What kind of city is Wuhan?

Wu Hanyou is called Jiangcheng and Floating City.

"The Jade Emperor blows the Yellow Crane Tower, and plum blossoms fall into the river in May." This poem by Li Bai established the identity of Wuhan Jiangcheng thousands of years ago.

In fact, the title of "Jiangcheng" is not unique to Wuhan. Where the Yangtze River flows, Yibin, Luzhou and Chongqing in the upper reaches all enjoy the name of Jiangcheng, and Wuhu in the lower reaches is also called Jiangcheng because it ranks first among the "four rice markets in the south of the Yangtze River" in modern times. However, Wuhan is still the most famous river city in China.

Although there are many rivers in China, this floating city belongs only to Wuhan.

Colin Dalton, an Australian world architect who designed the Sydney Opera House, made a metaphor after investigating the geomorphological features of Wuhan: Wuhan is a "floating city" that is hard to find all over the world.

The master's vision is as original as ever, and the metaphor is also very vivid.

The city of Wuhan, water is its soul. The Yangtze River passes through the city and joins the Han River at the foot of Guishan Mountain, dividing Wuhan into Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, which is rare in the world.

This floating city is like a mystery.

When you want to use a word to describe its urban temperament, you will find that the city is unpredictable, just like the Yangtze River passing through it. It seems calm, but in fact it is undercurrent.

At this point, Lou Ye, the leader of the sixth generation of directors in China, has analyzed and explored the city in his films. In 20 12, he directed a film which was shot in large quantities in Wuhan and nominated for the Golden Horse Award. The name of this film is Mystery in a Floating City.

In the film, pigeons passing through the old city are always in a gray sky, even if it is sunny. After the low tide, the empty and mottled beaches and the streets with strong fireworks smell are all real life.

Lou Ye must love Wuhan. He used the lens language to present the "Wuhan flavor" recognized by most Wuhan people.

Only the film promoted Wuhan and solidified Wuhan.

Just like many movies made in Wuhan later, the messy barbecue stalls, old ferries, noisy markets in Hankou, spicy Regan Noodles, and crude Wuhan dialect ... When those bits and pieces were continuously spliced and emphasized by the camera, the Wuhan characteristics in the audience's impression were labeled like this.

But a city cannot be represented by several labels.

What kind of city is Wuhan?

As a Hubei native, to be honest, I can't answer.

My hometown is not far from Wuhan, but it takes more than two hours by car. I have only passed through Wuhan many times since I left home for so many years. When I was in college, I arrived or went to Wuchang Railway Station. After work, whether to arrive or go to Tianhe airport. For me, Wuhan is just a stop, and the stop time is very short, just enough for a meal or a look at the sky overhead.

I'm sorry that I haven't explored the city in depth in the years since I arrived. So in April this year, when I walked into Wuhan with the purpose of exploration, I found myself so strange to it that I was even more confused when I walked on the road. Even the gate of the Yellow Crane Tower was wrong.

Not only me, but also many people who come to Wuhan for the first time will be confused.

Who is the size of Wuhan? The express trains that pass through Wuhan have to stop twice. The taxi is too big to go to Hanyang, Hankou, and too big to leave Wuhan University for a day.

So many of us will say "Great Wuhan" when we mention Wuhan today.

The size here, in addition to the area, has a history. "Great Wuhan" is not conceited. This city has a glorious past. During the Republic of China, there was only Wuhan except Shanghai.

The wind and cloud of history have dispersed, leaving behind Wuchang Shouyi, Oriental Chicago, Hanyang Zao, National Wuhan University and Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, as well as century-old churches, old hospitals, old schools, old houses, old gardens and old city walls hidden among high-rise buildings.

Those heavy words are the witness of an era, and those ancient buildings, because of the gentleness of the years, make you unable to open your eyes whenever you stare.

History and culture are the soul of a city. From this perspective, Greater Wuhan is well deserved.

Small daily routine

Where there is water, it is always beautiful, but Wuhan, nourished by the Yangtze River, seems to have nothing to do with water.

The special geographical location and the former dock culture make the food stalls in this city bursting with popularity, full of fireworks, and the citizens are quick-talking and loud, not too subtle and gentle.

I only stayed in Wuhan for three days, so I have no time to visit the city. But no matter where we go, we can see and hear, but we find that this city has another lightness and poetry besides the noise and streets.

My visit began with the Yellow Crane Tower.

Standing at the top of Snake Mountain, which is the first floor in the world, although locals rarely reach the top, it is very attractive to outsiders.

