"In the city of his dreams, he was in his youth, and when he arrived in the city of Isidora, he was old, and there was a wall in the square, and the old people sat there looking at the young people who passed by, and he sat with these old people. The original desire is a memory. ”
—Italo Calvino, The Invisible City
Inin was a dream.
In June last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Xinjiang's Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. After an event in Khorgos, Ili Prefecture, my friend and I transited through Inin and were able to make a short stop in the city to catch a glimpse of it.
Urban planners who have traveled all over the world often have the benchmark of the ideal city in their hearts, and the evaluation of the real city is inevitably mean. But for Yining, I really can't help but praise it.
Yining, the capital of Ili Prefecture, is not the largest and most prosperous city in Xinjiang, but it is likely to be the most beautiful and stylish city. Historically, multi-ethnic groups have mingled here, and the cultures of Central Asia and the interior have intersected here. In recent history, Russians from Europe have brought modern urban civilization. To this day, the names of stalin avenues in Yining still record the Soviet-Russian elements of the city. Merchants and literati gathered in the Ili River Valley, and the prosperity of the city was born, and the glorious history of the city was unveiled. Even today, Yining still has the confidence of "old money".
Zhou Tao, a writer famous for writing about the Northwest Frontier, described "Yiningfan" in his "Notes on the Autumn of Ili": "I have come to Ili three times, and each time I can feel some kind of strange cold and warmth very strongly. This is not conveyed by the nature of Ili, the natural environment of Ili always has its strong charm; nor is it given by the customs of Ili, the customs and folk customs of Ili are the most flavorful, the most distinctive and the deepest in all of China. A certain strange coldness and warmth are the facial expressions emitted by the Yining society where the capital of Ili Prefecture is located, which is as invisible as the smell. This place contains the pride and conceit of the scenery, and also carries the light indifference of the border town to the knowledgeable and indifferent to nothing...."..."
"Ili" in the narrow sense refers specifically to the city of Yining. The city has full confidence and tells the world about the thick history of Xinjiang. Since the Western Han Dynasty established the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, Yining has been an important town that controlled all of Xinjiang and integrated the northwest. From the Anxi Capital Protectorate and the Beiting Capital Protectorate in the Tang Dynasty, to the "Yili Gangli" of the Chagatai Khanate in the Yuan Dynasty, to the Nine Cities of Ili set up in the Qing Dynasty, Yining has long been the military and political center of Xinjiang, and has always been the largest stage for heroes and merchants north of the Tianshan Mountains in history.
Compared with other cities in Xinjiang, Yining has a distinct style and charm, making it stand out in the situation of a thousand cities. Local writer Zhang Xiyan wrote "The Concept of Yining" in "That City in the Distance": Many people know elements such as the Ili River, the jujube flower, the poplar, the grape, the apple, the small flower hat, and the Dongbula from Mr. Wang Meng's works, and integrate them together to form the so-called "Yining Concept".
This kind of "Yining concept" of integration and symbiosis is expressed in the spatial muscle of the city as the characteristics of "collage city": blocks of different periods and different characteristics coexist harmoniously in the city, and history and modernity are organically integrated. The city's various regions have different characteristics, showing the diversity of the city's culture in a mosaic-like form.
The trumpet-shaped Ili River Valley is the end of the spread of Atlantic water vapor into the hinterland of Eurasia, just like the nickname of Sailim Lake in the valley - the last tear of the Atlantic Ocean. The humid climate brought with it a dense network of rivers, and Yining rose up from the water, and the skeleton of the entire city grew organically along the Ili River. The City of Ningyuan, built here in the Qing Dynasty, added a square silhouette and a cross street to the city.
Of all the mosaics collaged, the most eye-catching is a hexagonal block. This is Six Star Street, which was planned and designed by German engineer Vasley in the 1930s, and coincides with Howard's model of a pastoral city. At that time, Xinjiang implemented six major policies: anti-imperialism, pro-Soviet, people's peace, peace, construction, and clean government. This six-pointed star-shaped neighborhood is known as the "Six Policy Streets".
