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Years later, when I stood downstairs in Xinhua Village, Guojiatuo Street again, I remembered the evening of 1992 when I first walked into Wangjiang Factory.

I remember it was summer at that time, and most of Xinhua Village was still built with blue bricks on one floor and one floor as family dormitories. Because almost all of them were employees and family members of Wangjiang Factory, they knew each other well. After dinner, each family would throw their own cooling boards at the door and sit on them, enjoying the cool breeze and chatting.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

The weather was hot and I had no desire to sleep, so everyone's enthusiasm for communication was extremely strong: there were those who talked about where China was going, those who lowered their voices to study the embarrassing things of the workshop director, and those who took advantage of the dim light to pretend to be calm and tell ghost stories. And I followed my friend from Wangjiang Factory who brought me here, sitting on his cool bench, drinking frozen beer taken out of his single door refrigerator, and listening to him and a group of Wangjiang Factory employees' children who grew up with him, discussing which workshop girl had the most graceful figure.

Image: Lotus seeds

Later, my friend told me that I was stunned when I heard it that day, my lips slightly parted, and a crystal clear drop of saliva slowly dripped down from my lips, pulling out a long thread in the air

Why can't we control ourselves so much during summer and adolescence?

In September 2019, the summer heat had not yet faded, and the small blue brick buildings in Xinhua Village were still there, but things had changed.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

For most people on that summer night, life had already passed half or more of their time, and they knew the long and dangerous road ahead. The red apricot like emotions of their youth had opened up, and now they knew how to slowly gather them.

Life is a series of joys and separations.

Like a world apart, like yesterday.

In fact, we set off from the city in the afternoon that day. So far, I can no longer remember the path we took back then, but in my memory, we only had to climb mountains and narrow paths by the river, bumpy for more than three hours in the black smoke of the old muffler of the bus, and finally arrived at Guojiatuo.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

In the folk sayings of that era, Lost to Tangjiatuo To this day, it is quite awkward that Tangjiatuo was still before Guojiatuo. To describe it in a more intuitive way, it takes 2 and a half hours to travel from the city center to Tangjiatuo, while Guojiatuo takes 3 hours or even longer.

In the eyes of a young man who has never seen how big the world is and doesn't want to see it, this may be the farthest distance I can imagine.

That three plus hours were particularly important to me, after all, it was the first time in my life that a young man growing up in an inland city had traveled a long distance. Therefore, I couldn't even believe that I was walking into Guojiatuo now - from New memorial archway Get in the car, just About twenty minutes We have arrived at a place that used to take over three hours to reach

The resentment that once arose due to time and space instantly crumbled, like a strong man rushing into the past, unable to find the sadness and confusion of his youthful years anymore.

On the inner ring highway, pass through It only takes five minutes Passing through Tangjiatuo, that's all.

The boundary marker of Guojiatuo is right in front of us.

Not big, but eye-catching.

Tongluo Gorge is right behind that boundary marker.

Rushing towards me.

Tongluo Gorge is not only the gateway to Guojiatuo, but also the gateway to Chongqing.

Standing on both sides of the strait with towering cliffs and rugged rocks, the Jiajiang River faces off, serving as the gateway to the waterway that leads upstream into the urban area of Chongqing. During wartime, it was known for its strategic location The Eastern Border Barrier“ It is known as a battleground for military strategists throughout history.

According to the "Huayang Guozhi", there is an ancient legend that Yu the Great controlled the floods and dredged nine rivers. When he saw a mountain blocking the way of the Yangtze River, he waved his axe and opened it up. The mountain fissure was called Tongluo Gorge.

Image: Lotus seeds

This is a strange and chaotic god, and the legend cannot be true, but the appearance of Tongluo Gorge in history is a battle that changed the course of world history.

In the third year of Jiaxi reign of Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song Dynasty (1239), the Mongolian army launched a massive attack on the Southern Song Dynasty in three directions: the western route attacked Sichuan from Gongchang (now Longxi, Gansu), the middle route attacked Jing and Xiang to the south, the eastern route advanced to Jianghuai, and the middle route army passed through Chongqing to reach Kuizhou (now Fengjie, Chongqing), broke through the Yangtze River from Wanzhou Lake Beach, took the route of Shizhou (now Enshi, Hubei), and advanced along the river. They were blocked by Song general Zhao Xian at Tongluo Gorge, causing countless casualties. The Mongolian middle route army was defeated and lost. And the other two armies, under the stubborn resistance of the Song army, failed to achieve their strategic goals.

Returning dejectedly.

Image: Lotus seeds

Although the Mongol army, later known as the "Yellow Peril" by the world, still destroyed the Song Dynasty on the cliff, there is no doubt that the extra decades gave the whole world some breathing room.

Afterwards, several major battles took place in Causeway Bay, but due to space limitations, we will not elaborate further.

