Haidingze Boning-Ningbo, a famous cultural and historical city in China,

This is the opening place of "Xu Xiake's Travels" and is known as the "Land of Cultural Relics".

Ningbo, which is only an hour away from Hangzhou by high-speed rail, makes Fusheng's stolen leisure and slowness become a matter of course.

Ningbo's slowness lies in the ancient county we met this time-Cicheng, an ancient county town in Jiangnan famous for its Cixiao culture.

Perhaps it is because there are always people in this county who use a gentle attitude to resist the torrent of time, guard the "old" details, and record the changes of the city. These are all memories of life.

* Cicheng Town, Jiangbei District, Ningbo City

* 30 minutes by car from Ningbo Station/Metro Line 4 "Cicheng Station"

* The ancient city is open for free

* Couple ticket for seven attractions on two days, 128 per person

Historically, Cicheng can be called "Jiangnan Water Town and Document City".

The ancient town has a long history. More than 6000 years ago, there were traces of human life along the edge of Cicheng. As Cicheng, which has a history of more than 2500 years, the ancient buildings and street layout still retain the old appearance.

It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and plain plains on the south. Compared with the ancient cities and towns in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the ancient county seat of Cicheng is obviously much larger. It is said that the Tang Dynasty was "560 zhang". The city adopts the "one street, one river and two chessboards" of Chang 'an City, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. The square leads to alleys, the square leads to streets, and the square walls are built high. There is a straight central axis street running through the city. That is the ancient pedestrian street of Minquan Road.

The cultural and historical sites in the ancient city are as bright as brocade, with dense historical relics and ancient buildings, preserving the complete traditional structure of life and retaining a large number of traditional buildings. In the east, there are the School Hall, Feng Yue's Painted Terrace Gate, Jiadi Aristocratic Family, and Feng Zhai Yu Zhai. On the central axis, there are the county government, Confucian Temple, Zhuangyuan Mansion and other buildings. On the pagoda mountain in the southeast of the town, there are Qing Taoist temples, which can tell the distance and distance with the giant bell. Among them, Cihu is called the "epitome of West Lake".

Every household in the ancient city has carved beams and every household has running water. The buildings retain the style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. More than 30 monuments have been listed as key cultural relics protection units.

Walking on the ancient street, local people sit on rattan chairs, hold pipes, shake cattail fans, and place a bowl of tea on one side; bells curl on the distant mountains, and there is a Taoist temple standing on the top of the mountain, overlooking the small town. Here, we are still living in our old ways.

Drilled into the alley beside Minquan Road, and then meandered all the way past locals who were returning home, cooking, and chatting in the neighborhood. They smelled the aroma of food and the smell of freshly dried clothes, and glanced at the private house garden inside the courtyard door...

Searching, confusing, realizing, and reminiscing, the fun of the ancient city lies in the middle of exploring, which is unexpected.

Snack specialty: rice cake

Cicheng rice cakes, which have a history of thousands of years, are smooth and moist. They are famous at home and abroad. Eating rice cakes has the beautiful meaning of "rice cakes, rice cakes, growing every year".

There are many shops selling rice cakes along the street. There is an old restaurant with family heirloom delicacies on Minquan Road. An old woman handles various flour dumplings. Rice cake dumplings are the most popular and are sold out every evening.

Rice cake dumplings have two flavors: sweet and salty. The sweet ones are mainly sesame seeds, and the salty ones are shredded bamboo shoots and rice bamboo shoots. Taking advantage of the fresh taste, the rice cake is smooth and fluffy for the first bite. The second bite is either sweet or salty, and with a full amount of sincerity, you will feel full after tasting it. Coupled with local specialty red yeast wine and walnut soup, you are satisfied.

Cicheng is famous for its four firsts. First, it ranks first in Jinshi. Since the Tang Dynasty, Cicheng has produced 519 Jinshi, including several top scholars;

The second is filial son comes first. Since the Han Dynasty, more than 30 filial sons have been commended, with profound cultural heritage and historical origins of benevolence and filial piety. The story of Dong An, a filial son in the Eastern Han Dynasty, was widely circulated. Therefore, Cicheng was formerly called Cixi, and the name of Cicheng comes from the meaning of "Cixiao";

Third, the number of academies ranked first. In the past, academies were like schools today. Therefore, Cicheng gathered literati, and many painters, writers, academicians and professors came out from here. The well-known famous writer Feng Jicai and Tan Jiazhen, the father of Chinese genetics... is not only a precious asset of the domestic people, but also the eternal pride of the people of Cicheng.

It is a luxury for modern people to travel back to ancient times, but they can come to the reduced version of Chang 'an City, which still retains the pattern of streets and alleys of the Tang Dynasty...

