "Seven streams flow through the countryside, and mountains fly into the city." The ancient river in the city runs through the north and south, with small bridges and flowing water, shops and houses built on the pillow river, elegant gardens and deep alleys are fascinating. Qinchuan River is clear and quiet, with white walls and black tiles along the river and occasional pavilions in the promenade, which is a good picture of a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

It is said that Suzhou gardens are the best in the world, and the ancient city of Changshu with profound cultural heritage inherits the elegance of Suzhou gardens. Classical gardens such as Zeng Garden, Zhao Garden and Yan Garden are patchwork, which can be called masterpieces of ancient architecture. Zeng Yuan, formerly known as Xu Kuoyuan and commonly known as Zeng Jiayuan, is the former residence of Ceng Pu, a famous novelist, French translator and author of Flowers of Evil in the late Qing Dynasty. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Ceng Pu's father settled in some ruins of Little Wang Chuan Garden in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty more than 20 years ago. Zengyuan is surrounded by mountains and waters, and the environment is clear. It has the reputation of "half city and half wild, half mountain and half water".

Zhao Garden, which is adjacent to Zeng Garden, is also a part of the ruins of Little Wang Chuan Garden. It was originally a private garden. During the reign of Tongzhi and Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, Zhao Liewen, a native of Changzhou, devoted himself to building this garden, which was called Zhao Garden, Zhao Wuyuan and Zhao Hu Garden. During the Republic of China, Zhao Garden was purchased by Sheng Xuanhuai, a native of Changzhou, as the lower house of Tianning Temple in Changzhou, and was named "Jinghe Society". Zhaoyuan wins with water features, and all the scenic spots are built around the pool. Rugged, it is a typical Soviet-style garden building with proper layout. Now, in order to make it more convenient for tourists to visit, Zeng Garden and Zhao Garden separated by a wall are connected and merged into Zeng Zhao Garden.

This is an elegant garden, Yan Garden, also known as "Jiangyuan Garden", which was built by Jiang Yuanshu, the magistrate of Taiwan Province Province during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. The garden is not very big, but the buildings inside are exquisite, beautiful and elegant, and the flowers and trees are sparse, which is a typical Jiangnan garden. The best representation inside the courtyard is the "Rock Valley", which is a rockery made of yellow stones from Yushan Mountain. Legend has it that it was written by Ge Dieshan, a famous teacher in Qing Dynasty, and it is one of the only two outstanding stone-making works handed down by Ge.

Yiqing Garden at the east entrance of Yushan Park is built under the wall of Yushan Mountain, which is a miniature garden with exquisite structure and incomparable beauty. Yiqing Garden was designed by Professor Sima Quan, an architect of Tongji University in Shanghai. Blue walls and tiles are surrounded by Yiqinglou, Evening Pavilion, Guifei Pavilion, rockery and ancient trees. It is extremely elegant to sit in the pavilion and invite three or two friends to have tea to clear your heart. Or go to the academies on both sides of the strait in the park, with century-old buildings, towering old trees and famous trees. There are also gems from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

Seven streams and ten thousand waters all lead to the sea, and ten miles of green hills and a half enter the city; The meditation room winds, and the square tower sets the sun. Changshu, a famous historical and cultural city in China, has a profound cultural heritage and many cultural celebrities. ...

Changshu was called "Qinchuan" in ancient times. Because there are seven parallel rivers in the ancient city, such as the seven strings of the guqin, and the Yushan Qin School founded by Yan Tianchi in the Ming Dynasty, you must come to Changshu to listen to an guqin. Zhu, the national representative inheritor of Guqin Art (Yushan Piano School), inherited the tradition of "simple, remote, broad and peaceful" of Yushan Piano School. His piano music style is natural and natural, with both Wei and Jin demeanor and artistic conception of Song Ci. His chic and changeable performance has brought the Yushan piano style to a new height and enjoys a high reputation in today's piano world.

Ochre is a natural mineral pigment and one of the main pigments in Chinese painting. Yushan ochre is an ideal pigment for Chinese painting because of its fine texture and rich colors. Painters of all ages regarded Yushan ochre as a precious pigment and used it to make inkstones. For example, Huang, a painter in the Yuan Dynasty, was born and raised in Changshu, and he has a deep research on Yushan ochre. Yushan ochre also made Huang brilliant life. Everyone, such as Liu Qing and Wu Changshuo, cherish the Yushan ochre inkstone.

Zong Hongxing, the representative inheritor of Changshu intangible cultural heritage, inherited the family tradition and made Yushan ochre inkstone, which integrates pigments and handicrafts and is deeply loved by painters.

Changshu lace, also known as Changshu embroidery, has a history of more than 70 years and is one of the famous hand-carved embroidery products in China. Changshu lace uses cotton, hemp, chemical fiber and other fabrics as raw materials, uses embroidery needles with more than 60 kinds of stitches, and adopts carving embroidery, patch embroidery, painting embroidery, shadow embroidery, mosaic embroidery and other technologies. Changshu lace used to be a star product of foreign trade, with exquisite craftsmanship, gorgeous colors, elegance and variety of colors. It is not only a daily necessities, but also an artistic decoration. Fortunately, I saw and witnessed the demonstration of lace skills by teacher Xie Yanyue, a representative inheritor of Changshu intangible cultural heritage in Yanyuan.

