Travel notes: a trip to Hangzhou

On a weekend in mid-May, I was finally able to take time out of my busy schedule and went to Hangzhou as soon as I arrived. Take the train south at noon, and finally you can get a close look at the long-awaited Jiangnan. There is no green rice in the field as I imagined, but many yellow rapeseed and many crops as yellow as wheat. I think it's dog-tailed millet. There are many rivers in the south of the Yangtze River, but they are all dirty. The wooden motorboat carried a lot of goods, and the brown and black water hit the ship's side. Because there are a lot of goods, the ship's side is almost completely immersed in the water, and only the bow and stern are on the water. This scene is very similar to the scene of Shaoxing braised rice written by Ye Shengtao. Water pollution seems to have not changed for decades. The bus soon arrived in Jiaxing, a small city, and continued driving for half an hour to reach Haining. On the first day I saw the bus stop in Haining, the name of Wang Guowei, a master of Chinese studies, immediately crossed my mind. I wonder if the cold wind by the lake in Beijing reminds him of his hometown in the south of the Yangtze River. The bus arrived at the new railway station in Hangzhou. Out of the station, we went straight to the West Lake. The West Lake Avenue, about 2 kilometers in front of the railway station, takes us directly to the "Liulang Wenying" by the lake. We walked west along the lake and came to the famous Su Causeway. Next to the dike, by the lake in the west, is the "Autumn Moon in Pinghu". Su Causeway is beautiful and quiet. The lake on one side of the inner lake is very slow and flat as a mirror. There are several old buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which gave us a good first impression. Many people in Su Causeway love each other, but young people obviously find it boring, so most of them are people in their thirties and forties. There are many trees in Su Causeway, which makes people feel relaxed. There is a bridge called "Suolan Bridge" on the bridge in Su Causeway. We all felt that Lanjun was uncomfortable, so we hurried forward. There are many vendors selling loquat on the river bank, the golden one, which has a lot of water and is delicious. At the end of Su Causeway, there is a "flower harbor to watch fish". The violet has not yet opened, and there is no scene of "lotus reflected in the sun". But sitting on a stone bench in Su Causeway, touching the lake and overlooking Hang Cheng is also an unparalleled poetic feeling. Check into the North China Hotel in Qixialing, northwest of the lake. Go down the mountain to the "Louwailou" restaurant by the lake and taste Hangzhou cuisine. Because of this poem, Hangzhou has famous hotels outside the mountain and outside the building. 1949 Before Chiang Kai-shek left the mainland, he still hosted a banquet here to entertain Kuomintang elders. There is also a "Zhang Shengji", which is also a famous place. We chose a round table for eight people in the huge restaurant. There were too many people, only this one was empty. I ordered several famous dishes in Hangzhou: West Lake vinegar fish is sweet and sour osmanthus fish, West Lake water shield soup uses a kind of aquatic plants unique to the lake, Dongpo pork is pieces of fat pork strips, lily asparagus, called chicken glutinous rice lotus root. What impressed me the most was that Babao's mouth was full of fragrant and smelly tofu, which was so smelly that he only tasted it. Seeing Zhang Jun and Lan Jun blooming, Jiang Jun and I couldn't cover our noses. After a hearty meal, I strolled out of the vestibule. There were several boats on the lake embankment in front of the building. The four of us picked a boat and invited us to the lake for a week. After crossing the boat, we sat down and the boatman presented the clear water Longjing. In the swaying ripples, we held green tea, heard the noise of the river bank and drove to the middle of the lake. The boatman, surnamed Shen, was originally a tea farmer under the south peak of the southwest lake, so the tea he brought with him was all new tea picked in spring. Master Shen talks about the art of Longjing tea. The water should be clear, taken from Longjing under Nanfeng, and the fire should be slow, and boiled with olive shells. When the moisture reaches nine points, it is called shrimp eye water, and the lid floats up due to blisters, like a shrimp's rice eye. By making a cup of Longjing tea in this way, you can smell the natural flavor from the green air and taste life from the sweet water. After listening to Mr. Shen's description, we can't help admiring the beauty of the West Lake. There are oil lamps on the bow of the cruise ship in the lake. Looking around, nearly a dozen lights are like sky lanterns, which makes people feel like a lifetime ago. Dozens of feet away from the shore, people and cars are far away, the lake is silent, and occasionally fish jump into the water. The boat glided on the dark gray lake, and the four of us were quiet and enjoying the fun of visiting the West Lake at night. There are three islands in the West Lake. The island in front of us is called Yuangongdun, which was made by Yuan Zhifu in Lin 'an in Song Dynasty. This is the Ten Scenes of the West Lake "Yuan Dun Ring Wall". The island ring is about 100 feet long, and there are several tea rooms and stages. Hundreds of meters offshore, you can hear Wu Nong's Yue Opera from the dock. As the ship approached, I saw the costume dramatist singing, with a soft and continuous voice. I have only seen this scene in books before, and I feel fresh. I told the boatman to rest on the shore and watch opera. It was very romantic. About three minutes later, the play was over, and we were more interested. We talked and laughed softly. The boat circled the dock and sailed to the island in the middle of the East Lake. There is an old official ship dock on the island in the middle of the lake. Several archways also show the glory of the past. There are more than a dozen amateur vocal music lovers playing new words with ancient musical instruments on the island, which is very interesting. The three islands of West Lake are the only ones with arched pavilions. Unfortunately, there is no moon at night, so you can go to the middle of the lake at night. The boatman paddled gently, and we were ready to sail for Zhou Xiaoying at the end of Hunan. South of Zhou Xiaoying is a famous "three pools reflecting the moon", and you can only see the scenery by enjoying the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. The island is very big, and there are several Yan lakes connected with the Great Lakes. The buildings on the island are carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, which are very imposing. The water surface of the West Lake is gentle, and the stars and the moon were all covered with stratus clouds that night. There are hidden lights on the lake, which are as heavy as floating and as blurred as illusion. The night is getting deeper and deeper, and the fog on the lake is rising and quiet. We are thoughtful and silent, just to linger on the beautiful scenery of the West Lake. Get off the boat near Huagang at midnight. Walk along Bai Causeway to the city. Near the old Qiantang Gate, there is a tall building facing the lake, and the big word on the door is "Lakeside Residence". This looks like a noble place to go. When we went upstairs to see the lake, we saw several boats sailing towards the middle of the lake, but we only saw a few lights. Then we looked at the lights carefully, and they were all hidden in the fog. The trip to Hangzhou made me feel the leisurely artistic conception of Wen Ya in the south of the Yangtze River, both physically and mentally, and it is worthy of being a paradise on earth.