Park is not very big, pavilions, waterside pavilions, more like a citizen leisure park. Crossing the gate, climbing the fifth floor of Snake Mountain, leaning against the railing, it feels a bit like the couplet on the gate: from the west, it is refreshing, the clouds are smooth and crumbling; A river gone forever, the waves washed away the troubles of the past and present.

During the spring outing season, a group of children stood in a row, all dressed in blue and white school uniforms and red scarves, chanting Li Bai's poem loudly: "The old friend left the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, fireworks went down to Yangzhou in March, and the lonely sail looked at the horizon and only looked at the flowing water of the Yangtze River." After singing, the crowd applauded warmly.

A thousand years later, the Yangtze River is still flowing day and night, but Jiangcheng has changed. At that time, I tried to find the yellow crane, but there was no trace of legend except wind and clouds.

My persistence is like the crowd coming for cherry blossoms on the campus of Wuhan University.

They are like small waves in the river, pouring into Wu Da one after another. Although the cherry blossoms have been completed in mud, and only the green leaves are lush on the trees, boys and girls still linger on the west road of Sakura Park, posing for photos under the road signs, and everyone smiles sweetly, as if taking pictures to keep the spring.

Fortunately, there are still delicious foods to find.

I followed the flood of people to Hubu Lane. Although almost all snack streets in the country look the same, compared with the popularity of food streets in other cities, Hubu Lane is simply a clear stream. The stall owner is not enthusiastic, nor does he attract too much, and some even disdain to look at you. You can choose whether to eat or not.

Maybe I was fascinated by all kinds of delicious food. I turned around for a long time before I found an exit, came out along a residential path, and suddenly walked to the river.

Looking at the Yangtze River from the Yellow Crane Tower before, I only felt that the artistic conception was far-reaching. Now that the Yangtze River is in sight, it is another scene.

The river is still cold, no one goes swimming, only a few boats come and go on the river. Maybe after May Day, when the weather is hot, citizens will swim in the river like fish.

Young men may wear red tights to show their wildest vitality, as Yi Zhongtian said in Reading the City.

In the afternoon, the beach is quiet and empty. No cattle and sheep are eating grass, and no one is flying kites.

Only a willow with new leaves was blown by the river wind. Those green branches and leaves, like immature hands walking on the river bank, accidentally touch together and soon separate.

Emptiness and silence made me wander. In my hometown of qi zhou, at this time, there will be many people carrying small baskets, digging wild vegetables by the river, picking wild wormwood, wrapping jiaozi at home, or frying bacon.

But Wuhan people should not eat bacon, and face the rivers and lakes. They eat all kinds of fish, shrimp and sweet lotus roots. Danshui River is their favorite, among which crayfish are the most.

Crayfish is as important to Wuhan people as Regan Noodles and duck neck.

Just like no duck can swim out of the Yangtze River alive, no crayfish can climb out of Wuhan alive. The crayfish and shrimp shells that Wuhan people eat in a summer can add up to several laps around the earth.

Eating is a belief, and the pains and cracks in life can be filled by eating again and again. Who doesn't like it?

Think of taking subway line 2 from the airport, from the starting station to the terminal, a long list of place names. What impressed me the most was the "crab spot". When I reported to the station, I couldn't even help swallowing.

In the evening, the clouds cleared and the sky cleared. The setting sun is like a sweet persimmon, hanging above the city skyline, and the river is full of long red waves, just like the red sugar-coated persimmon.

Time stands still at this moment, and Wuhan in the sunset seems to have returned to the past.

Cui Hao is standing on the Yellow Crane Tower. He was so melancholy that he wrote the legend into the landscape in front of him.

Li Bai stood by the river and waved goodbye to Meng Haoran. The boat sailed into Yangzhou, a romantic city with fireworks.

At the foot of Luojia Mountain, Yu Dafu is walking. He walked slowly until he entered the night intoxicated by the spring breeze.

The setting sun disappeared inch by inch on the horizon.

I looked at the Yangtze River Bridge in the twilight and remembered my taxi brother's advice: I must take the Yangtze River Bridge at night, which is completely different from what I saw during the day.

I once imagined that picture, when the bright light came on for the second time, the bridge across the river was like a Wolong, wrapped in the night, like a dream.

I imagined that gorgeous, hurried to the red lane cruise terminal by the river and jumped on the Yellow Crane Tower cruise ship. As soon as the whistle sounded, the cruise ship merged into the Yangtze River like a huge drop of water.

Night in Wuhan is waiting for me to explore. (End)