When arriving at Suzhou North Railway Station,
I just found out that the booked hotel is far from the city
It’s more than twenty kilometers away.
Immediately felt sorry.
Fortunately, my fellow travelers are not picky people.
I checked the route and went straight to my residence.
On the way it started to rain,
This is Suzhou, which is still full of green vitality outside the window.
Added a small southern town atmosphere.
Suzhou is the second stop of our walking tour.
Wandering around without any plan,
There will always be some unexpected episodes,
There are always pleasant little surprises.
For example, on the first day in Suzhou,
The ancient town of Lu (lu) that I accidentally broke into because I booked the wrong hotel,
It became a little surprise of this trip in my mind.
As a northerner through and through,
But I am full of paranoia and respect for the ancient water towns in the south.
Watching “Time Like Water” back then,
Rather than being moved by Wen Heying’s love story,
What attracted me more was the ancient town where they lived.
Small bridges and flowing water, white walls and black tiles, bluestone roads,
And the rain that trickles down the eaves when it rains
And that quite old oil-paper umbrella.
Since then, the ancient water town has planted grass in its heart.
A few years later, I finally went to Wuzhen, where “Time Like Water” was filmed,
The result, of course, was disappointment.
If Wuzhen in “Time Like Water” is a seller’s show,
Today’s Wuzhen is a real buyer’s show,
Old, clean, serene, and sentimental are gone,
Only the hustle and bustle left.
Back to Luzhi Ancient Town.
According to “Fulizhi”: Luzhi was originally named Fuli,
It is named after “Fulitang” in the west of the town.
Later, because there is a direct port in the east of the town, leading to six places,
The shape of the water manifold is as cool as the word “Lu”, so it was renamed “Luzhi”.
It is also said that the ancient unicorn animal “Lu Duan” inspected the land of China, and the path of Lu Zhi,
Seeing that this is a treasure land of geomantic omen, it has been located in Luzhi for a long time.
Therefore, throughout the history of Lu, there has been no famine,
There are no droughts and floods, and people have enough food and clothing every year.
Our hotel is not far from the old town.
After noon, the sky is still lazily raining,
As lazy as the sky is my little friend,
After a full afternoon nap, I was called out the door.
After coming out of the hotel, go through two traffic lights,
Then I saw the gate tower of Luzhi Ancient Town.
Next to the gatehouse is a noisy commercial street,
Although it is raining,
But there are still a lot of people bustling on the street.
I thought it was the same in the ancient town,
But when I walked in, I found that it was another world.
Maybe it’s raining or it’s getting late,
It also happens to be the off-season for tourism.
Except for the two of us, there are almost no other tourists in the ancient town,
Even many shops on both sides of the narrow street have hung heavy wooden doors.
The two walked leisurely on the bluestone road, one in front and one behind,
The rain has stopped.
Except for footsteps and the occasional barking of dogs in the distance,
There was hardly any other sound.
There are few pedestrians on the street,
Occasionally, locals pass by in a hurry.
There aren’t too many bars that sing every night,
There are no over-developed hotels and shops,
Lighted artisan shops or snack bars run only by locals
Glittering quietly at night in the ancient town.
When I stand on a bridge,
Overlooking this silent town,
My heart is gradually filled with all kinds of good feelings,
It seems that I have finally found the real way to wander around the ancient city of the water town.
“This is the ancient water town of my dreams…”
I sighed silently in my heart.
I want to turn around and say to my friends behind me:
Can we just stand here for a while?
Or you can go somewhere else first,
I’ll be here by myself for a while.
Before I can say it,
The little friend has already walked down the bridge along the steps.
I didn’t say anything,
Silently followed behind him and left.
Luzhi seems to be very small.
It feels like turning a few street corners and crossing a few small bridges,
It was over.
But in fact, there are many waters and bridges in Luzhi.
It has always enjoyed the reputation of “Bridge Capital” in the south of the Yangtze River.
Many insightful people said with emotion that after seeing Luzhi,
In fact, it is equivalent to visiting a museum of ancient bridges.
The density of its bridges far exceeds that of Venice, the water city in Italy.
Lu Zhi is also very old,
mottled white walls,
fragments of sunlight,
All explain its vicissitudes.
The river in the town is clear and the environment is elegant,
Places of interest are dotted all over,
The Breeze of the Duck Marsh, the Clear Spring of the Branch Office, the Snow Waves of Wusong, the Bells of Haizhi,
Futu Sunset, Yulian Dengfu, Xihui Xiaoshi, etc.
The “Eight Views of Fuli” summarized by the ancestors
Despite the long history of hardships,
Most have been demolished,
But you can still find out their grandeur in those days.
Luzhi Baosheng Temple was built in 503 AD and has a history of 1495 today.
It is the first batch of national first-level key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council.
When I came out of Luzhi that night
Originally, the two of them planned to take a closer look the next morning.
I even decided silently in my heart
Get up at five or six o’clock to see the early morning here
What a scene again.
As a result, because I went to bed too late the night before,
Didn’t get up early and didn’t get to go again,
Leave a big regret.
However, one day
I’ll still go back and see it’s early morning,
Hear the sound of its water,
Feel its past and present.