Image of Yining Six Star Street
This historic district, which combines the radial road network derived from European planning theory and the traditional courtyards of Our country, has a unique charm. Walking among such East-meet-West neighborhoods, you can easily feel the unique cultural personality of the city. On a certain road, you seem to be able to see the idyllic cityscape of Letchworth in the United Kingdom, and in front of the former residence of a celebrity, the changes in history seem to reappear in front of you.
Howard Pastoral City Model
Today's Six Star Neighborhood seems to be the largest public art exhibition center in the city, showing people who come and go with gorgeous houses and vivid folk life. There are a large number of traditional Uighur houses scattered here, and each household is like a small garden.
But the Uighur houses here, unlike in southern Xinjiang, generally have elements of Russian architecture. The Han courtyard also incorporates the style of the local ethnic group.
The most common russian-style houses have Russian-style sloped roofs and window edges. The architecture and decoration are all blue, green, red and other bright colors, high saturation, and exceptionally harmonious. You'll be amazed that every household here is a master of color: Oh my God, how can you reconcile such brilliant and colorful colors?! The color of the house is so pure that the people who live here seem to live in a fairy tale.
Six Star Street houses
The most memorable thing is the widespread use of blue facades. The large blue walls will make you feel as if you have come to the blue city of Morocco, Chefchaouene, and will also remind you of the name of a Taiwanese movie: "The Blue Gate". The blue walls, as pure as the blue sky, sometimes even indistinguishable from the two, together constitute the charming "Ili Blue". Perhaps the builder originally wanted to merge the two into one, so that the walk in the old city was like walking in the sky, and the mood was also open. At this moment, the light that obliquely hit the blue wall also became unusually soft, like the name of a song: "The sun turns light blue.".
Inin blue can be seen everywhere
Yining has always been the gateway hub of the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, witnessing the formation of the thirteen ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Today, there are 37 ethnic groups such as Uyghur, Han, Kazakh, Hui and Xibe, and the whole city is an open-air museum of multi-ethnic culture. On Seven Star Street, the elements of various nationalities are also dazzling. As far as the eye can see, the streets are full of Gulinaza, Di Li Reba and Tong Liya – the Xibe people have increased their popularity because of this actress, and Ili is an important homeland of the Xibe people.
Passing through Uighur restaurants, you can see Kazakh harness shops; with the sound of bells, the crosses of the Orthodox Church appear in the skyline. Turning around, the freshly baked Great Lieba was already outside the bakery. The Tatar clothing store is adjacent to the Uzbek ice cream shop in the Central Asian style. A Hui aunt had just finished her work with her Tajik clerk in Uighur and then greeted you to dinner in standard Mandarin. At this time you may hear the sound of the accordion floating out of the unknown house, the long melody, like a gust of wind blowing from the Siberian jungle. Multi-ethnic integration, like the colorful colors of the houses here, together constitute a variety of beauty.
Another unique old town is the Kazanchi neighborhood, which has opened up as a pristine cultural tourist attraction. "Kazanqi" means "a man who casts pots for his profession" in Uyghur. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Mongol Dzungars dominated the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and Yining was not only the core of the Dzungar Empire, but also the land of the four parts of Western Mongolia (the land of the four parts of the Dzungars, Heshuot, Durbert, and Turkhut), and was known as "a great metropolis in the west". During that period, a large number of Uyghurs living in southern Xinjiang moved to Yining, the heart of the empire. Most of these people make a living in traditional handicrafts, especially in casting pots. So Kazanchi is extended to the Uyghur inhabitants here.
After hundreds of years of living here, the Uyghurs in Yining have developed their own cultural identity, and today a large number of historical houses are still maintained here. Despite the many tourists who come here, the people here have not changed their daily lives with strong local characteristics. You can easily feel the folk traditions and festival culture in the streets and alleys, and many folk crafts such as iron making, boot making, Uyghur embroidery, and twelve muqam art are still alive here.
