Do you know where the geographical center of the Asian continent is?

Fine carving of the pavilion of Lao Wu Man.

It is scientifically determined that the position of 43 degrees 4 1 minute north latitude and 87 degrees 20 minutes east longitude on the earth is the center of Asia.

The story of an old shepherd is closely linked with "Yaxin" and full of legend.

Looking for "Asian Heart"

"Where is the geographical center of the Asian continent?"

For many years, some scientists at home and abroad and many tourists who love to travel have been looking for answers.

From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, many domestic tourists came to Xinjiang one after another. They initially determined that the center of the world's largest continent is in Xinjiang from maps and materials. Many people also found the Foreign Affairs Office of the Autonomous Region to verify the situation. Because this involves geography, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Autonomous Region also sent people to the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for verification. In order to broaden the applied research field of tourism geography, promote the development of the whole region with a special geographical position, and widely publicize Xinjiang's natural landscape and human landscape at home and abroad, the Institute of Geography of China Academy of Sciences, after expert argumentation, specially set up a research group for finding the "Heart of Asia" composed of experts from the Tourism Bureau of the autonomous region, the Science and Technology Commission of the autonomous region and the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aiming at developing Xinjiang's tourism and contributing to the revitalization of the local economy through the determination of "Heart of Asia".

1992, after a year's careful calculation, the research group used modern computer technology to calculate based on the map. In order to improve the calculation accuracy, they used the international advanced GPS global positioning system for actual positioning and initially determined that the hinterland of Asia was Xinjiang. Soon, they invited experts from the domestic Bureau of Surveying and Mapping and professors from Wuhan Surveying and Mapping University to verify the surveying and mapping results, and finally the relevant parties and experts unanimously agreed to pass.

1in the winter of 1992, Xinjiang Institute of Geography of China Academy of Sciences publicly announced to the outside world that the geographical center of Asia, the largest continent in the world, is located at 87 degrees 20 minutes east longitude and 43 degrees 4 1 minute north latitude, near Baojiacaozi Village, Yongfeng Township, urumqi county, Xinjiang; Yaxin area starts from Shihezi in the west, Qitai and Turpan in the east, Tianshan Mountain in the south and Gurbantonggut Desert in the north, spanning five cities and six counties in Xinjiang.

Shortly after the news came out, the United States sent geographers to Xinjiang. After the field test, they took away some data and recognized the results determined by Xinjiang Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After a lapse of four years, National Geographic magazine (the third issue) 1996, which has a high authority in the world geography field, also announced this news to the world. The geographical center of the Asian continent is near Baojiacaozi Village, Yongfeng Township, urumqi county, Xinjiang. The Asian New Area has high scientific investigation and sightseeing value. The Urumqi Municipal People's Government decided to invest 6,543,800 yuan to build the "AsiaInfo" sign tower in Baojiacaozi Village, Yongfeng Township, urumqi county.

"The Heart of Asia" is calling.

1In May, 1992, Xinjiang Branch of China Academy of Sciences set up the first symbol of "Geographical Center of Asian Continent" in Baojiacaozi Village, Yongfeng Township, urumqi county, Xinjiang, which became the "heart" of Asia attracting worldwide attention.

Imagine, on the vast land, standing proudly at the pole of Asia, listening to the long wind whistling and the yellow sand dancing, the situation of a continent overhead will change, and the power of a continent under your feet will surge and balance. How spectacular and heroic this is! However, farmers in Baojiacaozi Village, who have lived in the backcountry for most of their lives, can't understand its true meaning for a while. Only an ordinary old shepherd seems to understand the meaning of "Yaxin" first, and his fate has changed since then. From the day the "Yaxin" sign was erected, he silently acted as the guardian of "Yaxin", and the old shepherd became a stone carving artist. /kloc-the 0/.5-meter-high stone lion is his masterpiece, and now the four stone lions he carved have been completed.

This old man is Wu Tingde. He has three sons and a daughter. They all have their own families. The old man leads a leisurely shepherd life. When he found this brand of "Asian Heart" in the village, this remote village, which had been silent for many years, became lively, and many foreigners with yellow hair and blue eyes in strange clothes came one after another. They jumped, jumped and laughed at' re, and some of them kept taking pictures at' re with cameras. He thought that're unusual.

/kloc-one autumn evening in 0/993, when Lao Wu Mantingde was driving a sheep past the "Yaxin" sign, he saw an old man with silver hair, supported by two young people, looking at the sign for a long time without saying a word. According to the old man's inquiry, the old lady came to Xinjiang on 1937 to work with Chen Tanqiu, Mao Zemin and other revolutionaries of the older generation. After working in Xinjiang for over 30 years, she was transferred back to Guangzhou. When she learned that the "heart" of Asia was in Xinjiang, she made a special trip to ask her grandchildren to accompany her back to the place where she used to work and have a look again. When she came to "Yaxin", the old lady burst into tears and was filled with emotion. She said, "I'm 90 years old. I was able to come to "Yaxin" this time and fulfilled a wish in my life ... Unfortunately, it is poor and desolate, and there is nothing to take back as a souvenir. Pick a "elegant" stone as a souvenir ... "

Old Wu Man listened, his eyes moist. His heart suddenly lit up. When herding sheep on weekdays, he often picks up stones and carves various small animals to amuse himself. Why not give the old lady one as a souvenir? So, he gave the old lady a Shi Hu carved by himself, and engraved the word "Yaxin" on the bottom of the Shi Hu, which satisfied the 90-year-old man's long-cherished wish. ...

The desire to be the guardian of the "heart of Asia" strongly impacts the hearts of the elderly. As long as your body is strong and tough, you can't let the guests from afar go home empty-handed; As an "Asian heartthrob", I can't send any souvenirs to tourists, but I'm sorry for "Asian heartthrob" and I've lived at the foot of this land for decades. ...

