Memory of the Red Grass Adventure - My Trip to Sochi

The trio of Russian figure skating “matryoshka dolls” are really “popular” in China! Social media is awash with classic skating videos of the "matryoshka" trio. This is not surprising. At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Russian player Stonikova won the women's singles figure skating championship, which started the Russian team's dream journey in the women's singles figure skating event.

Russian athlete Valyeva competes in the Beijing Winter Olympics Photography: Liu Ping

Sochi has historically been Russia’s “southern capital” (St. Petersburg has been called the “northern capital”) "Capital") and "Summer Capital". During my stay in Russia, the author traveled 1,600 kilometers several times to visit Sochi. Russian Professor Oswald personally accompanied me on my trip to Sochi. He is a humanities and history writer and a member of the “Russian Geographical Society” in St. Petersburg. He told me that from the 5th century BC to the 6th century BC, the ancient Greeks first came here, and they found that indigenous people lived here. The word "Sochi" comes from the local dialect, which means "flowing water".

The military castle gradually turned into a tourist town

Oswald and I were driving from north to south on the road outside Sochi. To the east was the rolling Black Sea, and the hills on the coastline were undulating. Hotels and sanatoriums line the streets. To the west are majestic and rolling mountains, with all kinds of flowers, trees and vegetation luxuriant. Oswald recounted that during the "Caucasus War" (1817-1864), in order to strengthen coastal defense, Russia built the Alexandria Ring Castle at the mouth of the Sochi River. The castle and surrounding security facilities were collectively called Dakhov Post, which was renamed Sochi Post in 1896. In 1838, the Russians also established a cargo import and export station at Alexandria Castle to strengthen their control over the economy and trade along the Black Sea coast. Sochi has a high annual average temperature and abundant rainfall, which is suitable for tea cultivation. The Russians built tea gardens in Sochi from 1901 to 1905 and produced Sochi tea with market competitiveness.

When the Alexandria Ring Castle was first established, there were few residents except for border guards. At that time, there were swamps everywhere, overgrown weeds, and mosquitoes and flies dancing wildly. In 1866, the Russian Emperor signed the "Regulations on Settlement and Management of the Black Sea Area", ordering residents from other regions of Russia to immigrate to the vicinity of the Dakhov post. In 1900, Sochi welcomed its first bold tourists. At that time, there were neither port barges nor hotels or restaurants in Sochi. Tourists come here to travel, carrying bread and tents on their backs and hiring boats.

The first batch of brave tourists tasted the sweetness of Sochi. After they returned home, they spread word of mouth about the wonderful vacation in Sochi, a small town on the Black Sea. In this way, Sochi vacation fever quietly emerged in Russia. Within a few years, the desolate coastal defense outpost Sochi built supporting service facilities: not only built ports and docks, but also opened customs and border inspection stations. Hotels and restaurants were lined with signboards, and the singing of Turkish-style taverns could be heard quietly in the streets. On...

Russian female writer Dmitrievna (1859-1947) came to Sochi for vacation on the cruise ship "Black Sea" in June 1903. She said that she likes Sochi because of its beautiful environment and pleasant climate, which is very suitable for the life of scholars and writers. She wrote in her diary: "On the evening of June in Sochi, the purple sun sank into the blue sea. The coastline was submerged in the golden sunset. The evening breeze brought bursts of fragrance of roses and magnolias...the newly built Sochi There are only three streets, Moskva Street, Marina Street and Shanjiao Street. Low houses are lined up along the street like woodsheds in the countryside. The gables of the houses are covered with waterfalls of ivy, and roses are in full bloom in front of the houses. , like a colorful garden. ”

Sochi Railway Station in the early 1950s

Classic buildings abound

Sochi was a new town until In 1911, it didn't have a decent road either. Residents' homes have no water supply and drainage, there are no sewage ditches beside the streets, and urban living facilities are scarce. However, in 1913, a tree-lined boulevard was established in the city center and construction of a train station began. Trains opened in Sochi in 1916, but the railway station was not completed until 1923.

The Soviet government felt that the railway station was too primitive and rebuilt it in 1939. After completion, the effect was still poor. In 1951, the Soviet government built the Sochi Railway Station for the third time. The newly built Sochi Railway Station was of considerable size for its time. Oswald told me that the new station was considered a classic building even in Europe at that time. It has both the majestic and noble palace style and the leisure characteristics of a resort. The station building has three floors and three internal halls. A clock tower stands in the square outside the station. In addition to the 12 Arabic numerals on the clock, its circular outer ring is also inlaid with milky white icons of the twelve constellations. All this makes Sochi Train Station a classic. Oswald and I spent some time in front of the station, and then wandered around the various concourses of the station.

If you have seen the Sochi Railway Station, you cannot miss the Sochi Maritime Terminal. Of the two, one is a land classic and the other is a coastal pearl. The Sochi Maritime Terminal was built 4 years later than the railway station and is the masterpiece of architects Arabyan and Kallik. The main building of the shipping station has two floors. The outside of the two floors is a column-style hall. There is a promenade outside the hall. There are also soft lounge chairs or outdoor coffee seats outside the promenade, making people feel more comfortable. There are also three-story annex buildings superimposed on the main building. Further up, in the center of the annex stands a 71-meter-high spire, which reaches into the sky like a sharp sword. Oswald took me to the first floor of the annex building. It didn't look like a shipping station, it was clearly an art palace! The exquisite figure sculptures were created by Inkar, an academician of the Soviet Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to their classical beauty, his portrait sculptures also embody the philosophical concept of "the four seasons of the year and the four directions of the world"...

