There is heaven above, and Suhang below. This should be a well-known phrase!
Let's talk about Suzhou first.
Suzhou I often go to Suzhou with my wife, almost every month we will go 1 ~ 2 times, feel quite good, its Jiangnan charm is still there, once to Suzhou realm, Wu Nong warm words listen to really comfortable, leisure time to Suzhou to play is really a pleasure, garden atmosphere, exquisite needless to say, food is also quite rich, especially snacks, snacks and snacks after tasting can always leave a little thought. Such as: Songhelou pine nut cinnamon fish, Zhu Hongxing's Fengzhen noodles, Luyang wonton shop's chicken soup three fresh wontons, Lu Manujian's sauce meat, Huang Tianyuan's various glutinous rice pastries, Caizhizhai's pine nut zongzi candy, Ye Shouhe's old tangerine peel, etc., etc., these my wife and I have tasted one by one, it is really good, in addition to the taste, more importantly, the price is close to the people.
Another reason why I like Suzhou is that the affinity of the people can not only be experienced in the commercial services of the entire city, but also that you can feel a sense of intimacy that they naturally exude when communicating with ordinary citizens, young and old. This fully reflects the cultivation or quality of Suzhou citizens. Tell you a few things that my wife and I have personally experienced.
Around the middle of August last year (2022), shortly after the opening of Shanghai's epidemic lockdown, I took a train with my wife to Suzhou. After getting off the train, we took the No. 28 bus to Guanqian Street, after getting on the bus, I suddenly found that I didn't have a coin with me, at this time the vehicle had started, I hurriedly took out a twenty yuan bill from my pocket and negotiated with the people in the carriage, hoping that they could help exchange coins or small denomination notes, but asked several people did not succeed in exchange, several passengers casually took out coins and said that they wanted to pay the fare on behalf of our two old people, but we politely declined. The train station is not far from Guanqian Street, seeing that the bus is about to reach its destination, I was about to put the 20 yuan bill into the bus coin box to get off with my wife, when a lady in her sage next to me reached out to block my hand that wanted to invest money, and then, she took out a few coins from her pocket and threw them into the coin box and said to me in a pleasant Suzhou tone: I will buy tickets for you, you don't vote! Then he said to me: Actually, you set it up in the WeChat of your mobile phone, and you can get an electronic transportation card to get a ride.... At this point, the vehicle had arrived, and we could only thank her one after another. After getting off the bus, we were deeply moved, just now the car was full of strangers, we have never met, when we encountered embarrassment in the car, they could take the initiative to solve our problems, and couldn't help but make us respect this city and the citizens of this city....
Shantang Street, Suzhou
Another time, my wife and I went to watch the night view of Shantang Street holding lights. After walking out of Shantang Street, we were not finished wandering, and we went around a lot of places in the neighborhood, but when we were ready to return to our place of residence after having fun, we were blinded, and we couldn't tell the southeast, southwest and northwest for a while, and we didn't know what bus to take back to our residence. We struggled to find our way and look for the bus to take back to our place of residence, but after spending a lot of time, we were still at a loss, unable to find the bus or station to return to our place of residence. In desperation, we could only ask passers-by, and after being pointed out by passers-by, we walked a lot to look for the station, but still did not find it. At this time, the time was getting late, and we were a little anxious, so we decided to find a local from Suzhou to ask carefully, and ask clearly, what bus should we take back to our place of residence from where we are now? Where is the station? Coincidentally, at this time, two young people walked past us, they were walking forward while talking in the local dialect of Suzhou, and I hurriedly walked forward a few steps, rushed to them, and asked them what bus we should take, where is the station, etc. The two men paused for a moment, and one of the older young men showed me the bus to take and instructed me: cross the road from here, turn left at the traffic light in front, then go forward, walk to a cross road in front of you, turn left, cross the road and you will reach the station. I listened and still hesitated..., he probably felt that I still didn't understand, so he said: I will also go in that direction, you can follow me! I'll point you out again when I get there. My wife and I followed them to the intersection near the station, and the young man pointed to the station with his hand and said, "That's the station!" After thanking him, we walked to the bus station, and after a while, we got on the bus and returned to our place of residence smoothly. At this time, my wife and I said: "Thanks to the young man's guidance, otherwise we don't know when we will return to the hotel." My wife said: This place in Suzhou is so good, and Suzhou people are good! Do you remember the last time we came to Suzhou by car? After listening to this, I jokingly said to my wife: This is "heaven"! And then, we all smiled heartily....
Hello Suzhou! You have completely integrated into my heart, the small bridge flowing water, Wu Nong's soft words, and the gentle and melodious tone of commentary have been deeply imprinted in my mind and have walked into my dreamland from time to time....
Let's talk about Hangzhou.
