To go from the hotel where I humbly slept to the various beautiful places in Yangzhou, one must walk on the streets and of course, one will see various street scenes. My hotel is basically located in the center of the old city of Yangzhou, which is the ancient Guangling city center. Guangling City was the foundation laid by King Fuchai of Wu when he built the Han City, and gradually developed through the expansion of the Han and Tang dynasties. Nowadays, traces of the past can still be seen in Guangling District, Yangzhou, mostly from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Ancient cities all have a center, and the symbol of the city center is usually a bell tower, which commands the living of all living beings in the city through the sound of the bell. The center of Guangling City is a Siwang Pavilion.

The Siwang Pavilion leads horizontally to the east and west gates; Vertically leading to the south and north gates, it is located at the intersection of the cross street that runs through the north, south, and east, so it can be viewed from all directions. In ancient times, there should have been bells and drums in this building. Over time, after several demolitions, the marks of the bells and drums are no longer visible. In fact, this Siwang Pavilion is not located in the geographical center of Guangling City. It is far from the east gate and close to the north gate.

I walked steadily north from here and arrived at the intersection of Beimen Road not far away. This street is not called "North Street" like other ancient cities, but "Wenhe North Road", indicating that there used to be a Wenhe River here. The Wen River is very ancient, so there must be several bridges among the twenty-four bridges on the towering green waves of the Wen River, right? On both sides of Wenhe North Road are the buildings along the street that have long been overlooked by people, with little to show. If I hadn't mentioned it here, you wouldn't have thought it was the ancient North Street of this city, and there was also a famous Wen River under the road. Going north to the end of Wenhe North Road is a quite large intersection, because there are too many forks, I cannot call it a crossroads, only a crab intersection. At the intersection, this should be the north gate of Guangling City. There is a small river running east-west, which locals call the Outer City River. After passing this intersection, heading north is called Beimen Outer Street.

I definitely can't walk outside the city to see the old streets of the ancient city, so I'll head east from this intersection and follow the south bank of the outer city. This road is called Yanfu West Road and also has the Yangzhou Salt Transport Historical Site. While walking, I also passed by a ditch that flows southward from the outer city river. Its name is quite intimidating, called the Xiaoqinhuai River. Did ancient times have nightlife and revelry? Now it's a ditch without the bright moon shining. Not far from this ditch, a red wall flickered in the green shade on the north bank of the outer city.

This is a temple. Temples in the south usually have yellow exterior walls. If they have red walls, they must have been built by the emperor in the north. Upon closer inspection, the plaque on the ticket reads' Imperial Edict to Tianning Temple '. Last time in a post in my garden, I mentioned that besides the river channel, there are also some related buildings in Yangzhou under the "Grand Canal" World Heritage Site, and this Tianning Temple is one of them.

According to people in Yangzhou, Tianning Temple has been around for quite some time now. Legend has it that the Tianning Temple in Yangzhou originated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It was originally Xie's residence and later donated by Xie Zai to become a temple. Donating one's home to a monk to recite scriptures, sleeping on the street, and donating a house to a temple is a tragic and heroic act. Therefore, the story is too tragic and difficult to convince the public. With various opinions, someone came forward to make a final decision: the Tianning Temple in Yangzhou was built in the first year of the Zhengsheng era (695 AD) during the Tang, Wu, and Zhou dynasties. Initially named Zhengsheng Temple, it was listed as the first of the various temples in Yangzhou and was a major temple of the Huayan Sect. This is recorded in the local chronicles of Yangzhou during the Song Dynasty. Afterwards, during the Kaiyuan period when Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, promoted Buddhism, Kaiyuan temples were built in various states across the country. Yangzhou has also built a Kaiyuan Temple, located east of the city center. After the beginning of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Emperor Huizong of Song also learned from it and built Tianning Temple in various states across the country. At this time, the local finance of Yangzhou was in the midst of the tragedy of the thin horse. Although the horse was thin and hairy, it was really unable to build a new temple. Therefore, this temple was requisitioned and renamed Tianning Temple. This is the origin of the Tianning Temple in Yangzhou, and also the reason why there are so many Tianning Temples in the world. The bestowal of Tianning Temple by imperial decree should be a good deed done by Emperor Huizong of Song. In the Qing Dynasty, this Tianning Temple was once again stationed by Emperor Kangxi during his southern tour. What is' stay '? Zhi is to control traffic for the emperor, that is, to 'beat the road', to whip the pedestrians on the road and force them to make way. If the thugs who were waving whips have stopped, then the emperor won't leave. Therefore, later on, the activity of staying in hotels during the emperor's travels was called 'stay'. Emperor Kangxi's visit to Tianning Temple seems to have added luster and color to our temple, but in fact, it's not the case. Emperor Kangxi was definitely not satisfied with staying here and did not receive any additional benefits after leaving. The "imperial gift" in the name of Tianning Temple is different from the "imperial construction" of some other temples. Imperial gift is to give a new name to the existing temple and keep the building unchanged; And imperial edicts are those approved by the imperial court to construct or rebuild halls according to royal standards. You see, the mountain gate and visible roof of Tianning Temple in Yangzhou are still gray tiles. If there is a imperial decree on the temple gate plaque, these roof tiles can all be replaced with yellow glazed tiles. After Emperor Kangxi returned to the capital, he told his grandson Hongli, 'The Tianning Temple in Yangzhou is not very good.' However, both official and unofficial historians of the Qing Dynasty did not mention where the Tianning Temple in Yangzhou is located. Qianlong refused to stay at Tianning Temple during his southern tour and instead built a palace on the west side outside Tianning Temple. This palace is not just for the emperor's daily "three sations and two falls", it also has a garden inside, which can be arranged to search for spring when he wakes up from his dreams and under the flowers in front of the vase. Qianlong also built a building in this garden and stored a set of hard copies of the Complete Library of the Four Treasures. You're right, this is Wenhui Pavilion.