Strolling around the old town, there are no fixed routes and no must-see attractions. Just find a small alley to go in, and you will have unexpected gains. Many houses have become reception points for tourists, and you can go inside to visit. The Uyghur aunt will hand you an ice cream and invite you to sit in the courtyard and rest. The courtyard has an earthen kang, which is a place to rest and eat. The courtyard is planted with flowers, grapes and fruit trees, exquisite tapestries hang on the walls, the plaster carvings on the front porch are gorgeous, beautiful and clean, as if the fine works of art.
Similarly, the multi-ethnic fusion is reflected in the colorful architecture here. The basic form of the Hui Temple at the entrance of the block is a traditional wooden structure from the Central Plains, but the details of the shape are not lacking in Islamic cultural characteristics. The Uzbek mosque here blends Central Asian and Byzantine styles.
The streets here are winding and the alleys are dense, and you can stroll through them, just like the title of Calvino's book" Spider's Nest Trail. Wandering through it, you will feel lost in the ancient city-states of the Middle East and Asia Minor. Don't worry about getting lost, just find a roadside chair to sit down, it is an afternoon in a daze, it is also a good experience. When you sit down, you will find that there are many elderly people, children, men and women who are also sitting quietly in the shade of trees and flowers, leisurely enjoying life. Time seemed to stand still.
The most memorable thing is the flowers. On the side of the road, at the door of every household, in every corner of the yard, all kinds of flowers are planted everywhere: tulips, begonias, lilacs, elm plums, forsythia, cherry blossoms, roses, cockscomb flowers... The flowers of the fruit trees also join the stage of flower competition, and the apple blossoms, pomegranate flowers and apricot blossoms are not to mention the many. So at any time, it's colorful and the city is bright.
And the rich fragrance of flowers is deeply in people's memories, just as the words in "Remembrance of Water Years" are said: "When the years pass and everything disappears, only the smell of the air is still lingering, so that the past is remembered." ”
After entering the summer, it is the ocean of the month and season. Pink moon season, and blue courtyard walls, is the standard in every household. Wilde famously said, "A work of art is as useless as a flower." In turn, flowers are as beautiful and priceless as works of art. In this city, there are thousands of women named "Guli", which means flower, but also represents their beauty like flowers. The city has also gained the reputation of "Gulistan" (Flower City).
The charm of the neighborhood is also hidden in the shade of the trees. In the hot summer, standing in the sun will be sunburned peeling, once in the shade, it is unusually cool. Specks of halo hit walls, roads, and people's bodies, and swayed with the wind, as if changing times. Light and darkness sculpt each other's silhouettes, recording the change of the four hours, the change of vines, and the rings of the years.
I am reminded of the narration in Han Songluo's "Tiger Sniffing the Roses": "Everyone has had a summer when the weather seemed to be particularly hot, the turquoise leaves made a crisp sound in the wind, and when they jumped into the pool, there was a moment of coolness, and with a few dead parties, wandering around, exploring the mysterious part of the world, a small hike was enough to be taken as an adventure." As usual, there was a girl who was slightly older, with dark eyebrows and bright red lips, which was a living wonderland in the field of vision. You should love her and prove that you have grown up. This is not cute, but ignorant. ”
The dense alleys are not only suitable for wandering, but also flanked by various types of fruit trees planted by various families. The spring flowering period has passed, and the summer ushers in the ripening season of the fruit. Apples, mulberries and other fruits are pressed all over the branches, and residents are often seen lazily walking out of their homes and picking some fruits at will, so that they can accompany a leisurely afternoon tea with snacks. Despite this, the fruit is still in great supply, and it is often seen that many fruits are spilled on the ground, picked up by birds, or returned to the earth.
The fruit of the various fruit trees on the side of the road begins to ripen
I visited a Uighur family with grape trellises in its courtyard, shaded with trees and tranquility. The house is a Russian-style building from the 1920s, and in addition to the house, there are pavilions, kitchens, warehouses, etc., which are quite characteristic of European villas. The window frames, lintels and other details of the house are carved with various exquisite floral patterns, and the colors are rich and bright. The courtyard walls and courtyard doors also highlight the bright colors, and together with the green trees and flowing water outside the doors, they form an atmosphere of urban idyllic.
