There is an old saying in Taizhou that "water is packed in the morning and water is packed at night".

"Bao Shui" refers to eating morning tea, because tea is drunk in the stomach. "Water foreskin" means bathing in the bathhouse.

This sentence vividly describes Taizhou people's attitude towards life: comfortable, leisurely and interesting, whether it is day or night, this is life.

Taizhou, known as Hailing in ancient times. Located in the middle of Jiangsu Province, on the north bank of the Yangtze River, it is adjacent to Yangzhou in the west, Yancheng in the north and Nantong in the east.

In ancient times, the mouth of the Yangtze River was near Zhenjiang to Yangzhou. Taizhou used to be a sea of Wang Yang, which began to land about 7000- 1000 years ago and was inhabited by human beings 5000 years ago. During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, Taizhou became a coastal area along the Yangtze River, belonging to Yangzhou, one of the "Kyushu" in Shangshu Gong Yu.

It was not until the Warring States period that Taizhou had its first name-Haiyang, which means facing the sea and the rising sun. Taizhou first appeared on the map of the Western Han Dynasty in 1 17 BC. It is an established county under Linhuai County, so it is called Hailing County because of its high terrain near the sea. In the Southern Tang Dynasty (AD 937), it was ruled by the state, meaning "Taiping country, too common people". Formerly known as Taizhou, Hailing County is under the jurisdiction of Taizhou.

Nowadays, in Hailing District, Taizhou, although the style of the city has undergone earth-shaking changes, the broken walls, the moat around the ancient city, the ancient temples, pagodas and old streets not far away can still vaguely distinguish its former appearance.

Yi cha San Dian yi noodles

The morning in Taizhou naturally begins with morning tea.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, I arrived at Hailing Old Street. The whole street, large and small morning tea shops are busy. Although there are not many passers-by in the street, they are basically crowded as soon as they walk into the store.

The morning tea in Gu Yue Building is very famous in Hailing. Because the boss's surname is Hu, it is called "Gu Yue Building". The teahouse is in the most conspicuous position in the old street. Like other shops, the decoration is simple and generous, and it is very stylish.

Guyue building

Taizhou morning tea is traditionally summarized as "one tea with three sides". "One tea" refers to drinking tea and perming, one of which is also called tea head; "Sanfen" is the three most common snacks in Taizhou, namely steamed buns, steamed dumplings and steamed dumplings. "One side" is the famous fish soup noodles.

Various refreshments of Taizhou morning tea: crab soup dumplings, crispy eel, Malantou steamed dumplings.

The raw material of perm-dried silk is the most common soybean, but the test is the master's most extreme knife work. The master cut a piece of 2.7 cm thick dried bean curd (called "Dagan" by Hailing people in Taizhou) into 20 layers with uniform thickness.

This kind of crosscutting kung fu is called "Gone with the Wind" by Taizhou people. "Float" tofu slices layer by layer, then spread them obliquely and cut them into filaments, the thickness of which is equivalent to matchsticks. After cutting, pour it into alkaline water and rinse it repeatedly. Finally, pour boiling water to squeeze out water, put it in a plate, then pour sauce and sesame oil, and mix in accessories such as shredded ginger, coriander, shredded carrot, peanuts and diced mustard tuber.

Cut a piece of dried bean curd with a thickness of 2.7 cm into 20 slices with uniform thickness, then put it obliquely and cut it into filaments.

The mixed dried silk is bright in color, fragrant, soft and tough to chew, smooth and moderate, and won't feel boring at all. Dried silk can be cooked in addition to being mixed and eaten. Among them, Yao meat, shrimp, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, fungus and other accessories are added, and then cooked with broth to make the teeth and cheeks fragrant and memorable.

Hot dry silk

For the old Taizhou people, a basic Taizhou morning tea can be without fancy snacks such as baozi stuffed bun, steamed dumplings, steamed dumplings and sesame cakes, but a hand-made noodles is really essential. Fish noodle soup is the "soul mate" of dried noodles. Especially in winter, a small stove dries the silk and drinks a bowl of hot fish soup noodles, which not only warms my body, but also makes my stomach full, so I have the strength to work.

The skin is full of water in the morning and water at night.

Fish soup noodle soup is generally made of eel bone, Xiao Ye crucian carp and pig bone. The staff of Gu Yue Building said that the eel bones should be fried first, preferably until they are crisp enough to be ground into powder. The cooked fish soup is milky white in color, thick and mellow, and fragrant. So nutritious and delicious, it is no wonder that there is a folk saying that "a bowl of fish noodle soup is better than the birthday girl".