During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, the Taiping Army invaded Yangzhou and several fires were burned together. The Tianning Temple and the palace were destroyed, and the Wenhui Pavilion and its collection of books were also destroyed. During the reign of Emperor Tongzhi, Tianning Temple was rebuilt. Because Emperor Tongzhi was physically weak and unwilling to go to Jiangnan, the ruins of the Tianning Palace were left unattended and eventually abandoned. New China has built the Xiyuan Hotel on the ruins of the Tianning Palace. Since the Qing Emperor will never come again, it would be better for us all to build a new house and stay there. Tianning Temple was renovated in the 1980s. When I stood by the river watching Tianning Temple, it was closed due to the epidemic. I was scratching my head on the roadside when I saw a sign on the wall that read 'Yangzhou Ancient Alley Tour'. This location used to have a city gate, named Tianning Gate because it was close to Tianning Temple, and the street where the ancient alley is located is called Tianning Gate Street.

Don't think that Tianningmen Street is a main street, in fact, it is very narrow and just a hutong.

We looked at a garden before and saw He Garden. I also saw several private gardens in Shouxi Lake, which were not private residences, but suburban villas. In these houses and gardens, one can often see the calligraphy and paintings of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, all of which were bought by the owners and hung in the houses for elegant dancing. Hundreds of years later, these homeowners have long been forgotten by most people and can only hang themselves in the ancestral hall. However, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou still have a great reputation, hanging in museums around the world and traveling around the world. When the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou were alive, their lives were quite miserable. Zheng Banqiao and Jin Nong lived in the guest rooms of Tianning Temple for free, sleeping and eating vegetarian food. Jin Nong sold paintings and had some money before moving out of Tianning Temple and living in the temple's boutique. The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou were able to achieve financial freedom under the guidance of Luo Pin, a disciple of Jin Nong. Xiao Luo was skilled in painting, especially in "Ghost Fun Picture". The one who owns a house in Yangzhou is Luo Pin, not from selling paintings, but from passing it down from his ancestors. Luopin's former residence is located in a dead end alley at the deepest corner of another alley not far from this one. I want to go and see that Luopin's former residence. I turned around and asked three elders and four grandmothers, and finally arrived at the dead end where dogs and humans run parallel when the width cannot be walked. Outside the door of Luopin's house sits an old lady who sells Luosifen and is cleaning up a basin of snails. The door of this old lady's house is basically the same as that of Luopin's. If it weren't for the sign hanging next to the door of the Luo Pin Former Residence Museum, you would have thought this was just an ordinary household. You see, the artistic life of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou is not only a tragic world, but also incomparable to the noisy world of their salt baked lives.

Returning to the main road, follow Tianningmen Street and the road becomes narrower as you walk. Suddenly, I heard a long lost sound of knocking on foreign iron sheets. Don't worry, if there were a small blacksmith welding foreign iron sheets on this old street, it would definitely be the most suitable. I really met it.

