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In my dream, Ah Huan handed me the jade ring from the deserted village again.

In a trance, I seemed to see the sacrificial platform, the female priest holding a jade cong and praying to God...

Later, every time I mentioned that place, I longed for it and wanted to find those unsolved mysteries in my heart.

The call from ancient times, do you hear it?

Liangzhu, first time to meet, hello!

On the world map from ancient times to the present, 30 degrees north latitude has always been a mysterious topic. Five thousand years ago, on this orbit, several major river basins in the world unanimously gave birth to ancient civilizations. For example, the ancient Egyptian civilization in the Nile Basin, the Sumerian civilization in the Two River Basin, the Harapan civilization in the Indus Basin, and the Chinese civilization was started with the Liangzhu civilization in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and around the Taihu Lake Basin.

When I first met Liangzhu, I learned from Cai Jun's novels that it was an ancient country closely related to jade culture.
Later, I learned that among the national treasures, the resplendent jade soul and national soul are shocking.

Liangzhu is penetrating into the eyes of the public bit by bit, slowly showing us the historical scroll of five thousand years ago like a picture scroll.

It is gratifying to congratulate that on July 6, 2019, the application for the "Liangzhu Ancient City Site" was successfully completed. In addition to the spontaneous sense of pride, I took my curiosity about the culture of 5,000 years ago and explored the history of Liangzhu. Open the door of time and embark on this journey through the millennium.

Liangzhu is now located in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, about 50 minutes 'drive from Hangzhou East Railway Station. It is so friendly for our friends in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai postal service areas. Without saying much, let me show you our itinerary first:

Day1: Hangzhou East Railway Station → Dajingshan Rural National Park → Zen Tea Culture Experience

Day2: Liangzhu Ancient City Relics Park → Liangzhu Museum

Day3: Liangzhu Cultural Village

Walking through the green mountains and dreaming of paths

It is rainy in early summer, especially the plum rainy season in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which is a long and humid day.

No, as a walking little sun, it also caught up with the heavy rain all day long. But Dajing Mountain, washed by heavy rain, has a different style. Facing the tea garden, pouring a cup of tea and watching the water drops falling from the eaves, our journey begins at this stop.

At this time of year, Dajing Mountain is dense in mountains and dense in fog. Amongst the clouds and mist, you can vaguely see the green and majestic mountains, like a fairyland on earth, giving people a sense of comfort away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

I just want to lie in the clouds and be dazed for a while.

There is a rare building in the Song Dynasty where the winding path leads to a secluded place. It is one of the ten famous temples in the south of the Yangtze River, Wanshou Temple. In the fog, although the whole view of the temple could not be seen clearly, you could still hear the sound of Zen ringing around your ears.

A rain washed away the mud on the mountain road;

A Zen sound washes people but leads them...

[Practical Guide]

The Dajingshan area is northwest of the main city of Hangzhou and is located in the center of Deqing, Anji and Lin 'an.

Two famous temples on the mountain:

Wanshou Temple: Admission is free, open from 09:00 to 16:30 (closed on Mondays)

Jingshan Temple: Admission is 20 yuan, opening hours 06:00-17:00

Shuttle bus:

weekdays-Tongqiao Parking Lot, uphill time: 8:30-14:00, downhill time: 10:00-15:00

Holidays-Dajingshan Tourism Distribution Center and Tongqiao Parking Lot, uphill time: 8:00-15:00, downhill time: 9:30-16:00

Eat Zen tea without dust

Since ancient times, drinking tea and practicing Zen have been closely related. Legend has it that thousands of years ago, Lu Yu, the tea saint, lived in seclusion in Jingshan, where he studied tea ceremony and wrote the famous work "Tea Classic" passed down from generation to generation. How beautiful are the tea leaves soaked in the spring water, as Jay Chou once sang in his song: The tea brewed by Lu Yu is like a landscape painting splashed with ink, and the mountain spring winds on the surface.

Tea flourished in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty.

The world knows about Japan's matcha, but few people know that the origin of matcha began in Dajing Mountain. During the Duanping period of the Southern Song Dynasty, a Japanese monk named Yuaner Bianyuan, later known as the "Shengyi National Teacher", sought Dharma at the Wanshou Temple in Jingshan. When he returned to China, he took away tea seeds, planted them in Japan, and spread the Zen tea culture of Jingshan.