Taizhou de fish soup noodles

Boss Hu has opened a morning tea shop for more than ten years. The most common perm is always 5 yuan, a bowl of fish soup noodles, 6 yuan, cheap and good, attracting many lasting diners. Taizhou people not only pay attention to the taste of food, but also pay attention to leisure and entertainment. While eating morning tea, they enjoyed the beautiful ancient music of Hailing, storytelling and rap, and the busy morning became full of flavor.

The couple, who are over eighty years old, come to Gu Yue Building for morning tea every morning.

Ancient military camp skills hidden in the park

Leave the Gu Yue Building in the old street, cross Yingchun Bridge, and continue to go deep into the old city. Not far from the Chenghuang Temple, there is a stone lock park.

Like many cities, parks are gathering places for morning exercise lovers. But here, a traditional skill called "stone lock" was "resurrected" by Hailing people.

"Stone lock" sports equipment is a big stone that has been chiseled into the shape of an ancient lock. Athletes exercise the strength of their hands, waist and legs by grasping, throwing and catching. According to legend, this sport originated from the military camp in the Tang Dynasty. Soldiers often use stone locks and stone burdens to exercise, which later spread among the people. It evolved into a traditional competitive event integrating strength, skill and fitness, which flourished in the Qing Dynasty.

Stone locks originated from military camps in the Tang Dynasty.

In other words, the stone lock functions a bit like a dumbbell now. Although this instrument is very simple, the lightest stone lock weighs more than ten kilograms, and the heaviest one can reach 80 kilograms. Stone locks can be practiced by one person, two people or many people. Just throw it, there are many ways to throw it, such as throwing it forward, throwing it backwards, crossing it, throwing it backwards and so on. The receiver can also use his hands, fingers, elbows, shoulders and heads to answer the call. Stone locks are flying up and down all over the body, combining rigidity with softness, paying attention to height, buoyancy, integrity, stability and liveliness, and many people also pay attention to tacit cooperation when performing.

Stone locks can be practiced by one person or two people.

Wang Bingrong, a native of Taizhou, was born in 1949. He studied stone locks with his master when he was 16 years old, but he was interrupted for work reasons. After leaving the army in 2005, he suffered from severe ulcerative colitis due to long-term drinking and other bad habits. In order to keep fit, he picked up the stone lock again. I didn't expect to study and practice hard, but I learned a skill.

20 14 July, at the Guinness World Challenge Conference held in Milan, Italy, 66-year-old Wang Bingrong set a record of "blindfolded throwing 80kg stone lock 13 times", becoming the first person in Taizhou to break the Guinness World Record. After becoming famous, Wang Bingrong became the inheritor of the stone lock culture in Hailing, and often practiced laying stone locks with his disciples in the park.

Wang Bingrong once set a record of "blindfolded 80kg stone lock 13 times".

20 16, Wang Bingrong invested in the construction of Shisuo Park. A stone lock landscape with a length of 4.3 meters, a width of 2.66 meters and a weight of 6 1 ton was placed in the park, and it was named "The Golden Lock is the first lock in the world". This year, he built a Taizhou Stone Lock Culture Exhibition Hall in Stone Lock Park, which contains more than 100 ancient stone locks and related video materials to show people the profoundness of China traditional stone lock culture.

In May, 20021,Hailing Stone Lock was selected as "the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects". Nowadays, Stone Lock Park has become a good place for Hailing people to practice stone locks, and attracted some stone lock lovers from other places to learn and communicate.

Shisuo Park is the "first lock in the world".

Wang Bingrong's Stone Lock Collection

Looking up at the building, I can't see the Wanghailou of the sea.

After a busy day's work, the greatest enjoyment of Hailing people after dinner is to take a walk along Fengcheng River.

Hailing has Fengcheng River, one of the few thousand-year-old rivers in Jiangsu Province, and many important scenic spots are around the moat, the most famous of which is Wanghai Building, the first floor of Jianghuai in the southeast corner of the old city.

Wanghailou

You may be curious, Taizhou is separated by Yancheng and Nantong by the Yellow Sea, and there is no sea in the territory. Why is there a building called "Wanghailou"?

According to legend, Wanghai Tower was built by Chu Xuma, a native of Taizhou in Ming Dynasty. It is said that Chuchu's father went into business and went to a desert island. He married a woman on the island and gave birth to a son and a daughter. However, when leaving, Chu's father only took Chu away, and his mother threw the girl into the sea with her arms. When Chu Chu grew up, she missed her mother and built a tall building in Taizhou. She climbed the building to see it, and the title was "Wanghai Building". "Wanghailou" is also called "Wangmulou".