Search The style of the Chichi Maritime Terminal (1950s)

The Caucasian Riviera Hotel is a sight not to be missed in Sochi. Its original owner was the businessman Krudov. Russians love theater, so in 1913 a theater with a capacity of 600 people was built in the hotel courtyard. Many well-known Soviet writers, such as Babel, Zolchenko and Serafimovich, stayed at this hotel to write and rest. Unfortunately, due to poor management, the hotel finally closed down in 1998.

At the door of the hotel, Oswald told me a joke. On July 26, 1929, the famous poet Mayakovsky came to Sochi to give a lecture and stayed at the "Caucasian Riviera". After his speech, he attended the banquet and returned home at midnight. At that time, the door of the hotel was closed, and no one answered no matter how hard he knocked. The poet had no choice but to call the police. He jumped out of the window and entered the hotel with the police. He found that the security guard was fast asleep in the duty room. After the security guard was woken up, he complained to Ma Yakovsky came back too late, affecting his sleep.

In 1909, the Caucasus Riviera Hotel was completed

Red Meadow is a ski resort

"Jindali" means "tree" in Greek ” means, Jindelari Botanical Garden is a wonder of Sochi. Oswald told a story. In 1889, Russian Emperor Alexander III issued a decree ordering Hudyaev, a wealthy collector and dramatist from St. Petersburg, to build a botanical garden in Sochi. Considering the poor market effect of the botanical garden, Hudyaev hesitated. When Mrs. Nadezhda found out, she said to Hudyaev: "I remember when we were passionately in love, you made a wish to me, saying that you would give me a villa with a garden in the future and name it after me. Now, the time has come. "Why don't you have both the manor and the botanical garden?" After hearing this, Hudyaev happily decided to fulfill his promise. He purchased 54.5 hectares of land on Resa Mountain in Sochi and built the "Nadezhda Manor", of which 16.35 hectares of land was used to create the "Kindali" Botanical Garden.

Nadezhda Manor in the early 20th century

When Oswald and I went to visit the garden, it was the season when flowers were blooming and butterflies were flying, but I had already begun Picture the fruits in summer and fall. Oswald told me that Hudyaev planted about 400 species of trees and plants in the botanical garden, which he purchased from botanical gardens in Crimea, Germany and the Caucasus. The architectural style of Jindelari Botanic Gardens references the design of 19th-century Italian terraced parks. In the years since it was built, trees and flowers have been added to the garden.

Today, there are more than 1,800 species of trees and plants in Jindelari Botanic Gardens.

Kindrali Botanical Garden

In the Adler District, 64 kilometers southeast of Sochi, and 38 kilometers away from the Black Sea, there is a small river called the Muzmuta River. There is a small village by the river called Red Grassland. According to the archives of the Russian Geographical Society, during the 1860s and 1870s, this was a place where Russians and Greeks lived together. The Russian personnel were troops participating in the Caucasus War, and the Greeks were residents who came to find a place to survive. When the Greeks came to this beautiful place, they set up camp and built houses, churches and schools. The settlement was named Red Grass Village. Some Russian historians also say that "Red Grass" was named by the French traveler Martel who came here to explore in the early years.

Red Grassland was originally an obscure small village, but in the 21st century, it gradually developed into Sochi's famous tourist resort center, as well as a camping, skiing and paragliding training base. I love even more the mountains surrounding Hongcaodi Village, as well as the countless forests, hot springs, waterfalls, rivers and other natural resources on the mountains.

Winter Olympic Village in Red Grassland

When writing this article, I remembered the scene of riding the cable car in Red Grassland on a hot summer day in the late 1990s. The cable cars at that time were mainly used for alpine skiers or paragliders, and they looked extremely crude. The so-called cable car is actually a suspended "plank" with a rusty iron rod on the left and right, and a one-meter-long and half-meter-wide plank in the middle. The Russian friend who sent me here, when I was still in shock, stuffed a coat into my arms and ran quickly down the starting platform of the cable car. In an instant, the huge winch rumbled, and the "board" swayed upwards. I got higher and higher from the ground. At first I was gliding on the bushes, then I passed the tall treetops. Then not only could I not see the treetops, but even the thick and tall pine forest turned into bushes. Light rain hit my face and a cold wind blew across my ears, so I put on my coat haphazardly. After sliding for a while, I was still afraid. I held the iron pole tightly with my hand and looked at the steaming clouds in the mountains with the corner of my eye. Occasionally, there were a few tall trees, their bamboo shoot-like treetops peeking out from the distant mist. Soon I encountered wind and snow. When I reached the top, the paraglider at the top told me that I had turned into "Santa Claus" - there was white frost on my eyebrows and eyelashes. At that time, it was the scorching summer sun on the red grassland at the foot of the 2,000-meter mountain. At this time, a vigorous paraglider not far away from me took a quick start, spread out his colorful wings, jumped, and flew down to the peak covered with deep snow...