Cheongsam, the traditional dress of women in China, is known as the quintessence of China and the national costume of women. Only cheongsam can interpret the elegance and amorous feelings of oriental women. Changshu Fengxi Cultural and Art Center, located in Shuijie, Shang Hu Scenic Area, takes cheongsam as a starting point, integrates "cultural root-seeking, creative source-seeking and participation in experience", takes physical and mental interaction and in-depth physical tourism as the main ideas, and derives related tourism formats and cultural products such as tea ceremony, incense and illustration along the thread of local traditional cheongsam production. In Fengxi Culture and Art Center, learn about the cheongsam culture in the museum, or simply have a hand-made experience, and then make a cup of green tea to chat with friends, so the slow time in Jiangnan quietly passed.

Choose a city life, * * * one person grows old; Find a mountain to die and open a shop. In Changshu, Tanabata Water is a petty bourgeoisie store, which mainly deals in coffee, tea and desserts, and also provides some books. As the saying goes, a city with mountains and water leads a free life! Changshu people like to relax, like to go to the lake and relax on the mountain, so Qixi River and Yushan Mountain are combined to create a place to relax.

The Xiting Store of Tanabata Watertown, namely Dashishan House, is located halfway up the mountain in the Xiting Scenic Area of Yushan, with pavilions, trees and beautiful scenery. Looking for the piano, drinking a cup of tea and reading half a book really stole a long time. Shi Bilan, the proprietress, said that she hoped to "open a warm shop and warm this mountain", and she did it.

Changshu is a city with a slow life. Let's go to the teahouse, visit the ancient city and explore the life of the local people. The feeling of drinking tea in an old house hidden in an alley is hard to find in a big city. The "Nansu Garden Cultural and Creative Space" hidden in Lingtang Rock at the foot of Yushan Mountain is such a place. In the quaint courtyard, bridges are flowing and flowers are blooming. It is not only a good place for drinking tea, but also often organizes various cultural and artistic exchange activities, salons and tea parties to share, providing cultural and creative services such as meetings, cultural creation, space planning and design, videos and cultural shooting for various industries, and creating a cultural and creative brand and humanistic living room belonging to Changshu. There is also a hospitable cat who will reluctantly send the guests out when they leave.

After walking through Qian Shan, peace of mind is where you belong. It's not far from home. It's enough to settle down. Nansuyuan always has a cup of tea for you.

In fact, a day in Changshu begins with a bowl of mushroom oil noodles. Mushrooms, a kind of fungi, said in the "Wu Fungi Spectrum" that "those born in trees are mushrooms, and those born underground are fungi." Mushroom oil comes from wild fungi on Yushan Mountain, which can only be eaten locally in Changshu. "In the pure morning, near the ancient temple, the early sunshine points to the treetops ..." Mushroom noodles began in Joy Chef, and spread from Joy Chef to the outside of the temple in 1980s. Therefore, if you want to eat the most authentic mushroom noodles, you should go to the old noodle restaurant called "Full Moon Building" that came out of the temple. In the early morning, the Woods of the Moon Tower are bustling. Find a vacant seat and wait for a while. Here comes the noodles, mixed with the unique fragrance of wild mushrooms. With steak and fish steak, Toona sinensis, bamboo shoots and other side dishes, a large bowl of noodles is swept away, and a cup of green tea is comfortable!

Changshu, located in the land of fish and rice, is rich in ingredients and pays attention to seasonality and nutrition. All kinds of dishes and snacks are unique from material selection to processing and even plate loading, and their food culture is brilliant. For example, in this restaurant named "90 19 9019", in addition to Changshu local dishes, there are many creative dishes, such as carved drunk cream crabs, Xu Yi crayfish, steamed tiger spots, hand-grabbed tea-flavored black pork chops, litchi shrimp balls and ecological shrimp cakes. Located in Fushuidi, Shang Hu, the "Fish Watching Platform" enjoys the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains, green mountains and green waters, and tastes the unique fresh foods such as braised pork with taro, smoked fish, sweet and sour pork chops, lobster chicken head rice and so on. In addition to these special restaurants, most of Changshu's farmhouses are surrounded by mountains and rivers with beautiful scenery. For example, the "Qingfeng Courtyard" which comes through the healthy trails in tea gardens and bamboo forests can eat sweet-scented osmanthus duck blood glutinous rice, crispy fish, wild bamboo shoots, braised duck and other delicacies, and have a loquat at at the right time after the meal. Happiness!

Shang Hu, who wanders in Yushan, wanders in nature and stays in a post station, homestay or street in Shan Ye, and can better appreciate the gentleness of the ancient city of Jiangnan ... For example, the boutique hotel "Yueshanxuan" at the foot of Yushan, with Wu culture as the background and Yushan culture as the theme, has the temperament of China Dongfeng culture, and there is also a small Soviet-style garden in the hotel, which highlights Jiangnan classicism. The well-equipped ecological resort "Baowu Shanghu Village" is located on the upper lakeside, with dense vegetation and elegant cultural and sports facilities. It is an excellent place for small-scale activities such as family leisure and friends gathering. If you like B&B, a boutique B&B named "Rixie Linxi" transformed from an old building in an alley in the city center not only has the taste of home, but also can fully experience the local cultural life in Changshu. Sitting on the terrace upstairs, drinking tea and flowers is very comfortable.

Changshu is like a thick book that needs to be read slowly. It is difficult to appreciate its charm after a short visit, and different people will have different interpretations. If they are destined, they will definitely come back to make fine products.

(Zhang Chunhua)