In fact, Wanghailou was destroyed in the era of Chu Chu's life. Without reconstruction, his life experience was different. According to the Records of Taizhou, Chu Xu's biological mother Wang died at the age of 46. However, Chu's loyalty and filial piety are indeed recorded in Taizhou Chu's genealogy. It is said that he once "cut stocks and treated his mother". Because Wanghailou is next to imperial academy, an ancient mausoleum, later generations attached the story of Chukuo Gai Lou here, hoping that students in imperial academy can understand duality as Chukuo did.

According to historical records, the real construction date of Wanghai Building can be traced back to Shaoding two years in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1229), formerly known as Haiyang Building. In the Yuan Dynasty, Haiyang Tower was destroyed by war. In the 28th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, Governor Baolong was rebuilt. Because Taizhou once set up a salt transportation department in Huaihe River, salt brought rich economy to Taizhou, so it was named Wanghailou. Later, because of the war, the building was repeatedly built and destroyed and experienced vicissitudes.

Although Wanghailou can't see the sea, it plays an important role in the hearts of Taizhou people and has always been regarded as a symbol of Taizhou's "lifeline of cultural development". Only in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were 166 local scholars. There is also a cultural museum on the west side of Wanghai Building, which was built by Teng in the early Taishi Zai in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is a salon for "meeting friends with literature" and a lecture hall for spreading Confucianism. According to legend, Fan Zhongyan, Teng, Hu Yuan, Zhou Mengyang and five people often visited each other and collected poems together during Tiansheng (1023-1) in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Wenhuitang

Today, the rebuilt Wanghai Building retains the architectural style of the Song Dynasty, with a three-story circular corridor. The main colors are chestnut shell and blue-gray, which are simple and generous. Visitors can climb to the top of Wanghai Building and overlook the whole Taizhou City. When important festivals come, a performance with local folk customs will be held in front of Wanghai Building to pray for a good weather in the new year.

Wanghailou light show

Night tour of Fengcheng River

Water is the characteristic and soul of Taizhou. The old city is next to Fengcheng River, with water as the pulse, and the characteristics of Jiangnan water town are vividly displayed because of water. When night falls and the lights are on, Fengcheng River shows its most agile side.

It is said that in the Song Dynasty, the layout of ancient Hailing City was like a phoenix flying high, so it was once called Phoenix City.

People compare Gao Qiao, the south gate of Taizhou, to a phoenix head. At that time, there were 78 steps in Gao Qiao and the bridge was very high. Standing at the top of the bridge, it overlooks the whole city. From Gao Qiao to the south gate, it is the long neck of the phoenix; Outside the east gate and the west gate, there are two mounds of flat land, like the wings of a phoenix; From the north gate of Beicheng to Zhao Gong Bridge, there is a phoenix tail, and a pagoda stands in the north of the bridge, which looks like the tail of a phoenix flying high. Fengcheng River, like the embroidered robe and jade belt between the belly of the phoenix, stretches around the ancient city.

Fengcheng river

Fengcheng River was built in the first year of Shengyuan in the Southern Tang Dynasty (AD 937), and it has been 1000 years. The total length of the river is 6.7 kilometers, the water area is 838,000 square meters, the average width is about 1 10 meter, and the maximum water width is 268 meters. According to Ming Wanli's "Two Cities of Taizhou Records", Fengcheng River was once the intersection of Jianghuai and Jianghuai. "Taizhou City is steep and firm, surrounded by Guangchi, and it is safe to guard the city."

Now, its defensive function is gone, but as a link of Taizhou's historical and cultural resources, it is loved by people. Visitors can take a walk along the river, or visit Fengcheng River at night and enjoy the beautiful lights on both sides.

Night tour of Fengcheng River

Across the river from Wanghai Building are Mei, Tao and Liu Garden, representing Beijing Opera master Mei Lanfang, legendary master Kong and storyteller Liu Jingting respectively. These three "drama culture villages" are also the unique cultural landscape of Taizhou.

Taoyuan was built to commemorate Kong's Peach Blossom Fan. Kong, a dramatist in the Qing Dynasty, went to Taizhou to control water, then lived in the local Chen Jia 'an, and created the Peach Blossom Fan, a masterpiece in the history of Chinese opera. The rebuilt Chen 'an is located on Taohua Island in the southeast corner of the moat. It has the architectural style of Taizhou in Ming and Qing dynasties, and is equipped with ancient furniture in Ming and Qing dynasties, which reproduces the scene of the Peach Blossom Fan written by Confucius. On the west bank of Chen 'an, there is also an underwater painting boat with an ancient stage on it.

Go boating on the river and experience the fun of "watching the drama in the boat pavilion"

Nowadays, tourists can enjoy watching the drama in the ancient pavilion by boating on the river and passing through the ancient stage, and feel the unique charm of this ancient city in the euphemistic drama of the peach blossom fan.

Proofreading: Zhang Yan