Musketeers Forever

"Asia Heart" will make Urumqi a tourist hotspot in Asia and even the world, which is a golden opportunity for Urumqi. On the one hand, Urumqi established the "Yaxin" development organization to attract investment from home and abroad, on the other hand, it invested 1 10,000 yuan in advance to build the "Yaxin" sign tower.

The "Asian Heart Symbol Tower" has finally been designed, which is magnificent and profound. The shape of the tower is a huge "A", which is the first letter of the English word "Asia". From all angles, the word "A" is impressive. The total height of the tower and foundation is 18m, and the base is a circle with a diameter of 30m, on which a scaled-down Asian topographic map is carved. There is a heavy hammer made of copper hanging at the top of the tower, and the tip of the hammer points directly at the "sub-center" of the map on the base. In addition, there are eight reliefs outside the tower, reflecting the history and culture of eight Asian countries; The design has a 16 km pile, which indicates the distance between "Yaxin" and the world's major cities 16. ...

Old Wu Man was so excited that he didn't sleep a wink all night. Over the years, he has carved many small stone animals marked "Yaxin" and the English abbreviation "AC" for Chinese and foreign tourists who come here. One day, he came across a boulder with good texture, which was very suitable for carving giant animals. Wu Tingde wishes to carve four stone lions and let them wait in the southeast, northwest and four directions of the Asian Heart Symbol Tower.

As the saying goes, "the lion plays the treasure, and the dragon hides the land." Lions are symbols of good luck and prosperity. In order to carve stone lions, Wu Mantingde sold all the 40 sheep he had raised for many years, handed over the cultivated land to his son, and began to carve stone lions wholeheartedly.

Wu Tingde, an old man with only a few years' experience in wood carving, is not very proficient in the art of carving. It is difficult to turn four huge stone carvings into powerful stone lions in Na Wei. The old man has lived for more than 60 years, but he has never seen a real lion. He can only be familiar with the whole and part of the stone lion from the data and atlas, and then he puts the picture on the stone and carves while carving. Every once in a while, the villagers are invited to comment, and then they are repaired and improved.

The old man and his wife gave up all housework and devoted themselves to the huge project of carving stone lions. At 6: 30 every morning, they get up on time and start carving after washing. If you are tired, have a rest. If you are bored, go for a walk in front of the "Yaxin" tower outside the hospital. Day after day, month after month, I can't tell how many bubbles have been ground on my hands, and I can't remember how many injuries I have been hit by flying stones. He still likes it.

Finally, in 3 1 month and 8 days, the first lifelike stone lion with a height of 1.5m was completed. Then, with the unremitting efforts of the old man, the second and third stone lions were completed.

Everyone holds the "Asian Heart"

1On May 30, 997, when the old man Wu Tingde was most short of funds and his life was extremely difficult, a car stopped at his door and someone gave him the first free subsidy, totaling 1500 yuan. The township cadres also rushed to Baojiacaozi Village to visit Wu Tingde and his wife, took the lead in donating money and materials for the elderly, and called on the people of the township to send love to the elderly. On the eve of the Spring Festival this year, the township government sent flour, cooking oil and 1000 yuan to the elderly to make them happy for the New Year. ...

A bank cadre not only donated money for the elderly, but also visited the elderly in Yaxin, more than 90 kilometers away, helping the elderly to do rough work of polishing stones for three days.

1997 On the eve of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, a reporter from Ta Kung Pao donated 1000 yuan on behalf of the newspaper and Hong Kong compatriots to show his respect for the "Guardian of the Asian Heart".

The general manager of a hotel made a special trip to drive the old couple into the city, so that Wu Tingde and his wife, who had worked hard for most of their lives, could have a "foreign meat" and let the hotel staff learn "something more expensive and important than money" from Wu Laohan.

Now, the four stone lions of Wu Mantingde have been transported to the sign tower and embedded in place, but for various reasons, it is still unknown whether the stone lions carved by the old man can be officially placed around the "Asian Heart Sign Tower" as they wish.

Every time I think about this, the old man's heart is filled with emotion, which is beyond words. In case this painstaking stone lion is not approved by the government and relevant departments, it can only be placed in its own courtyard wall. But people understood the old man, and Xinjiang TV station filmed a feature film "Yaxin and a Shepherd" for the old man for more than 30 minutes. At the beginning of May this year, the author came to the old man Wu Tingde. He said that he had a "cholangioma" recently and almost died in the west. When he was lying in a coma in the hospital bed, he kept shouting "Lion, my lion …" The nurse asked the old man strangely, "Do you have a lion at home?"

The old man took out an exquisite notebook with inscriptions and signatures from tourists from all directions. "People from all corners of the country make friends with five continents", "Far away from home, heart to heart", "Asia has no scenic spots, heart to heart" and "Asia is connected with you, me and him, making Asia better! Make the world a better place! " ……

Wu Tingde's wife, Yang Wanlan, couldn't tell the meaning of the old man carving stone lions, but said sincerely, "Let him do what he likes!" The elder brother and grandchildren feel the same way: "As long as the elder likes to do it and the government and society support it, then we will never object!" " Old Wu Mantingde has his own opinion: "Carved lions can't be smashed and taken away, they will always be there ..."

Wu Tingde is now a "celebrity" known to all women and children in Fiona Fang. However, the aura of "celebrity" is not a capital that can bring glory and wealth to the elderly, but a great driving force to support their belief and carve stone lions. Now, as long as the tourists who come here walk into his yard, they can see that the old man is still as calm as water and addicted to knocking.