Huai'an city is not very large, and the various attractions in the city are also concentrated, so it is very suitable for weekend outings, one or two days is very relaxing, and can be used as a food tour.
The ancient town under the river
As a national historical and cultural city, come to Huai'an, how can not go to the ancient town under the river, hexia ancient town is located in Huai'an city, in the ancient Hangou into Huai'an at the end of the ancient mouth, once also known as Beichen Town, is one of the core protection areas of Huai'an historical and cultural city, is still well preserved, is one of the famous tourist attractions in the city.
Here have been born the hero Liang Hongyu, the great literary scholar Wu Cheng'en and other historical celebrities. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were 67 jinshi, 123 juren, and 12 Hanlin here, which is known as the "hometown of jinshi", and the cultural heritage is very deep, and it can also be regarded as a place of outstanding people.
Huai'an has a lot of food, you can feel it at the moment when you just walk into the ancient town under the river, tea steamed bread is one of the characteristics here, especially the Yue family tea steamed bun located in the old street, basically freshly made and sold every day, the taste is very crisp, basic tourists who come here, will buy a bag, the price is not expensive, and the taste is really good.
It's a bit like a noodle after a stick, after wrapping a layer of oil from the basin, put it in the oil pot, you can smell a burst of fragrance in an instant, and if you want the taste and crispness of the tea bun just right, the mastery of the heat and time becomes very important, which is why the taste of the old shop can always do well.
Qinong meat balls, this dish was once the "tribute" of the Qing Dynasty, so it is also known as qing gong meat balls, which have a thousand years of history, is one of the top ten famous dishes in Jiangsu, and is also the most famous dish of Huaiyang cuisine.
Round ball shape, elastic, plus a little vegetable boiled together, delicious soup, is also a favorite dish in the daily life of people in Huaiyang area, generally on holidays and entertaining guests
As a 5A-level scenic spot under the river, the ancient town under the river, free to the outside world, is still rare in the country, everywhere you can see some pickled cold dishes, although it looks ordinary, but it is a good dish for cooking, but compared to the snacks on the street, it is much darker.
The charm of Hexia Ancient Town is not only in the history of more than 2500 years, in the streets and alleys, we can often see some century-old shops, and for the advertising words of "180 days of drying" soy sauce, it is also the first time to see.
It turns out that the soy sauce is really dried, put the soy products in a large ceramic jar, after a long period of sun drying, will leach a lot of water, this is the original soy sauce.
On the narrow streets, you can still feel the thickness of history, bluestone slabs, green bricks, scattered electric vehicles, the atmosphere of life is very strong, many people's homes, has become part of the protected area, not allowed to be remodeled and wantonly transformed, but this is also good, the ancient town is better preserved, so that more and more people can see, after 2500 years of vicissitudes of the ancient town, still standing on the canal.
Near noon, everyone eats at home, the street looks relatively quiet, after missing the summer vacation, there are not many tourists here, but it does not affect our shopping mood.
Some people say that when you come to Hexia Ancient Town, you are reading the history of Huai'an, from street corners, to old shops, from life culture to historical stories, about here, we still have a lot to know.
In the old street, you can also see a shop called huaxiang water dragon bureau, which is actually equivalent to our fire station today, which also displays the tools used to extinguish fires in the past, as well as the clothes worn by firefighters.
Hexia is the best-preserved historical district in Huai'an, basically the architectural style of the Ming and Qing dynasties, more than 80% of the residential buildings are brick and wood structures before the Republic of China, the buildings before the Qing Dynasty account for more than 70%, and the stone pavement is also more than 90%, and the representative streets, alleys and bridges are: Huzui Street, Yiyi Street, Flower Lane, Tea Lane, Luojia Bridge, etc.
As an authentic foodie, when I came to Huai'an, I definitely wanted to eat authentic Huaiyang dishes, so we basically ate these for two days, and did not change what hot pot barbecue and the like, but compared to Yangzhou's Huaiyang dishes, I think Huai'an is a little different.
In Huai'an, basically many places can see crab yellow soup buns, which is one of the traditional snacks, the whole crab yellow soup buns, the process is complex, the raw materials are exquisite, the filling in the soup bun is crab yellow crab meat, before eating, you must first use a straw to suck the soup inside, and then eat the rest.