We all miss the sound of "Ah want to buy white orchids", but the flower girl has become Grandma

It's early summer again, and white orchids are seen again. In the streets and alleys of Shanghai, there are grandmothers carrying bamboo baskets and selling "three flowers". This tradition has been going on for decades. In the past, the "Suzhou flowers" produced in Suzhou had an excellent reputation, but in the past two decades, due to the sharp decline in production, "Suzhou flowers" have rarely been encountered in Shanghai. "A want to buy white orchids..." A few days ago, near the Xinmin Bridge on Shantang Street in Suzhou, Qian Xuemei was dressed in cloth and carrying a bamboo basket, shouting along the street in soft Suzhou dialect. In her basket were delicate white orchids. In fact, there is no need to sell flowers. She signed up for the "Sanhua" cultural volunteer team in Huqiu Street, Gusu District, and called two voices for publicity. 45 years ago, Qian Xuemei was 20 years old, and her parents were flower farmers, growing white orchids, jasmine flowers and generation flowers. In the area of Suzhou Tiger Hill, the history of planting "three flowers" dates back to the Song Dynasty 900 years ago. The cultivation and sale of "three flowers" was once the livelihood of every household in Tiger Hill, and the fragrance of wild flowers was everywhere in the blossom season. In addition to flower farmers, carpenters who repair flower houses, masons who make flower houses, and villagers in the "Three Flowers" industrial chain, life is good. Growing flowers is also really hard. It takes 3 years for a flower tree to be planted to harvest. The jasmine tree is short, and the waist plate cannot be straight when picking flowers; the white orchid tree is too tall, higher than the roof, and the bamboo shelf is used, and the springboard is laid in the middle to pick flowers on both sides. Picking flowers to pick buds that have just emerged, and in another day, the petals are turned over, it is worthless, that is, when the buds are white and not open, wrap the aroma, and go to the tea factory to emit it, just to make tea. In the past, when it was time to pick flowers, flower farmers got up at dawn every day and picked white orchids first. Then pick the jasmine flowers, all day long. It is the height of summer, against the scorching sun, flower farmers wear straw hats, put a towel around their necks, no matter the wind or rain, the buds of the day must be picked, can not miss the time. Picking white orchids, the tallest tree is 5 meters, because at a high place, it is dangerous to fall down without paying attention. When Qian Xuemei was a child, she saw her father fall, and she also saw her mother faint due to heat stroke, "Now who wants to plant flowers?" Qian Xuemei said. This has been the case with tiger hills for generations to grow flowers. According to the "Tiger Hill Town Chronicle", the total output of "three flowers" in Camellia Village in 1978 was 81310 kg. Until the 1980s, after the reform and opening up, the market liquidity was stronger. Guangdong and Guangxi's "three flowers" have entered the Suzhou market in large quantities, Guangdong and Guangxi have a warmer climate, the cost of planting flowers is low, and the price of "three flowers" in Suzhou has been impacted, almost waist chopping. Li Hongde was one of the last local flower farmers, planting flowers in his last year in 2000. That year, white orchids could sell for 4 yuan per kilogram, several kilograms per day, 30 yuan, and the money sold was not enough to meet the cost of picking flowers. Li Hongde plans to wait and see, maybe the price can rise a little later. The unpicked white orchids bloomed vigorously on the branches, the petals fell, densely spread on the ground, the snow was white, and Li Hongde was very distressed. Tiger Hill flowers and trees are getting fewer and fewer, there are more and more factories, Qian Xuemei, like others, entered the factory as a female worker, and never sold flowers again. The floral fragrance of Tiger Hill gradually disappeared. Whether it is Shanghai or Suzhou, the streets and alleys can still meet flower sellers from time to time, and the "girl" who sells flowers has become "Grandma", and the flowers sold are not planted by themselves, but are purchased from other places. The year before, Huang Jian became the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the "Three Flowers" cultivation technique. He also has a nursery at home, where the "three flowers" are planted, selling no longer flowers, but bonsai, or providing ornamental greening solutions. However, "Three Flowers" is the history of Tiger Hill, and this skill and culture are gradually being valued. Recently, Huqiu Street held an expert seminar to select new "flower seller grandmothers" from cultural tourism volunteers, carried out cultural promotion activities, and also edited and published the "Three Flowers Technique Planting Manual", and is trying to retain the memory of "Three Flowers" and retrieve nostalgia and nostalgia.

Column Editor-in-Chief: Kong Lingjun Text Editor: Kong Lingjun Caption Source: IC PHOTO Photo Editor: Xu Jiamin

Source: Author: Gong Zhiping