On the banks of the Ancient Canal outside the south gate of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, there is an ancient bridge that has been listed as a world cultural heritage - Qingming Bridge. On an old street called Nanxiatang on the east bank of the Qingming Bridge, there is a unique old house left over from the Republic of China period, where the only bookstore on this old street is opened.
The owner of the bookstore is the famous folk singer Zhong Lifeng in China, and the name of the bookstore is "Walking Bookstore". Taken from reading is to travel and walk between lines. The name of the bookstore is very similar to Zhong Lifeng's personality, just like he has been walking alone on the folk song road for so many years.
Nanxiatang, located in the south gate section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal that runs through the city in Wuxi, opposite the ancient canal is the lively South Long Street, these two streets, all belong to the ancient canal Qingming Bridge historical and cultural block. Interestingly, the atmosphere of the two old streets of South Long Street and Nanxiatang is definitely different, South Long Street is more commercial, while Nanxiatang still has indigenous people, and the old street still retains the smell of fireworks in the world.
From the Qingming Bridge into Nanxiatang, turn left for about 100 meters to come to Zhong Lifeng's "Walking Bookstore". This is an old building from the Republic of China period, two floors, a color of green brick qingshui wall, the wall at the door still has the words "the third section of the South District Haining Rescue and Extinguishing Society", next to the logo of the fire fighting society, a steel helmet, two axes, guessing that it should be a firefighter on the old street.
Because it is an ancient building, the decoration of the "walking bookstore" has not destroyed the overall structure. Just changed the original wooden door to a wooden glass door, and the floor in the store is still a wooden floor, but a row of bookshelves has been moved. The second floor is a small meeting place with small round tables and chairs, which Is said to have been seen by Zhong Lifeng as a studio in Wuxi, where he composes and writes music.
Up and down the first and second floors is an old-fashioned wooden ladder, very narrow and steep, and people up and down need to be careful to pass through. Perhaps because of its disrepair, walking on wooden ladders always makes people feel unstable. Zhong Lifeng said that he had found an old wooden boat, dismantled it, and repaired the stairs with old materials. It can be seen that when he first founded the "Walking Bookstore", Zhong Lifeng made a lot of painstaking efforts.
I don't know Zhong Lifeng, and I've only met him once. It was 2015, and he came to Hufu Town, Yixing, Wuxi, to give a country concert, and I was invited to shoot the concert scene. The concert was held in The Bamboo Sea in Huzu Town, although it was already early summer, but the temperature in the mountains plummeted at night, and Zhong Lifeng was the last to sing. In order to mobilize everyone's emotions, that night, Zhong Lifeng gave out the best songs. So, in my camera, I left the figure of the folk singer.
Soon after returning from Hu father town, Zhong Lifeng faded out of my sight, like countless people I had photographed, leaving only their figures in my computer hard drive. Until a chance, Zhong Lifeng's three words, once again made me worry.
In the past few years, when I am idle, I will carry my camera to South Long Street and Nanxiatang to shoot, and many people on these two streets know each other. One day, a young man with long hair called "Quantum" met me in Nanxiatang, and it was he who told me that Zhong Lifeng was going to open a bookstore here.
Opening a bookstore on the old street is indeed too good, after all, the cultural atmosphere of the whole old street is too lacking, maybe a bookstore can change the culture of an old street, and if Zhong Lifeng's fans know that their idol has a bookstore here, they may be able to squeeze the bookstore. At that time, I made a pact with "Quantum" that when the bookstore opened, I would shoot it as soon as possible.
"Quantum" did not break its promise, and when the "Walking Bookstore" was still being decorated, I asked me to go to see it a few times. Although I have never met Zhong Lifeng himself, I can also watch the bookstore slowly get decent little by little on the secluded old street of Nanxiatang.
Afterwards, I learned that "Quantum" was also a partner in this bookstore, and when Zhong Lifeng was not in Wuxi, he was looking after him. Soon after the opening of the "Walking Bookstore", I went to the field to shoot, and later, I also organized several domestic tourism celebrities to go to the scene, to be honest, I like that there is a very literary and warm bookstore on this old street.
The store hall on the first floor of the "Walking Bookstore" is not large, about 20 or 30 square meters, and the decoration style of the bookstore is similar to the Shakespeare Bookstore in Paris, France. In addition to the bookshelves erected on the north and south walls of the store, on the side of the main entrance, there is a small table with a long strip of books, and there are several books written by Zhong Lifeng himself.
