Wentu/Ying Zhigang

This is the second time I have visited Taiping Old Street in Xiangcheng, Suzhou.

Interestingly, the routes to the old street were different. In fact, the locals couldn't tell clearly where the main entrance to the old street was.

Friends who have never been there can park their cars at any place near Old Street where you can park your cars.

The people here are very simple. Even if you stop at someone's door and say hello politely, no one will make things difficult for you.

Ask the locals about the approximate location of the old street and determine the direction. Then you can choose an alley at will and walk inside.

Sometimes I walk into people's yards. Most of the courtyard is beautiful, with vines climbing on the walls and unknown fruits hanging.

Don't worry about not being able to find a way out. There is an exit at the end of the yard, so keep walking inside.

Cross several courtyards and you will be blocked by a river. Congratulations, you are already standing on the old street.

If you are not in a hurry, don't be busy looking for the scenery yourself. Chat with the old people leaning against the wall and basking in the sun. They will tell you many stories about the old street.

Of course, this is also in preparation for you to find the most beautiful scenery in the old street.

Standing anywhere in the old street, you can't see a tall ginkgo tree.

When I went, the ginkgo leaves were not too yellow.

In the past two days, if the sun is shining brightly, it should be golden, the towering canopy is like this, and the ground is also like this.

This ginkgo tree is over 800 years old and is said to have been planted by the second son of Wang Gao, Marshal of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Wang Gao was awarded the title of Taifu of Zhuguo by Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion and rescuing the emperor.

While escorting Gaozong to Suzhou, Wang Gao passed through here. Wang Gao realized that it was a treasure land of feng shui, so he settled down here.

For hundreds of years, the Wang family has blossomed here, making it one of the close ancestral places of the "Sanhuai Wang family".

This place is densely covered with water networks and has an important waterway. It was called Dichuan and Dixi in ancient times, but now it is called Jimintang. It connects Suzhou and Wuxi and is becoming increasingly prosperous due to water transportation.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, merchants and merchants kept coming and going in the markets on both sides of Jimintang, becoming a prosperous market town.

Ginkgo trees are the landmark of Taiping Old Street.

The old people said that the roots of the ginkgo tree lead to the underground Dragon Palace, so it has not withered for more than 800 years and bears fruit every year. A century-old wolfberry tree also grows on the trunk to protect the safety of the people.

There is an ancient well next to the tree. Sweet springs are endless all year round. In drought years, even if the surrounding rivers and banks dry up, the water in the well is inexhaustible.

The ancient well lies against the wall of Taiping Temple. This place was originally the Wang's ancestral temple. Since the Ming Dynasty, it was changed to the Wang's family nunnery, called Yongli nunnery.

Later, it was changed to Mengjiang Hall, and in April 2004, it was renamed Taiping Temple.

There is a Daxiong Hall built in the temple, in the center of which is dedicated to the 1.6-meter-high golden seat of Sakyamuni Rulu Buddha and his assistant Kasyapa and Mujianlian Bodhisattva. There are 18 golden arhats with different shapes arranged on the east and west sides of the temple hall; the temple hall faces north and houses the Nanhai Guanyin Bodhisattva, and Manjusri and Samantabra Bodhisattva face south.

Taiping Temple has now become an important place for holding "temple fairs" for intangible cultural heritage projects.

When visiting Taiping Old Street, in addition to appreciating the spring and autumn fruits of ancient ginkgo trees, you should also visit the six brick granaries that look like yurts.

The former site of Dixi Warehouse, located next to the south of Jimin Tang, was built in the Ming Dynasty and is a typical warehouse for storing grain in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the 18th year of the Republic of China, the first rice mill in Taiping Town was opened here to mill rice by machines.

In the late 1960s, the rice milling factory was suspended and transformed into the North Warehouse of Taiping Grain Management Office. 17 new granaries and 7 brick garden warehouses were built, which can store 1.65 million kilograms of grain.

In the newly renovated old site of Dixicang, you can still find about 10 factory buildings, including stone revetment houses, account houses, and company scale houses. Now most of them have become cultural and creative spaces, with a little fresh flavor.

On autumn afternoon, the six domed storage granaries that have been preserved to this day stand under the blue sky with a strong sense of the times, and have become "Internet celebrity check-in places" for many tourists.

The granary stirs people's nostalgia. People take photos here, not only because it retains the mark of history, but also a ritual for us to miss the lost youth.

When you come to Taiping Old Street, I ask you to slow down, carefully taste the fragrance of newly harvested reeds under the warm sun, touch the mottled old wall, and watch the moss marks spread, as if time flowed slowly.

You can go to the revolutionary sites where anti-Japanese athletes gathered and listen to the "wind is roaring and horses are roaring" in the extraordinary years.

You can go to the old house of Hu Zhaohan, the prototype of Hu Chuankui in the Peking Opera "Shajiabang", and see the dilapidated house of this capricious traitor.

Here, you may understand how to be a person who dares to say that he is indomitable at a moment of historical choice.

The story of Taiping Old Street is endless.

I met Mr. Gong Renzhi, who took me on a tour of Old Street for the first time at Limin Bridge. He was a local expert in literature and history. I greeted him and he asked for my name.

When the name was published in the newspaper, he immediately recalled it and said to the people next to him,"He was the first writer to write about our old street."

We chatted a lot again. He had a great book about old streets in his heart, and I took the opportunity to turn a few pages.

Standing on the high-arched Limin Bridge, the Dichuan water under your feet flows gurgling, passing through the streets and alleys, soaking through the fertile and fragrant fields, and heading into the distance.

The sun is fading and the waves are rippling golden. The old man put away the flower quilt that he had been drying all day. I could smell the warm breath on the quilt.

A dog followed me for a long time and sent me to the other end of the bridge. After walking far away, it was still wagging its tail at me.

Kindness can be felt by all things. Like the hidden stories in the old street, those who are destined will always understand them.