Fortunately, I can experience the tea-ordering culture in "Know Whether" at the Dajingshan Tourism Distribution Center, making drinking tea full of ritual.

One is to warm the cup, the second is to take tea, the third is to mix cream, the fourth is to pour soup, and the five words. Looking at Miss Suyi's demonstration, it looks like a painting. When she points the word Jingshan on the soaked matcha, it is like injecting the blue color from the mountains into a cup. A cup of tea, a touch of green, a Zen journey encounter.

Spreading tea culture in this way and promoting the spirit of Chinese tea ceremony is a kind of physical and mental enjoyment that can evoke endless aftertaste.

[Practical Guide]

Jingshan tea ordering experience fee: 88 yuan/person (summer discount 68 yuan/person)

Experience location: Dajingshan Tourism Distribution Center

[Surrounding cuisine]

Liangzhu Private Kitchen

Address: No. 287 Liangzhu Road, Liangzhu Town, Hangzhou (opposite to Langang Bathing)
Compared with the thick oil and red sauce of Hangbang cuisine, this private cuisine has more of its own specialties, mainly stewed in an iron pot.
Sizzling shrimp, the poached egg in the middle greatly adds to the overall appearance. Home-made tofu uses Chiba tofu. In addition to its tender and smooth taste, it is also full of elasticity. My friend said that when you come to Hangzhou, you must try the onion bun stewed. Well, it's very delicious. The last roasted fish head king with local sauce was full of weight. It felt that no two people couldn't move it. The ingredients inside were also very abundant. There were shrimp, vermicelli, and taro, and we ate all of them!

Ancient civilization traces

Although China's five thousand years of civilization is profound and profound, the first hereditary dynasty recorded in historical books, the Xia Dynasty, seems to be only more than 4000 years ago. Many foreigners do not even recognize the Xia Dynasty. They only identify with the history after the Shang Dynasty. That is to say, in their eyes, Chinese civilization is only 3700 years old.

However, with the discovery of the Liangzhu site in 1936, their ideas gradually changed. With the development of archaeology, the ancient city of Liangzhu was gradually completely excavated, and the civilization that existed from 5300 to 4500 years ago was presented to the world.

In fact, in ancient literature, Liangzhu was not without traces. It is inferred that it was most likely the country of the Chengjiu family in the ancient Three Emperors era, and later the Yu Dynasty.

"Guoyu·Zheng Yu": Those who have made great contributions to heaven and earth have never had their descendants undistinguished, such as Yu, Xia, Shang and Zhou.

"Book of Rites·Mingtang Position":"There are 50 Yu officials, 100 Xia Hou officials, 200 Yin officials, and 300 Zhou officials."

Even in the Book of Mountains and Seas, it is said: "The Republic of Yu is in the southeast. It has a long head and feathers on its body." It also seems to allude to the statue of Liangzhu.

If you want to visit the past and present lives of Liangzhu Ancient City, you can now come to Liangzhu Ancient City Heritage Park in Yuhang. It covers an area of 14.34 square kilometers, including the city site area, the Yaoshan Site Area, the plain low dam-the piedmont long embankment area and the Gukou Gaoba District. The four areas are composed of palace areas, inner cities and outer cities. There are palaces and royal mausoleum, city walls and moats. As the capital, it is more than enough in scale.

After entering the park, we took a battery car to Lucheng Gate, which is composed of three small earthen platforms, forming the word "Pin". It is said that this is the only land transportation channel in Liangzhu Ancient City.

The large-scale water conservancy system discovered on the periphery of the ancient city also established that the main means of transportation for Liangzhu ancestors was rafts.

In the park, large tracts of rice grown around can be found from time to time, which reflects the rice farming civilization of the Liangzhu Culture. It restored the ancient wetland ecosystem in large areas, interplanted a large amount of rice, and attracted a large number of birds to come here. Inhabitation fully demonstrated the style of the water town and the country at that time.

The indoor exhibition hall in the park shows us the excavation of the city wall and the work and life in the water city. I have to sigh at the wisdom of the ancients, which has been continuously proved to us in the long scroll of history.