The ancients have passed away, and there is no way to judge their merits and demerits for thousands of years. Only the rolling Yangtze River, which has flowed for millions of years, can move forward silently.

When Ba Liu first enters the gorge, a sail sails along the mountain path.

On the rocks on both sides of Tongluo Gorge, there are several deep grooves, which were created during the era of non motorized boats when boatmen rubbed their ropes against the stone walls while sailing on water, leaving behind a trail.

Image: Liu Jiasheng

Now, the man sailing on the dangerous shoal is hurrying and nowhere to be found. The ancient boardwalks and towpaths carved on the cliffs of the river bank, winding and twisting, confirm the danger of the gorge and the sweat of the boatmen, and are cast into the hard and cold towpaths.

In recent years, multiple dredging works have been carried out in Tongluo Gorge, which has made the water flow no longer as turbulent as before. The reeds on the shore gradually grew up, about half a person tall. Walking among them, my hand brushed against the reeds, Russell Crowe has an epic feeling of crossing wheat fields in Gladiator.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

Occasionally, fishing boats can be seen casting nets in the river to catch fish - Guojiatuo is a standard backwater, This is not only a good harbor, but also an environment where many rare fish grow. At this location, there are rare wild river masses in the Yangtze River, as well as even more rare sand loaches.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

In many rumors in the martial arts world, the sand loach is known as the "jack of all trades" in the Yangtze River and the "mighty and strong" among wild fish. Each one is only the size of a finger, but it is purchased by restaurants for several yuan or even tens of yuan each.

I have tried it before, and the taste is okay, but it doesn't have much effect, it's not good.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

In order to facilitate tourists' better viewing of Tongluo Gorge, Guojiatuo Street has built a Binjiang Corridor, There are bluestone reliefs, Wangjiang Pavilion, fitness trail, and giant stone chessboard. Looking into the distance from the railing, one can see the vast river, with clouds and water blending into one color If you look towards the gorge in the evening, you can see a red sun slowly sliding down between the cliffs on both sides, shrouded in clouds, and scattered with a not dazzling glow.

majestic and grand.

Continuing forward for less than a few hundred meters, on the left side of the asphalt road, beneath the cliff, a row of caves appeared before my eyes.

Sorry, I was hypocritical.

Image: Lotus seeds

Okay, before seeing the cave, what I actually saw was hot spring. I have even heard of this hot spring. Many years ago, it was said that there were many young ladies here, with beautiful voices and charming women, and a gentle fragrance. Later, it developed and grew stronger, and then closed down.

In fact, even if the door was closed, it didn't seem to be damaged to such an extent that the White Marble girl carrying the water tank still stood in the pool now full of construction waste in addition to looking like a little dust on her body. Along the stone steps on the right side of the pool, facing upwards, the spring of the hot spring is located in the small wooden house on the platform.

Quanyan did not give up on releasing water due to the departure of the young ladies. Along the waterway, high-quality spring water filled with a strong sulfur flavor flowed out, Clear and rapid, It can be seen that this spring has a considerable amount of water output and the water temperature is not low - my friends around me all regret that such a good hot spring has flowed into the Yangtze River for nothing

The cave is located on the steep cliff behind the spring, lined up in a row of 22.

That is the cave arsenal built during the Anti Japanese War, and it is also the largest cave complex built during the war.

At this point, I think it is necessary to do some common sense popularization - in 1933, Guangdong local warlord Chen Jitang commissioned the Rhine Artillery Factory to establish the Guangdong Second Arsenal. In 1936, Chiang Kai shek took over the factory after defeating Chen Jitang, which was the only artillery production factory in China at that time. In 1938, due to Japanese bombing, the factory was relocated to Guojiatuo, Chongqing and designated as the 50th Arsenal.

In 1939, Japanese planes carried out a large-scale bombing of Chongqing. In order to ensure smooth production, the 50th Arsenal excavated 22 rectangular caves in a straight line under the cliffs on the north bank of Tongluo Gorge from that year until 1941 Precision instrument workshops such as sights and material warehouses Move into the cave and use it as a production workshop to produce artillery.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, more than 4000 artillery pieces and an unknown number of tens of thousands of shells were produced in these 22 caves.

whether Block the Tongluo Gorge of Mengyuan, still The cave arsenal that produces artillery, They can all be regarded as the backbone of this nation.

Guo Jiatuo's spine.

The cave arsenal is just a product of the Anti Japanese War, The real production workshop still has to move along the road . When we entered the area with a street feel in Guojiatuo, Wangjiang Factory was really in front of us - Wangjiang Factory was the name changed by the 50th Arsenal after liberation, first renamed as the State owned Wangjiang Machinery Factory, and then changed to Chongqing Wangjiang Machinery Manufacturing General Factory in 1992, Now it is Chongqing Wangjiang Industrial Co., Ltd.

Image: Jiangbei Daily

But for Chongqing people, it has only one name, 'Wangjiang'.

