The Spring Festival in Hegang is so lively: there is a long queue at the Egg Castle. "The child is back, buy more."

This article Source: Times Weekly Author: Liu Muxuan

At 4: 47 a.m. the day before New Year's Eve, in Hegang, Heilongjiang, the temperature was close to MINUS 20 degrees, and a new layer of Bo Xue was laid on the road, lying firmly on the ground.

The silence before sunrise was broken by the heavy breathing of diesel engines. Many years ago, the busy dawn came from the train pulling coal, and now it is a farmer selling pork.

Less than 5 o'clock in the morning, there was already traffic in Hegang morning market.

Lao Gao and his wife in military green coats unloaded tents, folding tables and hundreds of kilograms of steaming pork from the car. Facing the customers approaching the tent, Lao Gao turned his head and muttered, "It hasn't been opened yet. What's your hurry?"

The couple who run the pork stall are making preparations.

On the other side of the road, Aunt Zhang puts different flavors of Baoquanling bean paste on a white foam box, each bag is 2 kilograms. The stall next to it sells exactly what the northeast people need in winter-hats, gloves, insoles, elastic bands, sewing kits. Insoles with fluff can slightly resist the cold of minus 20-30 degrees, while cotton trousers worn for a long time will be loose at the waist, so the old people at home need to change them with needle and thread.

This is the old street base in Xiangyang District, Hegang, in the northeast of Northeast China. It was the infant of this city a hundred years ago. Youyi Road Morning Market, located in this area, has now become the largest morning market in Hegang.

Morning market/fair

The broadcast clock of the Mining Bureau Building struck seven times, and the Hegang people who came to the morning market to buy new year's goods were already in an endless stream.

Pork stalls are the places with the most people waiting in line. People who visit the morning market usually come to the front trough, pork belly and ribs. Jiaozi wrapped in the front slot, pickled cabbage with five flowers, and ribs are of course used to stew beans.

Pork guy is in the skin of black pig's feet.

The most fashionable sign is that the big brother who sells pork will burn the skin of pig's hands and elbows with open fire, which is not only convenient to clean up the residual pig hair and surface impurities, but also can transform the colloid in pig's skin into attractive fragrance at high temperature, while retaining the waxy fragrance of pig's skin, which is what gourmets will do.

Like the south, chicken sellers in the north pay attention to fresh slaughter. They boiled hot water in extremely deep iron drums and killed chickens and plucked their hair on the spot.

The chicken still in the cage may understand that its time is running out.

The situation of river carp is the most embarrassing. They are crowded in outdoor water tanks, and their instinct for survival drives them to twist their bodies to prevent themselves from freezing. But I don't know that the more active you are, the more you will be picked first.

Squeezed in the water tank, the carp are almost frozen by the weather.

In the northeast of winter, fresh fruits and vegetables receive the same courtesy as people. They lie in the greenhouse and sleep under the quilt. But some fruits have been adapted to the environment and made into frozen pears and frozen persimmons.

Southerners will think these are novel, but this way of changing fruits to extend the shelf life also appears in Guangdong and Guangxi in the south-the streets of Guangdong are "salty and sour" fruit slices, or the streets of Guangxi are "sour _".

"Frozen pear frozen persimmon! Piece by piece! "

People in different areas show the same wisdom.

Most non-staple food and staple food stores have stores, and their business model of small profits but quick turnover is extremely sensitive to cost. Due to the price increase of raw materials, sesame cakes will also rise from 80 cents to one piece.

"We usually buy pork and chicken when we buy new year's goods here. Only fish and seafood can be used in better conditions." Aunt Li lined up in front of a booth making an egg castle and introduced Hegang people's choice of new year's goods.

It's not unusual for traditional Chinese new year's goods to be popular, but the queue to buy egg castles rarely becomes the longest in the whole morning market.

People who queue up to buy egg hamburgers are mostly for the "young people" at home.

This is a snack consisting of batter, eggs, meat stuffing and salt and pepper. More than ten years ago, it was popular at the gates of major schools in the north, belonging to the childhood memories of "post-90 s" and "post-00 s" Only 36 can be cooked in one pot, and many people will choose to pack five or six at a time. According to Aunt Li, this store usually has a good reputation, but these two days are particularly popular.

10 minutes ago, Aunt Li said only two. When it was her turn, she suddenly changed her mouth: "I still want five." The children are back. They love to eat. "

Go home (after a long time away from home)

In the northeast, Hegang is a famous coal city.

1926 the first coal railway from Hegang mine to Lianjiang mouth was completed. Since then, most of the coal mines mined in Hegang have become combat readiness materials for all parties.

At the end of 2022, Hegang's first high-speed rail was opened to traffic. This time, the high-speed rail is also running on two tracks, mainly serving people.

This "Hulk" train between Harbin and Hegang is rarely filled with young men and women in fashionable clothes, and many of them are going home for the first time in the past three years. Tired of the journey, accompanied by the conductor's sentence "drink mineral water, duck neck and duck palm with red sausage chips", they fell asleep wearily.

The "Hulk" EMU just opened at the end of 2022 is one of the most convenient means of transportation to Hegang.

Older Hegang people are more energetic when they go home this time. They are used to talking with their families in their hearty hometown dialect, and if they hear someone passing by with them, they will also talk from afar.

Talking about hometown with the old Hegang people will definitely avoid the glory of Hegang.

The land under Hegang people's feet used to be the activity area of Heishui Nuzhen and Manchu royal family. However, Hegang is not named after a crane, but its name comes from Manchu transliteration, which means "deer hunting ground".