I approached the old man and started a conversation. He claimed to be the only black and white blacksmith left in Yangzhou city. I thought to myself, isn't this the 'last rose of summer'? When I asked him what he was processing, he said that it was a custom-made stove with Mutton shashlik. Why don't we use cheap black iron sheets? He pouted into the room and said that he didn't like the black iron sheet. As we were speaking, several passersby put down their soy sauce bottles and surrounded us. The old man felt a little embarrassed when he saw so many people looking up to him. He said that I could still do this craft for a few more years, but it was just doing some work that big factories don't do.

Say goodbye to the black and white blacksmith and continue south until you arrive at a street called Caiyi Street. Caiyi Street runs east-west, leading east to the east gate of Guangling City, and west to Siwang Pavilion. I walked confidently along Caiyi Street towards Dongguan, and the first Yangzhou sign I saw was this one.

The former 'Yangzhou Master' was very famous. What profession does this Yangzhou Master specialize in? Foot repairs, haircuts, and baths. The Yangzhou masters of the past are all finished now. The foot repair masters on this street have put foot therapy at the top of their signs, and foot repairs have been pushed to the next line. haircut? There is none on this street, if there were, it would all be Tony, a teacher from Dongguan. Rubbing is even worse. Where else is a bathhouse now? They are all 'dead party clubs'.

Take a look here.

Yangzhou fried rice is not uncommon. It can be sold in restaurants all over the country. Old geese in Yangzhou are very rare. Traditionally, Chinese people drink chicken soup made from old mother's meat. Later, people in Guangdong stopped drinking it and allowed everyone to drink old duck soup. Is this old goose soup? They say no, they say Nanjing people eat salted duck, while we Yangzhou people eat salted goose. I wanted to try it, but when I saw there was a public restroom in the same direction below. Come on, I'm not hungry yet. Besides, I forgot to bring my medicine when I went out. Keep moving forward. If I am starving in such a place, I must check the location and distance of the public restroom before eating, so that I can easily go there when I want convenience halfway or halfway through my meal.

This one is interesting.

Hong Kong egg waffles. Eggs themselves are piglets, would they still lay eggs? Is it talking about hairy eggs? I recently heard that a high-tech paper is about the hatching of chicks from cooked eggs. Modern technology does not have the highest level, only higher levels. Just thinking about it, you can understand the egg laying cub.

A shadow wall can be seen on the south side of the street.

There is a wealthy household across from here. Turning around, it is indeed an old building. Look at those signs, the shop downstairs has also been open for quite some time.

After passing the intersection below this old building and heading east, you will reach the old street reserve in Yangzhou, called Dongguan Street. Nowadays, there is a preserved old street in major cities. After flipping it over, we can show you a fake old street, such as Nanluogu Lane in Beijing.

Oh my! Are there still old Beijing cloth shoes on the old streets of Yangzhou? Originally, it sold waistbands in the hot selling promotion area. It seems that the sales of old Beijing cloth shoes in Yangzhou are really poor, forcing the shop owners to sell pants and belts.

Yangzhou lion head, of course, is a well-known specialty of Yangzhou. Pure handmade production, does this Yangzhou lion's head still have a foot pedal? I originally wanted to go in and taste it, but it was clear that his square stool was leaning against the wall. I didn't dare to go in, and I don't have the ability to eat facing the wall.

Bombing the big squid. Chinese people call Home Party a 'bang party', is this bombing Home Fried? But wasn't this blown up on the street? It should be called Public Fried, which means' afraid of exploding big squid '.

As the saying goes, 'good wine is not afraid of deep alleys', and this good tea is probably not afraid of deep alleys either. To be honest, this teahouse in the alley may still be struggling with business, so we need to hang a portrait of Lei Feng. Not selling tea means not leaving a name for doing good deeds.

Take a look at the "Quchi counter" mentioned in Lu Xun's "Kong Yiji", which sells pickled vegetables. "The pickled vegetables are just wine, and the more you drink, the more you get.

An old house with the words' Memorial Hall '. Upon closer inspection, the sign reads' Former Residence of Zhang Yuliang '. Zhang Yuliang's official name is Pan Zhang Yuliang, and Pan is the surname of his husband's family. Actually, her real name is not Zhang Yuliang, but Chen Yuqing. This is the old house where Zhang Yuliang was born. Later, he wandered around and studied painting with Liu Haisu. Finally, he lived in France and grew old there.

