On Pozi Street, Changsha City, Hunan Province, there was once a temple called the "Huo Palace", also known as Qianyuan Palace. It was built in the Ming Dynasty more than 400 years ago. After several damage and repairs, it has now become a public place integrating traditional folk culture, fire temple culture, and food culture. Especially the local snacks are well-known in Sanxiang and spread throughout China. Mao Zedong once praised the stinky tofu here,"Huo Palace stinky tofu smells smelly and tastes delicious." Many national leaders and Chinese and foreign celebrities have tasted local snacks here, which has also added a lot of fame to the place.

Recently, I had the honor to stay in Changsha for two days. An old friend in Changsha invited me to visit the Huo Palace. Walking through the archway and entering the courtyard, it feels like walking into the old days: the courtyard is full of traditional Chinese buildings with a deep red tone. On the left side is a golden vertical statue of Mao Zedong, with his comments on stinky tofu engraved on the pedestal. The font is in Mao. I wonder if there is such a handwritten inscription or an imitation? If this is true, the elderly have really gone deep into the masses to get in touch with the local atmosphere. The inscription evaluating stinky tofu has never been seen before. Changsha's stinky tofu should be glorious. In the middle of the yard is a circle of folk handicraft stalls, with dough kneading people, sugar painting, paper-cutting... However, the content shows changes that keep pace with the times, such as Barbie doll dough people, catchword paper-cutting, Transformers handicrafts, etc., but the young craftsmen do every work meticulously. There are also several places to worship gods in the courtyard. There are places to worship God, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and workshops to make stinky tofu. They haven't been in to take a look. However, there is a stage on the right side of the courtyard. It is ancient and ancient. Couplets are hung on both sides of the stage: "The elephant is formed by the illusion, and it has many human feelings. It is easy to seek truth from the illusion. It is a taste of suffering. Looking at the loyal ministers and filial sons through the ages, they all return to happiness from suffering." It is said that it was written by a calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty, but it has a highly summary of opera and life. When it was just dark, a Hunan opera troupe began to perform on stage. The first song was "Borrowing Shoes". The locals pronounced "shoes" as "children". In front of the stage, many spectators sat on long stools and watched with gusto. Many traditional operas are characterized by their slow pace of stories, meticulous details, and long and melodious singing. The charm is there, but you still need to have enough patience to taste it. My old friend asked me to go to the restaurant on the left to eat and watch, and chose a seat facing the stage, so I ate while watching. After a bottle of beer, the play was not over yet. I couldn't hear the babbling singing on the stage, but I could feel that the Hunan opera actors wearing ancient costumes were still performing hard. As for me, I was completely attracted by the Changsha snacks on the table.

Stinky tofu, sister dumplings, braised hooves, dragon fat and pig blood, crayfish... all have color, aroma, and every dish has its origin, and each dish has a special taste. No wonder this place is often difficult to find. It's just that the crayfish was so spicy that I was sweating profusely that I didn't dare to eat again after eating three of them. Her old friend is also from Northeast China. She said that her eating habits have been assimilated and this spicy taste is really nothing. I no longer eat spicy food, but I like the feeling of sitting in an antique seat with a few exquisite snacks that have a long aftertaste at the entrance. Hold up a glass of wine and gently touch it with your old friend's tea. Those past events about love and friendship spread out in their narratives. Time slowly flows back, life experiences unfold, stories become long and short ups and downs in the ethereal heat, and the friendship across time becomes unwittingly strong. There were still people on the stage babbling Xiangyan lyrics. They couldn't understand them, but they were clearly ballad accompanied by wine, with some rhythm that shook their heads. I think that those ancient emperors, generals, literati and literati, faced with such beautiful scenery and old friends, even if they were just passers-by, would probably be like me. They thought that "you must not be drunk, not too drunk", but it has already been "everyone is drunk if you don't get drunk"? The sky outside the window is fading, and people are shuttling through the warm yellow light. The fireworks from the world flow from around the Huo Palace. They walk alone among the city's high-rise buildings and the streets and alleys, and gather into a stream.

Liu Hongcheng, author of Jinmen. com