Tianshui Shimen Fengshui Appreciation
Xiguan archway
Nanguo temple aerial photography
tofu
noodles with meat and gravy/sauce
Text/Li Xiaodong
Core tips
Snowdrifts, such as catkins, honeysuckle and pearl trees, and weeping willows on the shore are arranged in a spectacular array, which set each other off and make the scenery outside the school gate interesting.
This is 1989 Tianshui in the middle of winter. I come from a small town. This school, tianshui normal university (now tianshui normal university), will be the last stop of my study career. It was also my first stop to get to know Tianshui.
Fireworks Xiguan
The school is in the western suburb of Tianshui, which is an undeveloped farmland. Around the campus, crops are everywhere.
Out of the school gate, walk along the river bank for about 100 meters and cross the simple iron bridge, which is the most prosperous block in Tianshui. Roads crisscross and shops can be seen everywhere. Chengyuan Lane, Zhong Yi Lane, Erlang Lane, Jiang Fei Lane, etc. It is connected with the north and south of Gu Xiang, and there are many mansions, mansions, palaces, Zhang Family Courtyard and Sun Family Courtyard. Jintai, Shanshan Guild Hall and Zhao Ancestral Hall are arranged in turn, and the whole area presents a trapezoid with narrow west and wide east. All along the street are pavements, except Qingliulou Tea House, Qin Zhou Family Restaurant, Classics Bookstore, Guangming Optical Shop, Xinglin Drugstore Shop, Liu Yidao Barber Shop, Laoyang Braised Pork Shop, Hongchang Silk Shop, Wuwei Seasoning Shop and other old brands, all of which are stalls. There are those who sell needles, thread, brain, dogskin plaster, Woodenhead, paper cranes and various gadgets, as well as those who sell fried dough sticks and lard boxes. Most of them are food stalls: quack, bean jelly, stuffed skin, fermented glutinous rice, poached eggs, candied fruit, bean curd, apricot tea, yellow buns, oil rings, glutinous rice balls, mutton offal, eight-treasure porridge and so on. One family is next to another. Some open tarpaulins, and some work in the open air. Three or five square tables with benches and one or two small clay stoves are crowded. Some sat down to eat, some were crowded and waiting to be taken away. The smell of all kinds of food was wrapped in the shouts of the whole street and the steam of the stove, and the smoke was filled.
The stall owner of bean curd brain is an old couple, who are quick with their hands and feet and cooperate tacitly. There are golden oil flowers floating on the white tofu in the bucket. Take a wooden spoon with a long handle and a flat bottom and cut it obliquely into a bowl shape, protruding like a small steamed bread. Then, I scoop out the brine in the pot with an iron spoon and pour it out from the middle of the bowl. The marinade with wet powder is golden and translucent, slightly fragrant, sprinkled with coriander and chopped green onion. Finally, it was soaked. This is the delicious food of the old Xiguan people. It hasn't been eaten. Just from the lingering fragrance, they can smell whether the brine is fresh today.
The facade is not big, the eaves are low, and a flag is carried obliquely. Stir-fried with oolong head, celery, fungus, yellow flower, dried bean curd, meat, meatballs and splint meat without soup. Steamed dumplings are bubbling in a large iron pot, and the white steam is loud, which makes people salivate before entering. In those days, the new wheat flour was torn into two centimeters wide noodles, rolled in boiling water, fished into a sea bowl, and poured with sesame seeds and oilseeds. The noodles are very wide, the sesame seeds are very big, the bowl is very big, and the sesame seeds are very thick. I can't help but move my index finger and the wind is swept away. This is the best pasta for Tianshui people to entertain guests: noodles with gravy.
During the day, the farmers' market here is crowded with people and there are many stalls. People enjoy frying horses, all kinds of selling and bargaining, intertwined, chickens and ducks croak and fresh fish jump in the water. Tricycle, bicycle, motorcycle, you touch me and I hit you. The uncle and aunt who set up fruit stalls and the fat uncle who sold roast chicken are all familiar faces in everyone's eyes. Teenagers in white shirts, with clear eyes and headphones, stumbled on mountain bikes and became familiar with them. As soon as he turned the corner, he disappeared into the alley.
The sun sets, and this is the world of all kinds of food stalls. Teppanyaki, mutton kebabs, roasted squid, roasted sweet potato, big bowl of meat, fried rice noodles, mashed potatoes and eggs, all of which Tianshui people like to eat. Soot hovering, white steam rising, the old couple staggered stop-and-go, listening to the kind invitation of the stall owner, making up our minds. ...
You can take a walk in the old alley to relieve your hunger. A stressful house depends on the situation. The front hall and backyard are winding. Crossing the street, watching the eaves smoked by fireworks, heavy knockers, long-term friction, dust and sweat, hand-polished by the players, through thousands of years of air, make them smooth and mellow, quiet and serene, overflowing with warm old breath. Stop-and-go in this old time, people's breath must be impetuous and frivolous, and they will secretly laugh. It takes vicissitudes to polish such an old object, and it takes people's frivolity to polish it. I don't know how many generations it takes.
If it is winter, there are several lamps and a furnace of red coal hidden in the old roadway, and I don't know how many snowstorms have warmed up at night. On a cold night, in the flying snowflakes, a hollow light is wrapped in entangled white steam. People dressed in round clothes and wrapped in sleeves, holding an iron spoon in one hand and tossing the wok in the other, shouted "Ma Shi, Ma Shi, Ma Shi in braised sauce, Ma Shi in fried sauce", while holding a spoon sandwiched between the many chopped green onion bowls, seasoning bowls, pepper bowls and oil, salt, sauce and vinegar bowls on the chopping board, until the iron spoon rolled in the wok several times, and the steaming braised Ma Shi was already out of the pot. No words are needed, there is a tacit understanding between subject and object. This is years of friendship. Hot soup, instant ironing, warm stomach, peace of mind.