"Quantum" also told me that every book in the bookstore was personally selected by Zhong Lifeng. Most of them are literature, movies, music, design, travel books, and the current hot books such as romance, martial arts, and comics cannot be found here. It is said that people who know Zhong Lifeng, after learning that Zhong Lifeng opened a bookstore in the ancient canal of Wuxi, often recommend some hot-selling best-selling books to him, saying that these books can make money. But Zhong Lifeng refused at all, the reason is very simple, in a warm water town, I Zhong Lifeng also bought books that give people warmth.
There is a saying in Zhong Lifeng's bookstore: I am not walking, I am in the bookstore. This statement probably indicates the purpose of the bookstore owner to open this store. On the cash register in front of the bookstore, there will be a pot of evergreen plants, and in the store hall full of book fragrance, green always gives people a sense of vitality, which shows the elegance of the bookstore owner's taste. After reading in the bookstore for a long time, the salesman can hand you a cup of tea, and with the fragrance of tea leaves, the time in the bookstore will pass very slowly.
On the second floor of the "Walking Bookstore", few customers go up, because it is Zhong Lifeng's studio, and even if others are not there, the salesman will not let people enter casually. Relying on the relationship of "quantum", one summer day last year, I went to Zhong Lifeng's studio for the first time with CapitaLand Impression and several other travel self-media celebrities.
The area of the second floor is slightly smaller than the shop hall on the first floor, there is basically no furniture, a few chairs and a small round table, it has become all the furnishings. However, there is a window on the north side of the second floor, the lighting is excellent, leaning on the window to look at the surrounding old houses, the line of sight is particularly good, those lined up on the edge of the ancient canal, the eaves of the roof, like the musician's stave, in any light, will beat a piece of music.
On the west side of the second floor, facing the river, the owner deliberately built it into an open terrace without any windows. Although the place is very small, but there is a long table, the side of the table is a few small stools, soaked in a cup of tea, sitting on the edge of the table, you can look at the ancient canal in front of you, you can hear the sound of the ancient canal sweeping the riverbank. Although the ancient canal has long been forbidden to ships, the tranquility is still returned to the ancient canal. Perhaps this tranquility is very much in line with the atmosphere of the bookstore.
In the more than two years since the opening of the "Walking Bookstore", I have walked through the door of the bookstore countless times, and every time I pass, I will always stop and look at the bookstore through the glass door, not to meet Zhong Lifeng, but to think, this old street, there is this only bookstore, the scenery is really good.
It is said that in the past two years, countless fans of Zhong Lifeng and people who love to read have stepped into this bookstore and bought their favorite books in the bookstore. Even the current big music brands Li Zhi, Zhao Lei, Zhao Zhao, and the Wild Children Band have patronized Zhong Lifeng's bookstore.
If it weren't for last night's message from a circle of friends, I think I would have been able to see the existence of Zhong Lifeng Bookstore on the old street of Nanxiatang in my lifetime. The news is that Zhong Lifeng decided to close the bookstore 718 days after the opening of the "Walking Bookstore". Tomorrow, at 12:00 noon on April 27, Zhong Lifeng will conduct a live broadcast of the content: My bookstore is about to close.
Recently, I can hear about the closure of bookstores in various places, maybe it is far away from me, maybe I don't want to do anything, and many times when I hear the news of bookstore closures, I just listen to it. However, this time, Zhong Lifeng's "walking bookstore" will also be closed, and after 718 days of wind and rain, the only bookstore on the old street will no longer exist.
Perhaps every bookstore that has closed has its own reasons, and Zhong Lifeng wants to close the bookstore where he has poured a lot of effort, and I believe there is also his reason. However, although this bookstore opened on the old street has not changed the scenery of Nanxiatang, it has become the scenery of the old street itself.
Will people remember in the future that at No. 236 Nanxiatang Street in Wuxi City, there was once a bookstore opened by a folk singer. Tomorrow night, will it be the last night of Zhong Lifeng's "walking bookstore" on the old street?
About the Author:
Lu Jianhua
Director of China Photographers Association, columnist of tourism geography column of China Photographer Magazine, director of Wuxi Art Photography Society, signed author of Sina self-media, new top ten celebrities of Sina Tourism in 2016, 9th in the tourism field in 2016 Crowley's self-media value ranking, and the most influential author of Sohu Tourism in 2016