Located in the west of Suzhou City, on the shore of Taihu Lake, Mudu is a famous ancient town in Jiangnan. The territory has beautiful scenery and abundant products, and it is surrounded by famous mountains in Wuzhong such as Tianping, Lingyan, Lion Mountain, and Qizi, so it is called "cornucopia".
Mudu is an ancient water town of the same age as Suzhou City. Legend has it that in the late Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Yue was in strife and the Yue kingdom was defeated, and the Yue king used the "beauty plan" to sacrifice the beautiful woman Xi shi to the king of Wu. Wu Wangfu sent a special favor to Xi Shi, specially built the Guanwa Palace for her on the top of the beautiful Lingyan Mountain, and then added Gusutai on the Purple Stone Mountain, "three years of gathering materials, five years of success", the source of wood blocked the river port under the mountain, "wooden plugs in the blasphemy", the name of mudu came from this.
More than 2500 years of long history has bred the splendid culture of Mudu, since ancient times, Mudu humanities gathered, talents emerged, from the Northern Song Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, a total of 25 people, more than 30 people, including 2 champions, 1 eye. Famous figures include: Fan Zhongyan, politician and writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, Shen Deqian, a famous poet and poet of the Qing Dynasty, Feng Guifen, an Enlightenment thinker and political commentator in the late Qing Dynasty, as well as Shen Shou, the embroidery empress of modern times, yan Jiagan, a Taiwanese political figure, and so on.
As a transportation hub connecting Suzhou City and the vast Taihu Lake, Mudu is a veritable gateway to Taihu Lake, so in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Mudu was the most prosperous commercial port in the west of Suzhou. Xu Yang, the court painter of Qianlong, painted a realistic long volume reflecting the prosperous style of Gusu at that time, "Prosperous Breeding Map", also known as "Gusu Prosperous Map", with a total length of 1225 centimeters, half of which painted Mudu, which was a sign of the prosperity of Mudu in that year.
In the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong toured the south of the jiangnan six times, stationed in Mudu six times, sang and sang with his teacher Shen Deqian, and entertained with his friend Xu Shiyuan tea and chess, leaving behind a popular legend. Now more than 200 years have passed, the pattern and style of Mudu Ancient Town has not changed, is still the largest commercial port in Wuxi, Gusu first water town, the town of ancient house courtyard deep, small bridge flowing water leisurely, of which the Xu River for Wu Zixu built, is China's first artificial canal, Xiangxi because Xi Shi washed here full of river incense and named, Mudu every river, each bridge has an ancient and beautiful legend, with a high ornamental and leisure value.
Mudu is surrounded by mountains and arches, and adjacent to Taihu Lake, not only has the fun of real mountains and real water, but also has the quiet of small bridges and flowing water, and there are many cultural monuments such as private gardens and celebrity former residences, so Mudu Scenic Area ranks first among the thirteen scenic spots in Taihu Lake Scenic Area. As the only ancient garden town in China, Mudu had more than 30 private gardens in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and more than 10 have been preserved so far.
Among them, the Yan family garden is the former residence of Shen Deqian, qianlong's teacher and China's longest-lived poet, and later returned to Mudu's richest man, Yan Guoxin, the layout of the garden is dense and tortuous, high and low, the local treatment is exquisite and elegant, deep and gentle, showing the unique gardening art of the builder, modern architects Liu Dunzhen, Liang Sicheng and other people have visited this garden several times, doubly respected, calling it the "leader" of suzhou local gardens.
Hongshu Mountain House is the former residence of Xu Shiyuan, a mudu literati, covering a vast area, with an atmospheric architecture, and its "beauty of the wind and moon in xishan mountains, the victory of the flowers and trees in the pond pavilion", far better than other gardens, Qianlong must visit this garden every time he goes to Mudu. The ancient pine garden is the old residence of Cai Shaoyu, a rich man in Mudu at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the carved flower building in the garden is exquisitely carved, which is the same master's work as the Dongshan carving building in Dongting, which can be called the north and south sister carving buildings. Bangyan Fudi is the former residence of Feng Guifen, the leader of the Foreign Affairs Movement and a famous political commentator, and the three sculptures of Jiangnan (brick carving, wood carving, and stone carving) are the treasures of its town garden. Lingyan Mountain Pavilion is the private property of Bi Yuan, a Qing Dynasty Mudu Yuan, a trickle of Qing ponds, a curved water back, and is a famous landscape garden in Wuzhong.
Mudu Private Garden not only adheres to the exquisite depth of Suzhou gardens, but also has its personality of being empty and lofty, mountain and forest wild, full of an atmosphere and imperial atmosphere. During the 28th World Heritage Conference, Luo Zhewen, Zheng Xiaoxie, and other famous cultural relics and ancient construction experts in China visited the private garden of Mudu Ancient Town and said excitedly: "This is the real cultural heritage."
