If you want to select the city business card for Nanjing tourism, the Confucius Temple-Qinhuai River Scenic Belt should be well-deserved. Going to Nanjing without visiting the Confucius Temple is like never actually going to Nanjing. It is said that during the Confucius Temple New Year Lantern Festival every year, more than 500,000 people can flood in one night. However, the Confucius Temple under the COVID-19 epidemic has become rarely deserted at night, which can be said to be "unprecedented".

The Confucius Temple that people often call it is actually called the "Nanjing Confucius Temple Qinhuai Scenic Belt", which includes Confucius Temple Square, Food Street, Shili Qinhuai River, Laomen East Historical District, etc. When people say that visiting Confucius Temple, they are actually going to Confucius Temple Square, food district, and Qinhuai River River. After all, it gathers the history, culture and food of Nanjing City. So basically every Spring Festival, I go to the Confucius Temple to shoot. Of course, with such a large number of people, it's really difficult to squeeze into the Confucius Temple.

On New Year's Eve before the Spring Festival this year, when control of the epidemic had just begun, I arrived at the Confucius Temple at noon on New Year's Eve. At that time, some businesses were still open for business, the newly made lanterns for the Year of the Rat were still standing tall in the square, and several travel teams could still be seen in the neighborhood. Although most people were busy preparing for the New Year, they never expected that the Confucius Temple would be temporarily closed.

Shortly after I left the Confucius Temple in the afternoon, I received an announcement that all scenic spots, parks, museums, etc. belonging to the Confucius Temple-Qinhuai Scenic Belt Management Committee would be closed, Qinhuai River cruise ships would be suspended, and all scheduled Spring Festival activities would be cancelled, including the annual "Qinhuai Lantern Festival" that makes Nanjing people proud. The park closed for nearly a month.

On February 19, the Confucius Temple was the first among many scenic spots in Jiangsu to resume its opening. At the same time, the lanterns on the Qinhuai River began to light up at night. Twenty days later, because I went to Nanjing to shoot again, I took time out to go to Confucius Temple in the evening. Because the Confucius Temple at night is the most beautiful in my impression.

Due to the epidemic, it really takes some time to enter the Confucius Temple Scenic Area. First of all, you must have a smartphone, download a "Ning Gui Lai" that is only common locally in Nanjing, and register your relevant health information. Because before coming to Nanjing, Jiangsu uniformly promoted the use of "Sukang Code" as a health certificate, I specially downloaded and registered the "Sukang Code" in advance. But when we arrived at the inspection office at the entrance of Confucius Temple, we learned that the scenic spot only recognized the local Nanjing version of the green code of "Ning Gui Lai".

After showing the green code of "Ning Gui Lai", you also have to scan the code to log in to the official WeChat signal of the scenic spot and receive an electronic "pass" to enter the scenic spot. Of course, you also need to fill in the contact number, ID card information, and health status. Only after approval can you enter the body temperature measurement process. Confucius Temple uses a contactless probe to measure body temperature, and in addition, the face must be exposed for the probe to take photos and retain it. Only after going through these procedures can you enter the scenic spot.

It is normal for each person to spend two to three minutes after this procedure. In extraordinary times, the procedures will be more complicated to ensure everyone's health. It's just that for those who don't have smartphones or have not registered a personal WeChat account, it's probably difficult to enter the scenic spot. The registered ePass is only valid on the same day. When entering the scenic spot, the inspectors repeatedly took care of it and saved the pass in screenshots to prevent random inspections in the scenic spot.

The Confucius Temple is now open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The security inside the scenic area is indeed very strict, almost to the point of "three steps at a time". Uniformed security personnel, even if there are no tourists, have to stand at their posts. On February 25, after the Confucius Temple reopened, Jiangsu had downgraded the original first-level response to epidemic prevention and control to second-level response, so now the "pass" for spot checks in the Confucius Temple is not as strict as before.

In the entire Confucius Temple, the only neighborhood currently open is actually "Gongyuan Street". Dashiba Street across the river and several vertical commercial streets are not yet fully open. "Wuyi Alley" is open, and the lights in the alley are also fully on, but there are no tourists, so it is really deserted.

Gongyuan Street was originally the most prosperous area in the scenic area, and the cruise ship terminal of the Qinhuai River is in the middle of the street. However, cruise ships are still out of service, and indoor attractions such as Jiangnan Gongyuan and Confucian Temple on both sides of the street are still closed. However, the lights on the edge of the street are all lit. The grand occasion is definitely not as lively as in previous years. Like the originally crowded "Tianxia Wenshu" archway, the people standing under the archway can form a dragon to take photos. Now there are only two or three people.

After the cruise ship stopped, the Qinhuai River became extremely quiet. The river surface at night was as quiet as a mirror, reflecting the lights on both sides of the river. After the "craze" has faded, the Qinhuai River has become even more charming. It is a completely different version of the Qinhuai River in the original sound of oars and lanterns. Just from the moment we entered the scenic spot, the speakers on both sides of the streets of the scenic spot kept broadcasting a sentence: Please wear a mask when entering the scenic spot.

Several shops were opened sporadically on "Gongyuan Street", and no one patronized most of the shops, because on the night I went, there were no more than 100 tourists on the entire street. Because it is impossible to "eat in", those shops that serve Nanjing cuisine can only open counters along the street to sell some food and drinks that tourists can take away, and the business is not generally cold.

I never imagined, and never encountered, that the Confucius Temple during the New Year would become so deserted. Two or three days after I left Confucius Temple, media reported that Nanjing leaders took the lead in going to the gourmet shop in Confucius Temple to have a "in-house meal". They even required government officials to go to those shops to buy food worth at least 100 yuan during this period, hoping to light up the Nanjing business card of Confucius Temple as soon as possible.

After the epidemic, in fact, what we need most now is to restore confidence and restore the normal vitality of our society. The same is true for tourist attractions. Temperature measurement and wearing masks can last for a while, but can the relevant admission procedures be simplified and more convenient? Don't be like me, when you come back from a trip to the Confucius Temple, you need to install two more "health codes" and a pass on your mobile phone. About the author: Photography by Lu Jianhua (photographer, traveler, self-media person)