Encounter the last touch of gold in autumn 2019 in the ancient town of Kanazawa.
2019-12-15 Jinze Yihao Temple, Jinze Ancient Town.
It should be the season with the north wind blowing. The weather in Shanghai this year is too abnormal. The temperature has always been warm. On a soft sunny Sunday morning, lying in a warm bed, leisurely looking through my mobile phone, a photographer's street photo attracted me... The ginkgo tree, whose leaves have all fallen off at this time in previous years, is in the best viewing period these days. In the Yihao Temple, a famous temple in Shangjiang River, Jinze Town, the westernmost part of Qingpu District, Shanghai City, an ancient ginkgo tree of the Southern Song Dynasty with a history of more than 700 years is golden and brilliant in recent days, attracting a large number of photography enthusiasts to take pictures. After giving him such a rendering, I couldn't help but get up, and decided to drive to have a look. Jinze Ancient Town was built in the early Song Dynasty and is located at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. Drive up Central and then turn to S20 Outer Ring. Finally, take G50 to Jinze Exit, turn left to Huqingping Highway, and go straight ahead about No. 3 Highway. In less than an hour, I arrived in Jinze Ancient Town, turn left into Jinxi Road, the ancient town, cross a bridge and then turn right, and you will immediately reach the parking lot outside Yihao Zen Temple. Parking is actually free.
Arriving at the gate of the Zen Temple, this "Yihao Zen Temple" was written by Mr. Zhao Puchu. Yihao Zen Temple, built in the Southern Song Dynasty, became a famous Jiangnan Buddhist temple during the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, its scale exceeded Lingyin Temple and Chengtian Temple, and was the first of Suzhou and Hangzhou. Now it has been partially restored, and there is a strong incense throughout the year. There is also a strange phenomenon that every time before the college entrance examination, many local students will go to the temple to pray for good results in the college entrance examination, and spend five yuan to buy fragrant flower coupons to enter the temple. Of course, I did not want to burn incense. Instead, they came for this ancient ginkgo tree. As soon as they entered the temple gate, the golden color of the tree came to their faces. The golden butterfly-like leaves of the tree fell, and the earth seemed to have been replaced with warm clothes. The golden leaves were spread all over the ground, making it difficult to bear to step on. Looking up, the pure yellow covered the ground. The sun shone through a layer of glittering diamonds, making it like a dream and a picturesque poem. The nearby temples, towers and temples were just integrated into the landscape. The poetic meaning of Zen is reflected in the painting, and the yellow leaves fly in the sky, making people feel like they were in a fairyland. Forget yourself... The ginkgo tree is a star in late autumn and early winter. When it is full of golden color, it is enough to dilute the coolness of late autumn and early winter. When the wind blows, the leaves fall, dance, and hover... People are intoxicated, but it is a pity that today I came two or three days late. The ground was covered with golden leaves, but most of the yellow leaves on the branches had already fallen...
After watching ginkgo trees at Yihao Temple, you will go out and turn right a few tens of meters to Shangtang Street in Jinze Ancient Town. Although you have traveled to countless ancient towns in the south of the Yangtze River, to be honest, I have not much interest in such ancient towns, but now that you are here, I still stopped by.
Jinze Ancient Town is a relatively small ancient town in Shanghai, but it was very famous in the past. Because the ancient town is full of water streets and ancient bridges, especially the seven ancient bridges from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties are completely preserved. It is called the "First Bridge Township in Jiangnan". There is a city river flowing from north to south throughout the town. The west of the river is Xiatang Street and the east is Shangtang Street. The scenic spots of the town are mainly concentrated on the two sides of the two streets. I crossed a bridge from Shangtang Street to Xiatang Street, and started to stroll south along Xiatang Street. The simple and beautiful ancient town is small and quiet, and the people in the town live their own lives. Wash clothes in the river, burn coal stoves by the river, and dry quilts on bridges. Because the ancient town is located in a water source protection area, the catering industry is restricted to prevent the catering industry from polluting the water source in the protection area. There are almost no shops on the streets of the ancient town, especially no catering industry. In good weather like Sunday, I only see the occasional two or three people wandering around like me, because it has less commercial atmosphere and retains more natural charm. Many ancient bridges have survived for generations and still stand like this. There are seven ancient bridges in the Yuan, Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties in the ancient town, namely Wan'an Bridge (Song Dynasty), Puji Bridge (Southern Song Dynasty), Yingxiang Bridge (Yuan Dynasty), Tianwangge Bridge (Ming Dynasty), Ruyi Bridge, Fangsheng Bridge (Ming Dynasty), Linlao Bridge. Among them, Puji Bridge is the oldest stone arch bridge in Shanghai. Puji Bridge is a single-hole stone arch bridge with a large arch ring, a narrow deck, and a gentle slope. It has the characteristics of bridges in the Song Dynasty. Walk through Puji Bridge, follow the bluestone path, look at the small bridge dripping water and pass through the narrow alleys. The surroundings are peaceful and peaceful. There is almost no noise except for the sounds of ancient wooden doors that occasionally open and close. We walk all the way to Yingxiang Bridge at the southernmost tip of the ancient town. This bridge is a rare Yuan Dynasty bridge in the south of the Yangtze River. It is simple and simple in style. It is a six-pillar and five-hole beam stone bridge. This bridge is characterized by a combination structure of brick, wood and stone. It is beautiful in shape and looks like a "rainbow lying on the waves" from afar. The bridge body is extremely thin and the structure is exquisite, which is rare in the country. What is more unique is that the bridge deck has no bridge railings. It is said that the Mongolian cavalry of the Yuan Dynasty often had to gallop across the bridge, so the bridge deck was paved with bricks and no bridge railings. After turning back from Yingxiang Bridge, they headed north along Shangtang Street. At the north end of Jinze Ancient Town, there is Wan'an Bridge, the sister bridge of Puji Bridge. Wan'an Bridge is the largest stone bridge in Jinze. It is known as "Jinze Forty-Two Rainbow, Wan'an Bridge ranks first." It has a strong structure and beautiful form. The bridge is 29 meters long and 2.6 meters wide. It has gone through five or six dynasties and is still majestic. Lying across the south of the Yangtze River is a miracle of bridge building in China.
The ancient town of Jinze is very small. If you don't take a boat tour, you will be able to visit it in more than an hour. In fact, the ancient town of Jiangnan Water Town is no different to me, but it's good to find such a quiet place on weekends. Walking slowly along the river, although modern life has entered every household and the water is not clear enough, at least there is no need for tickets, and there is no traffic and noise like a commercial ancient town. If you want to be quiet or take photos, feel free to stare or take pictures. No one will affect you or suddenly run into your viewfinder, so even if you just sit at the bridge or on the street in a daze, you will feel that the time is extremely good. Overall, it takes more than two hours to drive back and forth, and then wander around the ancient town. It feels good for two hours.
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