Shen Congwen, a master of literature, once said: I have walked on bridges in many places, seen clouds many times, and drunk many kinds of wine, but I have only loved one of the most poetic places in the world- Jiangnan.
In Jiangnan, the most poetic is the water town ancient town; there are deep alleys, quaint stone bridges, exquisite pavilions, and there is also the fascinating tranquility and comfort, as well as the lost classical and leisurely.
I think that the water towns and ancient towns that I have walked before and are looking forward to going to have been written into my blog one after another, because it is worth savoring and worth lingering.
As a characteristic garden ancient town, Mudu retains more than ten private gardens from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Rainbow Drink Mountain House
Hongyin Mountain House was built in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and there are two Ming Dynasty gardens in Xiuye Garden and Xiaoyin Garden, which are far better than other gardens with "the beauty of the wind and moon in Xishan Mountain, and the victory of the flowers and trees in the pond pavilion". At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Xiaoyinyuan was the former residence of Shen Shou, a generation of "embroidery queens", and Xiuye Garden is now the Mudu Sacred Will Collection.
Yan family garden
Yanjia Garden was originally the former residence of the Qianlong Emperor's teacher and poet Shen Deqian, and was the "leader" of Suzhou gardens. An ancient Guangguang magnolia with a wide crown and thick shade of the sun, it is said that it was planted by The Qianlong Lower Jiangnan Overnight Stay Shen Residence; Nanmu Hall Shangxian Hall is a Ming Dynasty building, qi Yu Xuan Ang, Jiangnan rare. More distinctive is the Four Seasons Garden, which is praised by Professor Liu Dunzhen, a famous modern architect, as "Jiangnan Garden Classic".
Ancient Pine Garden
The ancient pine garden is located in Shantang Street, named after a Ming Dynasty Luohan pine plant in the garden that is more than 500 years old. It is the old residence of Cai Shaoyu, a rich man in Mudu at the end of the Qing Dynasty, with a compact layout and well preserved. The brick carved gate tower is deeply carved and embellished, and the shape is exquisite; the ancient Songtang square is engraved with eight pipas to symbolize the "eight-tone party", which is unique in Jiangnan garden architecture; the Phoenix Building is the early work of the Dongshan Carved Building, and the architecture and carving art are the same.
Pung-eye house
The first place in Xiatang Street is the former residence of Lin Zexu's disciple Feng Guifen, a modern political theorist. The mansion is a front house and a back garden structure, which is a typical Qing Dynasty garden architectural style. Brick carving, wood carving, stone carving are its main features. The garden is centered on the pond, with pavilions, pavilions, galleries, pavilions, bridges and Yellowstone rockeries scattered among them, high and low, surrounded by green trees, full of poetry.
Lingyan Mountain Scenic Area
Located in the foothills of Lingyan Mountain in the "Xiuguan Jiangnan". Scenic spots include Wu Wanggu Sutai, Qing Dynasty Yuan Biyuan Lingyan Mountain Hall, Qing Dynasty great poet Zhang Yongfu Memorial Hall and other scenic spots, Loutai Pavilion is built according to the mountainous terrain, Jiuqu Corridor is set up due to the terrain, Qingchi trickles, shore curves back to the water, since ancient times is a famous tourist attraction in Wuzhong. Heading up the mountain, you can find monuments such as Guanwa Palace, Xishi Cave, Qintai, and Lingyan Mountain Temple.
In addition, there are ming and qing ancient porcelain halls, Mingyue Temple and other attractions in the town. There are also scenic spots such as Tianping Mountain, Han Shizhong Tomb, and Tianchi Mountain.
Mudu's "book mutton" has a history of hundreds of years and is well-known in East China. The "Book Collection Whole Sheep Feast" inherits the traditional cooking method of bibliophilic lamb, and boldly innovates on this basis, forming a unique "Book Collection Whole Sheep Feast". The biggest feature of the "whole sheep feast" is that diners can eat as many things as the sheep, but it is not like the northerners who put the whole sheep on the table, and everyone uses a knife to cut and eat it piece by piece.
It is understood that Wanyang Xiangzhuang's "whole mutton with books" has cold dishes, made of lamb tripe, sheep liver, sheep heart, sheep eyes, and sheep hooves; there are hot dishes, braised lamb, fish and sheep double fresh, traditional wooden barrel mutton, etc.; there are dim sum, mutton dumplings, lamb steamed dumplings, etc., which can really be described as a sheep and a table dish. Compared with the traditional tibetan lamb, the whole sheep feast is more exquisite in production, but it does not lose its traditional flavor, such as Wanyang Yipin Fresh, Nourishing Sheep Brain Cup, etc., which are innovative dishes launched in recent years.