After passing the Pan Yuliang Memorial Hall, not far away, you can see the Eight Character Shadow Wall on the south side of the road, which is the entrance of a garden yellow mansion. I walked around a garden for a long time, passed through the garden and left through the north gate, leaving behind the famous travelogue 'Spring Breeze, Ten Thousand Miles Yangzhou Road, Part Three: A Garden'. The street leading out of Geyuan is Yanfu East Road. Continuing east will take you to the easternmost end of Dongguan Street. There is indeed a Dongguan city gate here.

The city gate was the location of the city gate in the Song Dynasty, which should have been a earthen city. The bricks outside this city platform are in the style of the Ming Dynasty, and the city tower is modeled after the Song Dynasty. According to the explanation next to it, this city gate still existed in the early Republic of China, and there is a large pit next to it, which is said to be the ruins of the Song Dynasty city gate. So, the rebuilt city gate is from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and in fact, the city tower on top of it is more appropriate to imitate the Ming and Qing dynasties. Entering the East Gate, looking back.

You can see the tall wind and fire walls of old houses on both sides of the street, and this street is still Dongguan Street. Take a look at the department store closest to Hyundai on the left side of Dongguan.

Four xi rice dumpling.

The Sixi rice dumpling that impressed me most was the Sise Tangtuan at Xinjiekou, Nanjing, in the 1970s. It was across the street from the department store at Xinjiekou, Nanjing. Now it is located at Jinling Hotel. When Jinling Hotel was built, it was banned. In recent years, I have inquired with old Nanjing residents about its whereabouts, but no one knows.

Four color dumplings come out with four rice dumpling of different colors and the same size in one pot, not the size of Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival) in the north, but the size of Sixi meatball in the north. There are four different fillings inside, including pork, sesame, bean paste, and an unnamed dessert. The four-color soup dumplings in Nanjing are deeply remembered, and another store in Nanjing is also deeply remembered. There is an old brand crab roe soup dumpling in the northeast corner of the Old Drum Tower Square.

The Lai's Four Joy rice dumpling on Dongguan Street in Yangzhou seems to have four kinds of fillings: home style stir fry, boiled dried silk, duck blood vermicelli and lion's head. I love these four things, but I can't imagine the taste of making them into stuffing and wrapping them in rice dumpling. It seems that his family also sells Wonton. I don't know if it was cooked with rice dumpling. I didn't dare to try this innovative rice dumpling.

Below is also an old shop, I don't know if it's "Cherish Spring" or "Cherish Spring", a snack shop. I guess it means cherishing Yuchun, 'Those Chunni who can't escape are really pitiful'?

The old shop above seems to be not old enough. I saw another shop next to it, and the storefront is too old.

His home is called 'Baobaoshui', which is also known for its excellent soup dumplings. I went in and asked for a basket of crab yolk soup dumplings with a bowl of fresh meat Wonton. That soup bun is a traditional small cage soup bun, not a palm sized big soup bun, it tastes quite good. But compared to the one I ate in Nanjing back then, it's still a lot worse. I ate August crab roe in Nanjing back then, but this time it's March. The difference in taste is due to this, not the season. That bowl of Wonton is really enough. I would say it's a pot of Wonton. The Wonton tastes ordinary. The Wonton in the south is better than that in the north because of its good soup. So dumplings are stuffing, and Wonton is soup. The chicken soup Wonton in the south is really chicken soup, and the chicken soup Wonton in the north is really diluted ten times. Now, even Wonton in Yangzhou uses chicken essence to forge chicken soup. However, the stuffing of this pot of Wonton is really fresh meat. Don't deceive me. A family of three old Beijingers sat down at the next table. Each of them ordered a bowl of Wonton, a drawer of soup dumplings, and several snacks. I quickly told them to change the three bowls of Wonton into one bowl. It's really that three bowls of wonton are not enough here. According to their way of eating, if you turn around and hold onto the wall, you won't even be able to stand up.

When I finished eating, the sun had already set in the west.

Tourists are searching for food everywhere.

The loneliest small shop owner during dinner time.

It seems that there is a reason for his loneliness. His shop and foot repair shop are open together, how can they not be quiet? They don't know what he's cooking in the pot.

Below is the most prosperous restaurant on this street, but when you go up and see it, it's just plain food.

It seems that now everyone is focusing on health preservation, only eating plain food and not even drinking alcohol. The door of this tavern is empty below.

After finishing the meal, it's time to take a look at the fragrance on your face. It's about having enough to eat and indulge in lust.

In the past, Suzhou rouge and Yangzhou powder were mentioned, so many makeup shops have opened on this street. It is said that the most famous one in Yangzhou is the following one.