It is said that there are many reasons for the extinction of Liangzhu Culture. Some people say that the Dawenkou Culture in the north destroyed Liangzhu Culture, and others give the explanation because of internal class divisions and social contradictions. I believe that as a water city, it is extremely likely that Liangzhu was destroyed by floods more than 4000 years ago. Today, I stand in the palace area of Mojiao Mountain, looking out at the ruins of the ancient city and lamenting the rise and fall of a civilization.

Perhaps it is because the feng shui here is so good that the cemetery is built on the northwest side of the Mojiao Mountain Palace Area. This Anshan King Mausoleum, just across the river, is the last stop of our Liangzhu Ancient City Park. There are 11 tombs from the Liangzhu period here. It is in these tombs that the largest jade cong and jade axe to date were unearthed.

King Yu Cong and King Yu Yue, who symbolize the supreme divine power and royal power, were unearthed in the same tomb, proving the noble status and supreme power of the tomb owner.

[Practical Guide]

1. Liangzhu Ancient City Relics Park has implemented a real-name appointment system since July, and the number of people making reservations every day does not exceed 3000.

There are six appointment visit periods every day: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, and 15:00-16:00. The reservation volume for each period is 500 people.

2. Visitors must arrive at the South Gate Visitors Center of the park before the visit period and collect a visit ticket with their ID card registered by appointment. The ticket is valid on the same day. 3. Visit ticket: 80 yuan/person (including sightseeing ticket)

4. The visitor entrance and exit at the south gate of the park also provides an interpreter rental service, with a rental fee of 20 yuan per time.

[Surrounding cuisine]

Jiangnanyi
Address: No. 12, Yuniao Liusu Street, Liangzhu Cultural Village, Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Jiangnan Posthouse near the museum is a place that many tourists will choose.
Pepper chicken is a specialty of the store. The red peppers are very beautiful. The taste is suitable for the taste of Jiangnan and will not be too spicy. Wasabi clams, the delicacy of the clams and the stimulation of mustard actually match very well. This is a good idea. Preserved eggs with cilantro. Most of the preserved eggs we ate in the past were made of duck eggs. However, this store uses very Q quail eggs, and they are very enjoyable to eat one by one. Sweet and sour dough sticks, the flavor of Hangzhou, sour and sweet, the dough sticks are very crisp and have not softened.
We have visited this poetic shop twice in just a few days.

Cultural relics in the collection describe history

The best dialogue with history is to go to museums and see the civilization that was once buried in the soil.

Liangzhu Museum is organized by British architectural designer Dai Wei. Chipfield's design combines Chinese culture with simplicity and adopts the concept of "a Liangzhu jade cone scattered on the earth". Just like the design of an open-air atrium, the decoration similar to jade jade shape is in the water, making it more visible. Organic integration of the environment and Liangzhu cultural elements.

The museum is divided into three exhibition halls. The layout design of the large space and the free and open exhibition lines allow tourists to understand Liangzhu culture more comprehensively and three-dimensionally.

The first exhibition hall,"Water Town and Zeguo", shows the geographical location of the Liangzhu site and the production methods during the Liangzhu period. Today's Jiangnan is a land of fish, rice and silk, as is Liangzhu five thousand years ago. Archaeologists found a large number of crop seeds in the site, so they inferred that the people at that time had learned to raise rice, raise domestic pigs, raise sericulture and weave fabrics, etc.

Judging from the use of pottery, the pottery unearthed at the Liangzhu Site is mainly black leather pottery and gray pottery with sand, which are exquisitely made and painted with decorative patterns. It can be seen from the excavated pottery that the ancestors of Liangzhu in ancient times had utensils such as cooking utensils, containers, wine utensils, and utensils.

Many mysterious patterns have also been found on the pottery and jade articles in Liangzhu. After expert research, these patterns have been proved to be hieroglyphs like oracle bone inscriptions, which are more than 1000 years older than oracle bone inscriptions.

Among them, on the jade cong, the pattern called "the god riding the beast" is the most special. The pattern shows a majestic warrior wearing a feather crown, a battle robe, and glaring teeth riding a ferocious beast covered in patterns, bent claws, and full of fangs.