Nowadays, the "Book Collection Whole Sheep Feast" produced by WanYang Xiangzhuang, a brand store of tibetan mutton, has been selected into the "Chinese Famous Cuisine Dictionary". The Chinese Famous Cuisine Dictionary is the first large-scale, comprehensive and systematic food culture classic in China, aiming to show the world the rich connotation of Chinese culinary culture. The book has been included in the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" national key publication list.
There is a difference in the roast lamb of the book collector, that is, the lamb is boiled in a wooden barrel pot, and the taste of the roast is particularly delicious. So where did this rule that has been left over from generation to generation come about? There's another legend about it!
Legend has it that a long time ago, in the librarian Qiaotang Bay, there was a man named Yao Mu Bowl. He made a living as a car-made wooden toy, because he often made wooden bowls by car, and over time, people forgot his real name, and everyone called him Yao Wooden Bowl. Once, when he ran out of wood for his car toys, he took an axe to the Vault Hill to cut wood, as he had done in the past. He climbed up the hill and walked forward, and saw two white-bearded old men playing chess under the big tree, and the chessboard was placed on a thick tree. Yao Mu Bowl felt very curious, why didn't these two old people play chess at home, but climb up such a high mountain? He watched silently from the sidelines. Half an hour later, an old man suddenly found him and said to him, "What kind of person are you, you have been looking at it for a long time, go home quickly." After saying that, a breeze blew through, Yao Mu Bowl blinked, and when he opened his eyes, the two old men and the chessboard were gone, leaving only the tree where the chessboard was placed. Yao Mu Bowl was very surprised, and when he remembered the matter of going up the mountain to cut down the tree, he quickly looked for the axe, but the handle of the axe had rotted, leaving only a piece of rusty iron. If the tree can't be cut down, what should I do when I go back? He memorized the wooden idea of the old man playing chess. When he arrived at home, the house collapsed, and the tombstone of the tomb not far away had his family's name written on it. Later, when he met several old people, Yao Mu Bowl told him what he had experienced, and the old man told him: You are on the mountain for half an hour, and a hundred years have passed in the world. You've met immortals.
Yao Mu Bowl thought that the section of trees he had carried back was used by the immortals, and he was reluctant to make toys. He drove a lot of wooden vegetable bowls to give to the neighbors left and right, and everyone said that they put the dishes and tasted delicious. At this time, there was a descendant who sold mutton soup, his mind was very flexible, so he asked Yao Mu Bowl to make the remaining wood into a wooden barrel pot to burn the lamb, and the result was that the lamb that was burned was really delicious, and everyone came to buy his family's mutton soup, which made him make a lot of money. Therefore, the local villagers who sell mutton soup for a living also follow his example and use wooden barrels to cook lamb, and the lamb soup is also delicious. The method of making lamb in a wooden barrel pot has been passed down to the present day.
The most admirable of the year is the town's classical gardens. The model of The garden-style Jiangnan private garden garden in Mudu, the four characteristics of Jiangnan gardening have a classic performance here. Mudu's private garden inherits the exquisite depth of Suzhou gardens, and has its empty and lofty personality, which is full of atmosphere and imperial atmosphere. Therefore, the main thing to go to Mudu is to watch its garden.
Accommodation in Mudu:
No. 198 Jinshan Road has a four-star China Garden Hotel, No. 168 Jinshan Road has a four-star Balance Hotel, and Xianyuan Street has Shantang people's homes, all of which are good places to stay.
Eat in Mudu:
Mudu has two more prosperous streets, one is Huayuan Street and the other is Hong Kong Street, and there are many delicious things on the street.
Shijia Hotel is located at No. 18 Zhongshi Street in Guzhen, built during the Qianlong period. Famous for eating here when the Qianlong Emperor descended jiangnan, it has formed a unique dish system based on ten famous dishes based on catfish lung soup, three shrimp tofu, squirrel mandarin fish, Qingli shrimp, live boiled river shrimp, chicken oil rape heart, Shijia sauce square, mother oil boat duck, white soup crucian carp, and one of the representative works of the Subang cuisine. Among them, the catfish lung soup is more famous in Jiangnan.
At the intersection of Hong Kong Street and Su Fu Road, LuYang Wonton Shop is a century-old shop with Mudu's famous specialty snacks.
The pine nut jujube mud cake produced by "Qianshengyuan" in Mudu Town is very famous, and there are distribution points in the town.
The tofu brain and vegetarian dumpling noodles on Lingyan Mountain are very distinctive.
gas station:
Sinopec Mudu Gas Station is at the eastern end of the intersection of Sufu Highway and Cuifang Avenue in Mudu Town, and there is also a Sinopec gas station not far north of Sufu Highway Road in Mudu Town.