The modern history of Hegang area can be traced back to the discovery of coal mines in 19 14. For more than ten years, the government of the Republic of China, warlords, businessmen, farmers and miners have built a town around the coal mine here, named Mine Town, also known as Xingshan Town, which belongs to Tangyuan County, Heilongjiang Province.

However, troubled times came. After the Japanese invaders occupied the Northeast, they took Hegang's coal as their own and fought to support the war. It was not until the liberation of Northeast China that Hegang recovered his breath. 1949165438+1October, with the approval of the then Northeast People's Government, Xingshan City was renamed Hegang.

In the 1950s, in front of Hegang No.1 Department Store.

At that time, everything was in ruins in China, and Hegang already had film studios, banks and department stores. The first film studio in China was established in Hegang on 1946, and then moved to changchun film studio.

"At that time, the air was full of coal ash. If you go out in a white shirt, you have to go home in black at night. But there are so many opportunities, and I earn money by doing everything. " Aunt Liu was born in1970s, and her childhood was in the golden age of Hegang.

In her view, smoke and coal were not completely pollutants at that time, but symbols of new cities and prosperity.

The first coal train in Hegang.

Hegang Mining Area has built the first modern large-scale vertical shaft in New China, and now the annual coal output here is said to be the sum of the first 28 years of 1949. Although there are still many reserves, Hegang has lost its original position in the coal market due to problems such as mining cost.

"Mining bureau income less, slowly also fell. Retired in the mine, laid-off enterprises, and finally one or two thousand pensions every month, otherwise young people will leave. " Aunt Liu is filled with emotion, but she is still very excited to mention the crowded citizen square in Hegang and the special dishes of Biyoute Supermarket every afternoon.

vitality

When the bullet train arrived at the station, it was already late. In front of the newly renovated Hegang Railway Station, the cars at the stop were packed.

Hegang at 8: 30 in the evening has passed the meal. "Otherwise, don't stay at home to eat and clean up the barbecue," a young man said to his parents who came to pick up the bus.

It gets dark every day from four o'clock in the afternoon in winter, and Hegang people usually rest early. Most shopping malls close at 9: 00 p.m., and only barbecue shops will stay open until the early hours of the morning.

Hegang string is very famous in Heilongjiang.

Hegang skewers with golden crane beer.

Compared with the kebabs in Shandong and Inner Mongolia, the pieces of meat on Hegang skewers are cut smaller, look more tasty, and roast quickly. Thirty-four small strings, one baked, served in five minutes, and the grease was still sizzling. With local golden crane beer and one or two old friends who can talk, it is enough for Hegang people to forget the spiritual internal friction of vanity. I can't help but think of Zhao Benshan's famous Northeast dialect "You have to stand up!"

In fact, supporting the edge is not so easy. Hegang's low housing prices in recent years have actually reflected the insecurity of the future that has been imposed on generations of young people.

An ice and snow amusement park built on the ice surface of Tianshui Lake in Hegang.

Foreigners want to "lie flat" in Hegang. Unless they see through the world of mortals, the only viable option left is almost telecommuting.

Live broadcast, self-media, online stores, practitioners can hold the wages of first-tier cities, but at the same time enjoy the cost of living in Hegang. But this kind of work often requires high self-discipline, that is, you can't lie flat. Some followers may not have thought clearly about how lonely they have to endure when they leave their hometown. Not everyone can live on the Internet alone.

In fact, Hegang people have never been "flat". This city is not satisfied with this reason. It seems that outsiders only look at the city from the perspective of housing prices, talk to themselves and leave swearing, ignoring the history, spirit and lifestyle that should be paid attention to here.

Outsiders like to regard Hegang as a mirror, but in the eyes of many locals, Hegang is actually a river, a river that never stops even if the surface freezes in winter.

Today, the core business body of Hegang-Biyoute Times Square.

In 2002, a Hegang man opened a jiaozi store called Xijiade, which only included jiaozi. Today, he has more than 700 stores in China, and has become one of the leading categories in jiaozi, with annual revenue exceeding 3 billion yuan.

In the same year, another Hegang native who resigned from the Mining Bureau founded Biyoute Supermarket. During the epidemic, it expanded against the trend, and its sales increased by double digits for two consecutive years. Biyoute ranked 36th in China Chain Store & Franchise Association "202 1 China Supermarket TOP 100", with annual sales of 4.2 billion yuan. It is said that the secret is highly digital community operation service.

There is also a graphite industry that has risen by the east wind of new energy vehicles. Luobei County, located in Hegang, has the largest crystalline graphite mineral resources in Asia, which is well received by the market because of its high grade, easy mining and good washability. In July 2022, China Graphite Group Co., Ltd. was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first listed enterprise in Hegang, Heilongjiang.

The former Soviet Union-style Hegang Mining Bureau building tells the history of Hegang.

This is a city that has experienced decline, but it has never lacked life and vitality. They live with more dignity and happiness than the external evaluators.

On the day of the Spring Festival, Hegang writer Chen Ruijiu also sent a new poem "About" to the reporter of Time Weekly. He is going to retire this year, and he is going to go to the south to see if there are suitable job opportunities in the south when the weather is warm. "If it doesn't work, consider it a trip." Chen Ruijiu showed the open-mindedness of the northeast people.

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Text/Chen Ruijiu

There are always many beautiful flowers.

nourishing heart

Grow up with me in my dreams.

Countless gorgeous fragrance

Often blocked by some sight.

A seemingly romantic bouquet

Become my own badge

Those unforgettable memories

Linger in my ear

It sounds like my wonderful voice when I was sixty.

Although the concert is almost over.

Passion is still stirring in my heart.

It seems that these are butterflies and bees.

A date with me in spring