I have a good friend in every big city, and they must have a deep affection for this city and know every corner of this place, every bit. In your conversation with them, you should absorb their love for this city and turn their city into your city.
If you are lucky, go to New York and go shopping with Zhang Wenyi, he will tell you the history of every building and even every tree, which is the feeling of the spring breeze in the ancient language.
Who is Zhang Wenyi? Some people will say that he is Zhang Aijia's uncle, but in my eyes, I have always thought that Zhang Wenyi's niece is Zhang Aijia. The relationship between the two of them is already a father-daughter relationship, which Zhang Aijia said in the preface to his "A Scoop of New York".
Zhang Wenyi's home, at the end of Broadway Avenue in New York, goes out is Chinatown, and a little farther can walk to the Fulton Fish Market, New York is a walking city, and the two of us keep walking.
"Ghostbusters was made here." He said, countless mansions, endless film titles, I feel unusually familiar, the scenes in the movie, constantly overlapping.
Tired, stop for a drink, Zhang Wenyi likes to drink whiskey the most, and occasionally loves vodka, he took me to the big central oyster bar, under the big central terminal, we ate a plate of oysters non-stop. We kept drinking vodka, and he added that New Yorkers drink vodka, in accordance with Russian tradition, by freezing the whole bottle of wine in an ice grid, pouring water, wrapping the bottle in a thick layer of ice, and pouring out the wine, as thick as syrup.
Sometimes, we simply don't go out and chat in his living room, and his wife often says curiously: "There are many literary and artistic friends from out of town, and when I come to New York, I always run around, and there is never a person who likes to stay in the living room like you." ”
I remember one day, it was freezing cold, I walked to Chinatown in the morning, bought seven or eight large lobsters and a bunch of large mustards, lobster shells were fried, meat sashimi, head and feet and mustard and tofu soup, was a rich meal.
Every year or two, he would always come to the East, and although New York was his second home for more than half a century, the feelings and friends of the East, as well as the food, were something he could not forget.
Every time he comes, I take him for a walk, hong Kong is also a walking city, if you know how to walk. We walked from Central to West Loop, and every building on every street was famous, and he lamented the design of the HSBC Tower, and he admired the architecture of the old Bank of China. As we crossed the sea by ferry, I pointed out to him that there was a Manhattan ahead, and when you turned back, there was another Manhattan.
Coming to Hong Kong, his favorite, or the bathhouse, I took him to the house in Yau Ma Tei, but also went to the bathhouse in Baole Lane, the masters wrapped in towels into a hand knife, the taste of the old mud on the body is not what Can be found in New York, but unfortunately it has disappeared in recent years.
Speaking of Zhang Wenyi's appearance, his figure has remained unchanged for decades, he has always been so tall and thin, and he used to wear an outdated large-frame glasses, which was recently changed.
What could not be changed was his jeans, not a day to change anything else, which was a tradition he inherited after he arrived in the United States, and saw his jeans in his wardrobe at home, at least hundreds.
"A Scoop of New York" is now in my hand to see, it is indeed one of the best domestic books I have ever seen, the photos in it are provided by Zhang Wenyi's friend Han Xiangning, the color and black and white are beautifully printed, the content is more like walking into Zhang Wenyi's living room, chatting with him about New York, chatting for three days and three nights, people who like New York, must read.