If you want to ask about the most popular check-in method in ancient cities nowadays, it must be wearing Hanfu

In Cicheng, this wish can help you realize it.

On the Minquan Road Pedestrian Street, an ancient shop with fluttering lanterns and ancient music is very attractive. Walking into the store, there are many young ladies choosing Chinese costumes and dressing styles, and there are also cats wearing Chinese costumes.

Walking into the backyard, passing through the gurgling wooden bridge, and arriving at the dressing area of the Song Court, you will see a dazzling array of various Han costumes. There are also many choices of Han costumes that can be rented, including the styles of the Tang, Song, Ming, Qing, and Wei Dynasties. There are also men's and children's styles, which are also very popular.

In addition to providing clothing and styling services, you can also invite professional photographers to take beautiful ancient photos. If you are afraid of trouble like mine, you can take photos in Songting, because the style of the store is very beautiful and classical, and all angles are well grasped. Good, the results are very satisfactory.

Confucius Temple

There are several attractions you must not miss when visiting Cicheng, and the Confucian Temple is one of them.

The Confucian Temple in Cicheng is the only and most completely preserved Confucian Temple in eastern Zhejiang. Its location is located in the center of the ancient city and on the busiest street of the ancient city. Many rickshaw drivers are on standby here, reflecting the importance and far-reaching influence of Confucianism in traditional life.

The current Confucian Temple still retains its original appearance during the Guangxu period. The architectural layout is complete and the momentum is grand. Looking at the Confucian Temple from the perspective of aerial photography, temples and pavilions are built symmetrically in the east, west, north and south, reflecting the Confucian standard of "neutrality for beauty".

county government

The Cicheng County Government was built in the Tang Dynasty and was built by the first magistrate here. It has a history of more than 1200 years and covers the heritage of ancient grassroots political institutions in my country.

In the inner part of the county government, there is a suddenly enlightened garden, with rocky mountains, pavilions, and flowing water... This should be the spiritual residence where the magistrate hopes to be elegant. If you have elegance and calmness in your heart, you will invest in the "garden".

This is the largest preserved ancient county government in the Jiangnan area. I thought it would be plain and uninteresting and would be completed quickly. I didn't expect it to have a lot of area inside, and later I found that the garden was very beautiful. I stopped and walked and took many photos unknowingly.

Fengyuzhai

Ningbo City is one of the largest existing and well-preserved ancient buildings, retaining the style of Jiangnan architecture in the early Qing Dynasty.
The courtyard is deep and deep, and the stories of two different families stay within this wall.

Xiaoshiguan

The school staff hall is commonly known as the examination shed, the place for children's examinations of the imperial examination system, which is equivalent to the audition site for the imperial examination at that time. The school hall faces north to south. From aerial photography, the entire building is also designed with traditional axisymmetric axes. It adopts the traditional Ming and Qing architectural style. The four examination rooms of heaven, earth, black and yellow show us vivid and interesting ancient examination rooms.

Come to the school scholar's hall, start the life of ancient literati, and explore the institutional process of ancient imperial examinations to see the career journey of literati and elegant scholars

Qingdao Temple

The Qing Taoist Temple in Cicheng is one of the most famous Taoist temples in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. It was built in the Tang Dynasty and later destroyed. The current Taoist Temple was later rebuilt. The building materials are all traditional building materials such as wood, stone, bricks and tiles, and they are all made of traditional building techniques.

Feng Yue painted door

An important historical relic example of Jiangnan color painting has the legacy of Song-style color painting.

Seeing the most well-preserved painted Ming Dynasty desk door in Zhejiang, and the entire door personally given by Emperor Wanli, although the paint and flowers that have been painted for nearly 500 years have faded a little, you can still have a glimpse of it... The house is now an exhibition hall, which is now on display."Mom's Crafts"...

Jiadi Shijia

The nickname for Qian Zhai is hidden in the simple and profound Jinjiajing Lane. Qian Zhao won the Jinshi in the Jiajing period, and several people later won the exam, so it is called the "Jiadi Family".

Qianzhai faces north and south. Its layout and architectural characteristics have the characteristics of residential buildings in the Ming Dynasty in eastern Zhejiang. It is a relatively well-preserved architectural group in Ningbo City and a typical example for studying buildings in the late Ming Dynasty.

There is now an exhibition hall in the mansion, and a weaving craft exhibition is now on display

There are seven relatively complete archways in the city, as well as a large number of stone windows, brick carvings and wood carvings, all of which are important decorations of ancient buildings.

The tiled walls are the best proof of the alternation of old and new in this ancient county, witnessing the changes of wind and rain.

Dadongmen "Wengcheng"

Wengcheng has a classical and unique shape and is one of the landmark buildings in Cicheng's ancient architectural culture.

In the 16th century, Cicheng had complete city walls to resist foreign enemies. Later, the East Gate was demolished and rebuilt, making the ancient buildings of Cicheng more and more plump.