In late March 2023, my wife and I took advantage of the comfortable spring temperature to go to Hongqi Railway Station to take a train to Hangzhou in the morning, and after arriving in Hangzhou, we first took the city transportation bus to Feilaifeng and Lingyin Temple, and by the way, I wanted to see the changes in the city of Hangzhou over the years, because it has been more than 30 years since we last went to Hangzhou, and it is inevitable that we will have a feeling of wanting to take a closer look when we revisit the old place. However, the experience along the way is really not flattering, the bus to Lingyin is like a snail, all the way to traffic jams, the whole trip took three hours, and it was noon when I arrived at the scenic spot. Along the way, the carriage was crowded, making people stuffy and uncomfortable, children in the carriage cried, adults made trouble, chaotic roar, at this time I think the mood of other people in the carriage is probably the same as mine, can only be described in two words, "suffered". Presumably, at this time, everyone has lost their original intention of coming out to play and relax. It naturally reminds me of when I was still at work in the eighties.... The current situation is very similar to the situation in Shanghai at the rush hour, and it can even be said that it is even more so, but now that it is the 21st century, nearly half a century later, it is indeed disappointing and unacceptable that this situation still exists.
After all the way in the carriage of suffering finally arrived at 12:20 noon to the Feilai Feng Lingyin Temple scenic spot, the breakfast eaten before leaving home in the morning has long been digested without a trace, at this time I only feel hungry, I wanted to find a restaurant with local Hangzhou characteristics for lunch, but in front of the scenic spot, the restaurants and restaurants are either full of diners, or the dining environment and food prices are unacceptable. In the end, we could only order fast food in "KFC" and hurriedly fill our belly and enter the scenic area....
The whole trip took more than three hours, although there were many tourists in the scenic area, but our tour was quite smooth, the most important thing was that we returned the relationship in Lingyin Temple, and we got a little comfort and compensation mentally, which was finally worth the trip.
However, the comfort of the spiritual world is short-lived. In reality, the bus back to Yue Tomb is even more strange, not only is the carriage crowded, but the people on the bus are crowded with their chests against their backs, and I secretly comfort myself in my heart: the journey from Lingyin to Yue Tomb is relatively short, and I insist on it. But this bus slowly and leisurely forward, its speed is like a snail crawling, I just happened to be squeezed next to the driver's seat of the front door of the vehicle can not move, see the driver is very leisurely, but also quite patient, he is neither anxious nor annoyed when driving, even the front vehicle drove forward for a distance he did not keep up in time, as if he was courteous to the vehicle behind, really incomprehensible, Lingyin to Yue Tomb in just six or seven stops drove for more than an hour, really funny!
Get off the bus at Yue Tomb, first go to Yue Wang Temple to visit, and then along the West Lake all the way to play Su Causeway, White Causeway, along the Baigong Causeway to Hangzhou's famous "Louwailou" Hotel stop, this way Su Causeway on the various plants, flowers like a rush to bloom, competing for beauty, especially the white broken flowers in the background of a purple flower behind the background is particularly eye-catching, giving people an impatient green beauty, what kind of flower is this white flower, I can't name it, is it a peach blossom? But some people say it's cherry blossoms....
West Lake Baigong Dike
The willows on the lake, long willow branches slowly stretch to the surface of West Lake, gently swaying in the spring breeze, soft posture grows many green shoots, showing visitors its vitality, under the West Lake water and distant boats, it is difficult not to revel in the scenery of the south of the river. As it is called:
The water is shining and the sun is good,
The mountains are rainy and strange.
Want to compare West Lake to Xizi,
Light makeup is always best.
In the midst of such beautiful scenery, my mood instantly improved, and I temporarily forgot the displeasure when riding in the car...
In the evening, my wife and I walked into the "Louwailou" restaurant, and because we revisited the place more than 30 years later, we ordered a few Hangzhou signature dishes for dinner. Such as: West Lake vinegar fish, Longjing shrimp, Dongpo meat and dry fried bells. I wanted to taste this delicious food of Hangzhou, re-satisfy my appetite, and compensate for the shortcomings of the past thirty years. However, I was a little disappointed that I didn't think about this dinner. The reason for our disappointment is that we came to "West Lake vinegar fish", but after tasting it, it is far from the delicious taste I remember, the fish meat lacks elasticity, and there is no trace of live and fresh natural umami, which can be called "light and tasteless".
Another thing that I regret is that after dinner, we are going to take a taxi to Hangzhou East Railway Station, there are many empty taxis on the road, and when we greet us, the driver of each empty taxi stops and asks: Where to go? We answer: Go to Hangzhou East Railway Station, the driver will answer: Oh, too late! Too late! Almost a hundred words, the same. When I first started calling for a taxi, the driver replied: Oh, it's too late! We also thought that he might have an appointment and couldn't take us to Hangzhou East Railway Station, which was normal. When we hailed seven or eight taxis, and the driver's answers were almost the same, we suddenly realized that the driver was unwilling to take us to Hangzhou East Railway Station, they were refusing to take us more "civilized". Helplessly, we can only discuss with the driver after the recruitment, let him drive us to the bus station or subway station where he is willing to go, and then we will transfer to the bus or subway to Hangzhou East Railway Station, so that although the detour is time-consuming, but fortunately finally catch the train, otherwise there may be only a change of train ticket! But the problem is that this "civilization refusal" occurs in a provincial capital city known as "paradise", and it always feels a little unharmonious...