A glimpse of Kazan's houses
"It's too hot, you should go to the Ili River." In the street park, two little girls said to me. One of them is Dongxiang and the other is Uighur. The Ili River in their mouths is the mother river of the city and the place of urban romance. At dusk and sunset, there are ethnic minority men and women who hold wedding celebrations by the river, and everyone dances around them, and the joy is also filled with joy in the sunset.
People of all ethnic groups are full of affection for the Ili River. Local writer Cai Lipeng wrote in "It's Going to Be Slower Than You": "In fact, over the years, I have always liked to go to the Ili River to hang out, not for fishing, not for hiking, not for love, just so aimlessly walking." Walk through apple orchards, walk through Yerba Buena Lake, walk through ponds, walk through dry beams, write on the frozen river, and watch a flock of wild ducks fly up and down..."
It's just that the jet lag always gives me a sense of time confusion, until it's close to midnight in the hinterland, and it's close to dusk. So I first went to Han Ren Street to find snacks, leaving the Ili River for the following day's trip. The snack street is the center of the city's pyrotechnic atmosphere. Here you can easily catch up on all the local specialties. Homemade drinks, yogurt a cup, watermelon, cantaloupe for a dollar, snacks for two or three dollars a piece. One stall after another, even the most discerning foodie can hardly return empty-handed, and the city is full of peace.
What's even more interesting is that there is very little habit of packing and taking away here, everyone buys snacks, sits around the stalls, and a few strangers make up a table. Life is like a sitcom that doesn't rehearse, unfolding haphazardly and haphazardly.
Han Chinese Street street food
Therefore, my favorite is the atmosphere of unhurried life here. This atmosphere, like many of the beauties of the past, has gradually dissipated in the assembly line of city-building movements, in real estate development, land finance and capital operation, and the breath of urban life has gradually dissipated. In addition to the material stimuli of luxury cars, luxury goods and school district houses, people in big cities may not have experienced this sense of happiness brought about by ordinary, daily life for a long time. There used to be a song that sang", "Did we change the world, or did the world change me and you?" "In the rush of urbanization, too many things are being changed rapidly.
Fortunately, in Yining, we can find this atmosphere of life again. Urban happiness also comes from this breath of life, as well as the urban happiness derived from it. As Alathi Asmu said: "A Ili person must learn to enjoy Ili in a beautiful age, enjoy the geography of Ili, enjoy the days and natural scenery, enjoy the splendor and excitement of multiple cultures, enjoy the way of life derived from multiple languages, enjoy the romance and beauty inherent in different nationalities, and enjoy the happiness and elegance when they are with friends of all nationalities." ”
The city is a poetry that intertwines lifestyle and spatial place. Only by forming empathy with space with the love of life can we truly understand what is the city of dreams. The distant Yining has been weaving a beautiful dream for us.
The summer night bids farewell to the blazing heat of the day, and the breeze at night is cool and soft. Various musical instruments such as Sattar, Kubuzi, and Dongpur sounded, and The Maisirev in the street square ignited the joy of the people. The stars twinkling in the night sky seem to be the story of a thousand and one nights, and they ride the magic carpet and the wind of the Persian plateau to the Seven Rivers Valley in Inner Asia. The Ili River flows quietly in the night, and the fire of the city is dotted in the reflection of the river, silently talking with the starry sky.
Never before has a city had such a soft dream, and this is the Daesidora we have. People gathered together in search of vague desires in their memories. Often only the illusion of a mirage can soothe the barren hearts of urban people. When people come to the city of Tianbian, they all enter the narrative of Calvino: "Whenever he arrives in a new city, the traveler once again finds that he does not know the past he once had."
When dawn breaks, the sky slowly becomes blue, just like the yining blue that is soaked all over the city. Before that, the starlight of the Milky Way, sprinkled one after another, fell.
(The photos in this article are all taken by the author)