Beautiful Hebei·On the Road

I have visited Baiyangdian four times. Before I started writing, I hesitated again and again, but I still couldn't get the idea. Baiyangdian is the largest natural freshwater lake in North China, covering an area of ??366 square kilometers. It's so big that it really needs a Baiyangdian travel guide.

Running on the bridge is like flying over Yodo

Having said that, recent trips are always enjoyable. At the end of March, I just went to Baiyangdian.

The hotel we are staying in is very close to Baiyangdian. After finishing our work in the evening, we plan to go for a run in Baiyangdian tomorrow morning. At 6 o'clock in the morning, my companion was still sleeping soundly, and I got up. I asked the front desk clerk and she told me that the hotel is only two kilometers away from Baiyangdian, so just turn left when going out.

The air is good in the morning, and there are people jogging on the way to the scenic spot. Soon I arrived at Baiyangdian and I ran along the edge of the lake. Since I was not familiar with the route, I just ran down a small road as I pleased, with the goal of getting closer to Dian and feeling her elegance. The path winds down to a piece of water, lined with fishermen's houses and moored boats. This is a downhill road, run over it and enter the lake. But after running a few steps, I suddenly found that the fisherman's house was guarded by big dogs. They lay silently and quietly, looking calm as if they were familiar with the world.

Forget it, turn back to the upper embankment, and there are people running in twos and threes. Oh, this is the correct running route. There are thick elm trees planted on the embankment. It is the time when the trees are full of elms. While running, I asked the fellow who got up early how old the elm tree was. The fellow said that it must be at least seventy or eighty years old. After running through a section of concrete road, there is an asphalt road ahead, with tall poplar trees guarding the embankment. This is a standard road running surface. At this time, a sentence from the novel by writer Sun Li came to mind: "Across the plain, across a large embankment, you will reach Baiyangdian Water Town."

This run was simply wonderful. Standing on the embankment, one side is the great plain where the hotel is located, and the other side is the endless Baiyangdian water surface. Finally got a taste of the beauty of Baiyangdian. Looking ahead, you can see the newly built wooden trestle connected to the embankment leading directly to Dianli. There are many tourists walking on the trestle and taking photos. Go down the embankment and go up the bridge. The wooden trestle bridge is so comfortable for your feet. The trestle bridge circled for about two kilometers. Running on the bridge was like flying on the lake. On both sides were quiet and wide water surfaces with large gray-white reed stubbles in the water.

"When spring comes, the water of the river is as green as blue." Because of the depth of the lake and the brightness of the light, "the water of Baiyangdian is so green that it turns black."

This is certainly not a sentence I can write, It is a classic description in Sun Li's novel. As far as the eye can see, the water in Baiyangdian is such a deep and clear color.

Every time I go, I pay tribute to Sun Li

The first time I went to Baiyangdian was twenty years ago. At that time, my work unit organized a spring outing for young people, and we came to Baiyangdian. . It's been so long that I can't remember the specific details of the trip at that time. What is certain is that we took a boat into Dianli and had dinner together at noon. We had a fish feast in Anxin County, which was a table full of fish, including big fish, small fish, and all kinds of fish. At that time, when I was young, I liked to go out and have fun. When I got tired from playing, I just needed something delicious to eat.

In fact, I don’t understand the subtle beauty of Baiyangdian. Even though I visited Baiyangdian twice later, both times were to run the Xiongan Marathon. The Xiongan Marathon starts from Baiyangdian Station and runs along Baiyangdian Avenue. In the first year, there was a section of the route leading to Dianli. In the second year, a section of the Citizen Service Center was added. The entire route ran along the edge of Baiyangdian.

However, the horse race is in a hurry and the time is tight. How can I have time to go shopping?

Fortunately, every time I go to Baiyangdian, I do so with a sincere heart. Every time I go to Baiyangdian, I pay tribute to Sun Li. Sun Li is my favorite modern literary writer. I never tire of reading his novels. Therefore, every time I go to Baiyangdian, I may only catch a glimpse of light and shadow, or see a cloud, but I feel that the trip is worthwhile.

It’s a pity that we didn’t really go into Baiyangdian after all. It wasn't until I re-read Sun Li's short story collection "Baiyangdian Chronicles" that I suddenly realized that the most beautiful Baiyangdian is in this novel. He created many eternal artistic conceptions: water town, lotus arrows, reeds, embankments...each one is worthy of appreciation. It is truly Sun Li's unique lotus lake. "Baiyangdian Chronicle" can be called the best travel guide to Baiyangdian.

Let’s excerpt a few paragraphs:

“When I arrived in Baiyangdian, my first impression was that water feeds reeds and people rely on reeds for their lives. There are reeds everywhere here, and people and people are reeds. The combination is so tight that people are like parasitic birds in the reeds, walking back and forth in the reeds all day long."

"Pink lotus arrows stick out high."

"The water is like endless mercury."

"Only at this late night can there be sounds of water birds flying and singing in the reed pond."

"Fortunately, these are the Young women, who grew up in Baiyangdian, rocked the boat very fast like a jumping barracuda out of the water."

In the preface of this novel, Sun Li wrote passionately: "I miss them very much, and I also miss Jizhong very much."

Sun Li wrote Baiyangdian so beautifully. This is his best novel.

Objectively speaking, at 366 square kilometers, Baiyangdian is so big that you can't capture its beauty at all. However, the works of the novel master are classics. You can take a leisurely trip with you to appreciate the beauty of the lake. In a way, it's a lot like taking a copy of Thoreau's "Walden" with you when traveling to Walden Pond. "I miss Jizhong very much." You can imagine what a beautiful place Baiyangdian Water Town is. If you go to Baiyangdian again, you can really bring a copy of "Baiyangdian Chronicle" as a travel guide.

Revisiting the Wanwan Water Road and Wanwan Ludang

Sometimes, for the traveler, the value of the writer’s text is so powerful. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, no matter which season comes, there are scenery to enjoy. This is because there is a travel guide in hand.

In fact, many times when we travel to a place, or even visit it many times by chance, we don’t realize how beautiful the place we are traveling is. This awkward trip happens all the time. Sometimes, you can’t figure out why you are still unfamiliar with a place after visiting it many times. The only way is to visit again.

As I was about to leave Baiyangdian, my local friend said, come back in the summer, when the lotus flowers are in bloom. Okay, let’s meet in the summer. I want to relive the winding waterways and winding reeds, and I want to see the pink lotus arrows sticking out high.

The poet Larkin said that things are stronger than us, just as the earth always responds. This may be the meaning of every time we set out with our backpacks.

Related

The origin of the name of Baiyangdian

The earliest recorded name of "Baiyangdian" may be "Zuze", and "Shui Jing Zhu" records that Daqi Dian and Xiaoyu Lake, also known as Dawo Lake and Xiaowo Lake, were called Juli Lake in the Western Jin Dynasty, Xidian in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Xitang from the Northern Song Dynasty to Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. The name "Baiyang Lake" also appeared, which is recorded in history. It is one of the ninety-nine lakes between Chengcheng, Xiongxian and Anxin, henceforth called "Baiyangdian". In the Qing Dynasty, it was collectively called Xidian. Because Baiyangdian is the largest lake in terms of area, it is now collectively called Baiyangdian. It is formed by water collecting in the fan edge depression at the intersection of the Yongding River and Hutuo River alluvial fans in front of the Taihang Mountains.

In 2007, Baiyangdian Scenic Area in Anxin County, Baoding City was officially approved by the National Tourism Administration as a national 5A tourist attraction.