Xie Fuchun was a shop during the Daoguang era, and they said it was the first cosmetics store in China with a long history. Not waiting for a moment, waiting for a long time. Panluo Wanjin, do not deceive the broom.

Ancient Yangzhou beauties had eaten their fill, applied rouge and powder, and still had to wear silk and satin, right? You can't just wear it casually, you need to pay attention to the style. What style? This is the one below. No matter how beautiful the beauty is, wearing this one is unparalleled.

Dongguan Street was the busiest street in Yangzhou in the past, and those who could set up offices on this street were all wealthy households. Is the Huang family in that garden a wealthy family? Zhang Yuliang's ancestors must also be wealthy, at least larger than the Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics Luo Pin family who lived in a dead end. Take a look at this, the Hu family mansion next to the Huang mansion in the garden.

This' Hu 'is referring to Hu Zhonghan. This is his old house, and during the Republic of China, he once opened a bank in Nantong. During the Republic of China era, banks were no longer able to compete with banks. There was no other choice, so Hu Zhonghan had to close the bank and become a manager at someone else's bank. The bank manager worked very hard, and Manager Hu fell ill due to exhaustion. Manager Hu returned to his old house in Yangzhou to recuperate, and it is unknown when he sold the house.

Manager Hu's house is quite good, someone has renovated it. Look at this Xu's residence below, it's in a state of disrepair and I don't even know which words "shi" represents.

The old house on the south side of the street, named after my description, is called 'Street South Bookstore'.

According to the introduction, the owner of this house is named Ma Yueyuan, who was a prominent figure in the early Qing Dynasty's Yangzhou Salt Gang before Huang Zhiyun, and was also very impressive. Ma Yueyuan loves reading books and has built a small Linglong Mountain Library at home. The Ma family has a considerable collection of books. When Qianlong compiled the "Complete Library of Four Treasures", his family donated many books, more than the Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo. The Ma family collapsed relatively early, and by the time Huang Zhiyun became wealthy, the Ma family had already declined to selling houses. The Huang family took down the Ma family's small Linglong Mountain Pavilion and relocated to a garden to build a book building. I walked up to the door and wanted to take a look, but the security guard asked me to go to the side door to arrange accommodation. Originally, this place is now an inn, and visitors have to read by candlelight at night to visit. Never mind, this night reading is not a overnight effort. Let me go.

Walking back to Siwang Pavilion, it was already dark outside.

There is a Yiyuan Hotel next to Siwang Pavilion. When I asked the local people about the delicious Huaiyang restaurant, they often recommended it as a good restaurant. It's a big restaurant and very authentic. The next day, I tried it at the second floor restaurant of Yiyuan Hotel. There was a steamed crab roe lion head, a large boiled shredded tofu, and a bowl of Wensi Tofu Soup. The taste was really good. This Wensi Tofu is shredded tofu. How thin is it? Definitely not as thin as a girl's hair, probably as thick as an old man's beard. A single old man at the neighboring table had a plate of salted goose. I exchanged a small bowl of Wensi tofu for him to taste, and the taste was also good. This salted goose and salted duck are completely different things. Salted goose is best eaten hot, cooked for a long time, and the meat is very tender and flavorful. Salted duck has a light and mild taste, while salted goose has a strong taste. I can handle both of them. In Yangzhou, I also ate the soft fried fish belly in another restaurant, which was so delicious that it was many times more delicious than the fried eel paste made in Huaiyang Cuisine restaurant in Beijing. The fried eel paste of Huaiyang Cuisine in Beijing is full of penicillin flavor. I don't know whether it was put by the chef or the fish farm. In order to cover the penicillin flavor, the chef added a lot of pepper noodles. What do you call that? The service in Yangzhou's large restaurants is absolutely poor, perhaps just as poor as in Tianjin's Goubuli, while the service in small restaurants is good. It seems that the service gap between selling food for business and selling food for personal gain is the same nationwide, but fortunately, the taste of Yangzhou restaurants is absolutely good. Anyway, I don't eat waiters. I eat vegetables, and I've endured those waiters. Hmph, don't let me meet you on the street!

By the way, there is now a high-speed railway running between Beijing and Yangzhou, from Beijing south to Yangzhou east. The sleeper train from Beijing to Yangzhou in the past has been suspended.

Yangzhou is really good, the scenery of the thin West Lake is really good, the ancient garden buildings are really good, and Huaiyang Cuisine is really delicious.

(To be continued)