The second exhibition hall,"Holy Land of Civilization", uses 3D printing technology to display the ancient city and its surrounding water conservancy systems, which is like being in the ancient city of Liangzhu.

Especially in the Zhongjiagang factory area, you can see all kinds of interesting people, restoring the real life scenes of the ancients to the greatest extent.

The third exhibition hall,"Jade Soul and National Soul", is my favorite exhibition area, showing the jade civilization of Liangzhu. In "Zhou Li", there are records of "Cang Bi Li Tian","Huang Cong Li Di Li Di", and "Bi Cong collecting corpses", and jade Bi, jade Cong, and jade axe can be found in the life trajectory of Liangzhu.

Since I learned the origin of jade cong in the national treasure, I have always paid special attention to these cylindrical jade articles with round inside and outside outside. This time, after seeing the "Engraving Talisman Jade Bi", one of the treasures of the town, at the Liangzhu Museum, I was once again deeply impressed by the incomparable carving skills. It is said that there are only three such jade stones in the country.

[Practical Guide]

1. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 09:00--16: 00, closed on Mondays (except national holidays)

2. Tickets: Free, you need to bring your ID card with you to check in

[Surrounding cuisine]

Shijiude
Address: No. 2116 Moganshan Road, Liangzhu Street, Yuhang District
This Shijiude restaurant opened in the Stuart Hotel is like a hidden version of Hangzhou Bang Restaurant. It took a while to find it.
The gold medal jellyfish is crispy. It is a must-order cold dish here in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It is characterized by crispy and sour aroma. Sweet and sour ribs are the essence of thick red sauce, but this one is a little sweet. Boiled bullfrog and hairy blood curd are good, not very spicy, and the portions are sufficient. The best thing to eat is the crispy small meat with French fries. The French fries are crispy and have a little black pepper flavor. The small meat is also very delicious, and the whole table has unanimously praised it!

Encounter the art of walking

In the early years, Gao Xiaosong's Xiaoshu House was passed down by word of mouth in the small literary and artistic circles, especially when it was accompanied by the breeze and petals in the cherry blossom season. It was extremely beautiful to think about it. At that time, Liangzhu was not yet well known, but now after the successful application for a cultural heritage, more and more tourists are coming here. Compared with the difficulty of obtaining a ticket to the ruins park and the popularity of the museum, the Liangzhu Culture and Art Center seems much cleaner.

Once upon a time, I began to have a strong interest in architecture. The minimalist style of Liangzhu Culture and Art Center can be described as "pure". Later, I learned that it was the work of the famous Japanese designer Tadao Ando. He used geometric figures and The shaping of light created an architectural world.

The spiral ladder at the entrance has a strong heavy industrial style, gray and white tones, and does not have much decoration. Light shines from above and as the sun goes down the stairs, you are the best decoration.

The platform on the first floor may seem empty, but it uses triangles, trapezium, and the sky, green plants, light and shadow as the background. Perhaps this is the aesthetics of life!

There are sometimes some calligraphy and painting exhibitions and photography exhibitions on the first floor, including Xiaoshuuan, which can also be seen at the entrance to the first floor. The library needs to be booked in advance, and you can also register on the spot. You only need to swipe your ID card when entering.

Not far from the Cultural and Art Center is the Meizou Hall designed by Takao Tsujima. He once talked about his design philosophy: We want to make a naturally growing building so that people, the building and the environment can be integrated. As a result, there was this beautiful Zhou Hall built of pure wood.

The main building of the church is in the shape of an "eight", using the elements of the "hard mountain" roof in traditional Chinese architecture. In fact, if you look carefully, you will find that such a building is somewhat similar to the straw houses of the Liangzhu period. In a sense, this church is also a tribute to the five thousand years of Liangzhu culture.

where we live

The hotel we stayed at this time had an Ikea decoration style. Although the rooms were not big, they were very clean and tidy, with some small and fresh designs.

There are also Chinese and Western options for breakfast, and small wontons and pasta are recommended.

Yezi Time Art Hotel

Address: No. 303, Dongxi Avenue, Yuhang District, Hangzhou

tail

Liangzhu is just a drop in the ocean in the historical torrent of Chinese civilization, but we will move forward on the road to exploring civilization!