Cicheng Cuisine

Ningbo cuisine is also known as "Yongbang Cuisine". The dishes are mostly seafood, pay attention to softness, tenderness, and the original flavor.

Xiexinjie

When it comes to Ningbo cuisine, seafood is of course inevitable, but I would like to introduce a special vegetarian restaurant to everyone.

It is hidden on Shangzhi Road in Cicheng and is called Xiexinjie. Xinxie is the home place and makes high-end customized vegetarian dishes.

Winter melon, eggplant, tofu, yam...
Ordinary vegetables have been transformed into a variety of shapes under the creativity of the young chef, which is more delicious than any vegetarian food I have ever eaten before.

The dishes will change according to the seasons, so that the taste will be one for a while each time. When you leave, you will look forward to the next reunion. If you want to eat the most seasonal elegance of the mountains and forests, come here.

The wood-colored decoration style is unique and elegant, with a Zen feel

Every vegetable and rice is not eaten from time to time. When spring comes, you have to eat spring.

The vegetarian dishes here break the traditional pattern of making vegetarian dishes like meat dishes, and focus on reflecting the original flavor of the ingredients and the combination of "color, aroma, taste, shape and spirit". They have high appearance, taste and taste. Novel and unconventional.

By the way, this is a slow-down banquet. When you come here to eat, you can't be too impatient.

Jukuan Academy

Apart from Song Ting, the most popular small shop in Cicheng is Jukuan Academy.

The Japanese-style steeple wooden house has broken stone roads and is full of Zen style. In addition to being suitable for taking photos, guests can also participate in Zen activities such as rubbings and meditation.

However, what is more worth mentioning is the privately customized high-end dinner party in Jukuan Academy that requires reservation in advance.

If you don't eat seafood when you come to Ningbo, it's a waste of time ~

I didn't expect that there would be such a deeply hidden private restaurant in the ancient city.

Whether it's snow cabbage and yellow croaker, one of Ningbo's top ten famous dishes, or seasonal fresh seafood, they all open a luxurious feast for your taste buds.

If you want to eat down-to-earth Ningbo private cuisine, I recommend Yonghaoxuan and Rice Cake themed restaurants

Nianniangao-Cicheng Rice Cake Theme Restaurant

Cicheng, Ningbo, is known as the "Hometown of Chinese Rice Cake". Cicheng's rice cake production has a long history, dating back to thousands of years.
Mr. Feng Jicai, whose ancestral home was in Cicheng, once said: "Rice cakes are a famous historical brand of Cicheng's food culture and a legacy left to us by our ancestors." Cicheng's unique water-grinding craftsmanship has also been included in the "Zhejiang Province Intangible Cultural Heritage List." The saying,"Rice cakes are higher every year, and this year is better than last year." It is catchy. Cicheng people always have an incomprehensible complex about rice cakes.

The fried rice cakes and the crispy Donghai Little White Dragon in the rice cakes restaurant are both very delicious. Recommended ~

An ordinary town may be a microcosm of a period of history, and the code of history will inadvertently be revealed. It is not only contained in cities, but also in the vast land, in those little-known market towns and villages, the historical genes of Chinese civilization are well preserved.

A thousand-year-old city, staying in the Song Dynasty
On Minquan Road, there is a particularly eye-catching shop-Songting, a living space that integrates Hanfu, photography, national style and cultural creativity, tea drinking, cat walking, and accommodation
It is also my B & B during this trip to Cicheng
There are only three rooms that Song Ting can live in, each with its own characteristics. The room I stayed in is named Xingyue Slow, with a very elegant independent tea room backyard ~
The welcome gift box is specially equipped with incense sticks and handmade soap. The B & B also offers guests Chinese cultural experience activities such as pot throwing and calligraphy. In addition, guests have special discounts on renting Chinese clothes and taking photos.

You can practice calligraphy on a notebook

interior of the room

Welcome gift

Separate backyard included in the room

Cut a pot of tea and listen to the wind

Breakfast is eaten in the sun, which is simple and rich

Reading a book quietly on the couch in the dead of night.

There are authentic countryside and countryside here, carefully prepared food and delicacies here, and warm and considerate greetings and smiles here. What is here may be unexpected surprises, perhaps it may be the romance of the lens, or perhaps it may be a wisp of Zen fragrance on the table...

I hope that you will come to this ancient city like me, experience the rich and simple customs and customs, return to the original lifestyle, outside the noisy market, among the nature and humanities, pick up a moment of leisure and wild interest, and find a pure land of soul.

"Cicheng builds the old as it is, and cultivates future generations. This is the best choice and the best inheritance." We gather here, through our mother's art, we use bricks of expectation and walls of faith to promise her a future together.