These are two words worth being proud of. Whether in the history of China's military industry or war history, Wangjiang Factory has written the most brilliant strokes.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the 50th Arsenal produced 3499 units including 37mm anti-aircraft guns, 75mm field guns, 75mm howitzers, 105mm lightweight field howitzers, and 60mm mortars; Constructed 291 units including 150mm mortars and 75mm mountain guns; Produced nearly 300000 shells of various types, making important contributions to winning the victory of the Anti Japanese War.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

After liberation, Wangjiang Factory successively Liberate Xizang, Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea During this period, significant contributions were made - the 1965 twin 37mm anti-aircraft guns produced by "Wangjiang" achieved a record of shooting down 18 American planes in a single battle on the Vietnam War; Since 1999, the high-precision weapons and self-propelled artillery produced by the people of Wangjiang have participated in National Day 50th Anniversary Parade, "9.3" Anti Fascist Victory, 90th Anniversary Military Parade

I'm sorry, both of the above paragraphs were copied and pasted materials because I don't think there's a need for excessive rendering. Just these simple additions are enough to present the glory and dreams of Wangjiang.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

Even in times of peace, Wangjiang Factory has not given up military production and is still a large state-owned military protection enterprise. The only difference is that many workshops have started producing civilian products - once popular on the land of China Xiajiang water heater It is also produced by Wangjiang Factory, and now Wind turbine gearbox It becomes its core product.

Corresponding to the products of Wangjiang Factory keeping up with the times, is the stagnation of real estate development in the entire Guojiatuo area.

As we mentioned earlier, in Inner Ring Expressway Before its opening, this area was still an area that took several hours to reach, and almost all of it was dominated by families of Wangjiang factory employees. Developing real estate here is not a project that seems to achieve profits in an instant.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

However, precisely because of this, the Guojiatuo area has preserved a large number of buildings from the last century, and its history can even be traced back to before and after the liberation. Just a few years ago, these small buildings became one of the core reasons why the surrounding people chose the employees of Wangjiang Factory as their marriage partners. In addition to the value of the houses themselves, the people had a strong sense of reverence for the custom-made bricks on the walls.

Family Room It is precisely such a house.

Image: Jiangbei Daily

On Daxi Village Road in Guojiatuo, several neatly arranged brick and wood structure old houses with one floor and one floor stand on the roadside, which are called "juanzi hao". Each green brick has a A five pointed star pattern approximately 3 centimeters in size It is still clearly visible today that the Wangjiang Factory was built for employees and their families who had family members at that time. Later, in various environments, only these few buildings remained.

Image: Jiangbei Daily

And the more distant stadium dam appears even more magical - here is the one previously managed by Wangjiangchang Club Cinema and theater, with department stores, bathhouses, laundry shops, restaurants, and photo studios nearby Waiting for a series of shops, especially that one Candy Store " How many unforgettable memories have been left for the local people's childhood? The house is still there and basically maintains its original layout.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

In May 2018, by The movie "Buckwheat Grows Crazy" starring Ma Sichun and Huang Jingyu In order to shoot scenes that truly embody the style of the last century, the main filming location was also chosen in Guojiatuo, which is located in the residential area of Wangjiang Factory. However, when I searched for information, I found that the film has not yet been released. It is estimated that after its release, Guojiatuo will welcome a large wave of tourists.

Strictly speaking, these buildings and the lifestyle of this large factory community It has important research significance in both anthropology and sociology.

The walls are made of green bricks, and the steps are made of stone slabs. Several large trees provide shade in front of and behind the walls. Orange fat cats occasionally enter randomly. After a few strands of autumn rain, leaves of green vines drip out of the window, leaving water behind. Strollers walk down the stone slab street, greeting each other as they go.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

This is basically the daily life of the Guojiatuo people.

and Compared to the upper section of Jiangbei, which is only twenty minutes away, the pace of life here seems much slower People even walked much slower, occasionally greeting familiar people, buying a few small dishes and cutting some pork while passing by the market, laughing and scolding the vegetable vendor, shouting when passing by their old friend's doorstep, waking up the old man who was dozing off with narrowed eyes on the lounge chair at the door. They then made an appointment with their old friend to dance the dam dance at night and left.

Image: Fan Xiaodong

Walk calmly, neither happy nor sad.

Walking from the east to the west, the street is only that big. You work here, live here, and do business here. Who can hide even the slightest detail?

Image: Fan Xiaodong

The four seasons come and go, and time changes, but the time of Guojiatuo is As if by magic, it came to a standstill. The houses, streets, and even lifestyle here are as peaceful and tranquil as twenty years ago, with little change except for the trees growing.

Just the noise has decreased, but the white hair has increased.

Even the restaurant known for its braised dishes, which is widely spread outside, is thriving Qingquan Hall It's still the same as before, except that the taste of the old brine is becoming stronger and stronger. It's still the familiar recipe and the original flavor.