Memory of Ertan

? "Why is it called Ertan Hydropower Station? Where is Yitan?" My daughter always asks this every time I walk past Ertan. Of course I know why it’s called Ertan Hydropower Station; as a Yanbian person, everyone is familiar with Ertan and Santan, but I often pass by Ertan and don’t know where Yitan is? Just like everyone who lives in the new county knows that there is a No. 2 Bridge, few people know where the No. 1 Bridge is. I am a father and am omnipotent in my daughter’s eyes, so I cannot tell my daughter that I don’t know. I am a preacher, and I will not let go of any opportunity to educate my children.

"The Yalong River flows through this area, forming three large beaches. In order to distinguish these three beaches, the locals named them one beach, two beaches, and three beaches respectively from upstream to downstream. When the power station was repaired, Ertan was chosen as the site, so with the current Ertan Power Station, Yitan has been submerged..."

Ertan Hydropower Station changed the fate of Yanbian. The county seat moved south, causing the northern towns to deviate from the county seat, because of the Ertan Hydropower Station; thousands of acres of fertile farmland disappeared underwater because of the Ertan Hydropower Station... The culture, economy, and climate of Yanbian were all changed by Ertan. Yanbian's sacrifice and contribution to the Ertan Hydropower Station have left the Ertan Hydropower Station engraved in the hearts of Yanbian people.

When did Ertan enter the memories of Yanbian people? Entered my memory?

In my childhood memory, the Yalong River is the largest and clearest river in the world. It is green all year round and never loses its temper. When I saw the Yalong River for the first time, I was so excited that I felt like I had grown a lot. Follow the example of adults and drink water while holding it. It will feel cool from your mouth to your heart, and it will be a sweet coolness. When the drink was not enough, the friends took off their clothes and jumped into the river with the adults on their backs, and had close contact with the water.

The first time I met Ertan was on TV. It was 1992, I was a student at school, and our class organized to watch the news at seven o'clock every night. I saw the spectacular scene of intercepting water at Ertan on TV, and it is still fresh in my memory. Truckloads of concrete were poured into the rushing river. After the interception was successful, the river obediently turned around and entered the diversion tunnel. Such a big river allowed people to conquer it, and from that moment on I felt the power of people.

The construction of Ertan has since begun.

The first time I visited Ertan was in September 1993. The school celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I took a bus from Bingcaogang to Sandan and then walked. I had to walk upstream along the Yalong River, pass Miyi's Unity and Victory, and then cross the river and walk another 20 to 30 miles to get home. After passing the Santan Bridge, we walked through a tunnel. After walking through the maze-like tunnel, we suddenly saw the sun and heard the roar of the machines. What we saw was a busy scene on the construction site, and the construction of the power station was in full swing. With. Looking at the construction site, I used all my imagination to imagine what Ertan would look like in the future, let alone that Ertan would have such a big impact on us.

My memories of Ertan all stay in the Ertan reservoir area after the water was impounded.

The county seat moved south, and many of my memories of the old county seat were lost under the water. I have lived in the new county for such a long time, but I can never find the familiarity and sense of belonging I feel at home. In my dream, I wandered through the familiar streets and alleys of the old county town countless times. Every time I pass by the ruins of the old county seat by boat, I try to find the locations of Cross Street, Bay Street, and Yanbian Bridge on the water, but in vain.

In 1998, Ertan began to store water, and the reservoir area gradually formed. The water slowly submerged many fertile fields. Growing up in the mountainous area, we have always envied the people in the river valleys. We work hard all year round, and the good ones can only eat for one year, and the bad ones starve. However, people in the river valleys rely on the fertile land, and they can eat the millet they grow for one year for two or three years. During the resettlement period, many people were reluctant to leave the land run by their ancestors and chose to stay behind. More people don't believe that the water level in the reservoir area can really be so high, and they haven't moved beyond the safety line. Some even left and came back, causing subsequent relocations. They must have looked at their homeland again and again while going back and forth, and not many people can understand their feelings. However, the water level later was really unexpected. When water storage began, the water level was rising. The water overflowed the beach, paddy fields, and paths... Snakes came out of their holes and scurried around on the water, and many insects ran around on dead branches and floating objects. For them, this was a big disaster. We stepped on the water with bare feet on the road, watching the water rise and recede as we stepped on it. We really wanted to put all the flooded scenery into memory.

After the water storage is completed, the reservoir area is also formed. Boats have also become an essential means of transportation for us to travel. It took thirteen years to sit back and forth from Ertan to Baizhi, and from Baizhi to Ertan. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, rain or shine, in the past thirteen years, I have melted into Ertan.

Reminds me of the first time I took a boat ride.

When I was a child, I took a boat ride, which was rowed on the other side. There were wooden boats and iron boats, but now it is really a boat ride. It was July, and the road from *** to Baizhi was cut off. We walked to Baizhi and were already sweating profusely. We contacted an open-top speedboat. Because we were thirsty, everyone also brought a bottle of beer. We drank and chatted while admiring the scenery on both sides of the strait. From Baizhi to Ertan, I have been looking for the Yalong River in my memory, but even a little bit of familiarity is gone. After the water was impounded, the reservoir area looked completely different, so strange. When the boat arrived at the mouth of the two rivers, I remembered something.

Not far from the mouth of the two rivers where the Sanyuan River flows into the Yalong River, there is a place called Steel Wire Bridge (the bridge was useless at that time). It is a ferry and the only way for Miyi Unity and Victory to reach the old county seat of Yanbian. When I arrived here from Miyipwe in August 1995, it was already evening and I couldn't cross the river, so I stayed in a family on the bank. Under the starlight, I looked at the Huanhu Road (Saltside Anchovy Section) on the other side, imagining the future of the reservoir area. Today, the place where I stood has disappeared under the water, and the people who facilitated me are also missing.

During the thirteen years of being on the boat, it was not always smooth sailing. Once I took a boat from Yumen to Baizhi, and I took a boat with an engine. The speed was very slow, and the boat broke down halfway and stopped on the other side of Mi Yi Shengli. It was in a dense forest and there was no way to get a speedboat, so I slept on the boat with the boatman all night. It was late at night, and the wind gently rustled the leaves, matching the rhythm of the waves hitting the shore. I lay in the boat and the boat rocked gently. I felt like I was in the cradle, rocking, and I was back to my childhood, back to my mother's arms. That dream was the closest I got to Ertan. The next day, the sun rose, the ship repairman arrived, and we left there. The first and only time I took a boat ride took two days to reach my destination.

In 2011, I was transferred from ***和 to Hongguo, but I still haven’t left Ertan. People often go up from Santan and pass through the Ertan Tunnel to enter the reservoir area, and then leave Ertan from the reservoir area through the Ertan Tunnel. Ertan! Every morning we wake up together, and every night in the dead of night your little fishing light accompanies me in my dreams. Now that you have entered my memory, I don’t want to leave you again.