Fireworks on earth, the taste of food, wrapped in thick oil sauce, this is the lingering memory of Tianshui people, this is the time when Tianshui Xiguan slowly flows.
Huaiyin is in the eastern suburbs and the snow is in Nanshan.
The bitter fleabane bitter fleabane 1980s passed quickly, and I was already the mother of a child, running around in the eastern suburb of Tianshui.
Half city, half city, half city, half city, half city, half city, half city, half city, half city, half city. There are big locust trees in front of almost every household here, and the thickest people can't hold their arms. Robinia pseudoacacia, also known as Robinia pseudoacacia, is native to North America. China introduced it from Japan in 1877- 1878. In Compendium of Materia Medica, it is said that pregnant words are also pregnant, and so are smoked people. It is the city tree of Tianshui. There are many ancient pagodas in Tianshui, and people in Tianshui worship them. They think the stupa is a wooden spirit, which is very spiritual and can bring blessings to people. They are auspicious tree. There is a proverb: a tree in front of the door is either a treasure or wealth. Therefore, Sophora japonica has been widely planted in the city since ancient times, and there are many ancient Sophora japonica trees on the roadside for hundreds or even thousands of years. Tianshui people call them longevity trees. The streets, houses and official residences are all planted with locust trees. Every May, the whole pagoda tree city is fragrant, and the whole Tianshui city is immersed in a fragrance.
When Sophora japonica is in full bloom, it is also the time for Tianshui people to eat steamed buns. Tianshui people are talking about a cooking method similar to steaming, but not completely steaming. Rub potatoes, pumpkins, old pumpkins, etc. into silk with a scraper, add flour and mix well, and add a little water to the pot for about 20 minutes. If the above vegetables are replaced by Sophora japonica, it is called Sophora japonica steamed buns. Of course, you can also match some wild vegetables, such as Yucaier, shepherd's purse, alfalfa and so on. This dish, the ratio of noodles to water is very particular, and it is all in the hands of housewives. There are too many dishes. They taste like water, but they are not hungry. Too many noodles, sticky and unpalatable. Only when the proportion is appropriate, the amount of water is appropriate, and the stew is slow, can soft and delicious buns be made.
I'm ashamed to say that I call myself a chef, but when I make steamed buns, proper limit is always bad. However, the neighbor is considerate, you give me a bowl of candied fruit and I will give you a spoonful of syrup. Tianshui city has never been used to coming from the mountains and rivers behind closed doors, so every year when Sophora japonica flowers are fragrant, I can eat steamed buns sent by my aunt.
People who live at home are looking at the fragrance of a tree and thinking about how to get in. If you want to find poetry, go to Nanshan.
The shadow of Sophora japonica in Nanshan cannot be separated from the drizzle in May. The rain in Nanshan must have smelled the fragrance, because the diffuse Sophora japonica is fragrant. Intermittent, sleeves flying, Sophora japonica locked. So, Sophora japonica got wet and fell on people's shoulders. Among the people who stopped, there were not a few people coming from afar. The green Sophora japonica fell on the edge of the imperial ditch and stepped out of Doumen after the rain. Savages plow fields at dusk, and there is smoke on the beacon tower. This is a paradise in Tianshui people's hearts.
In July 759, the day after beginning of autumn, Du Fu entered Qin Zhou, and nearly one hundred days later, he left Qin Zhou. It can be inferred that Du Fu missed the flowering period of Sophora japonica when he was in Zhou Qin. Du Fu, who is "full of sorrow and travel because of people", will certainly warm the poet's poor, sick and emaciated body without stint if he can see fragrant Sophora japonica everywhere, and will certainly give him some comfort in the poet's depressed and desolate mood. "The old trees are empty, and the open channel goes around the city." Of course, the old trees here are not old trees, but Cooper in Zhinan Mountain. A thousand years ago, this cypress tree was lucky enough to leave the poet's fingerprint and enter the poet's pen. Today, it still stands, immortal with poets and poems. In this way, Qin Zhou can become the first district in Tianshui, which is worth thinking about.
The trend of Nanshan, like a giant dragon, is vast and vast, occupying the southeast direction, which is where the South Temple of Baosha is located. This famous temple in Longyou has a history of 1000 years, and it is a scenic spot visited by poets in past dynasties. Du Fu used Nanshan as a guide and left more than 100 poems for Tianshui. This is really the honor of Nanshan and Tianshui.
There is a pool in the east yard of Nanguo Temple, which is also the Beiliu Spring in Du Fu's poems. The fountain in the pool has been endless for thousands of years. Although there are droughts and floods, it does not shrink. It is a cure for drinking, and it is called the crown of famous springs in Gansu. Therefore, Nanshan has always been known as "the mountain is full of wisdom, the water is full of spirit, the bell is beautiful, and the geomantic treasure land".
In the snow season, the snow in Nanshan can't be missed, and it falls on Nanguo Temple, which was sung several generations ago. Yanshan snowflakes are as big as seats, and pieces of them blow off XuanYuanTai. Standing on the top of Nanshan, thinking about the beautiful snow in Yanshan in the distance does not hinder the happiness brought by the beautiful snow in Nanshan. The eyes are endless, the sky is high and the clouds are wide, the ears are endless, and the north wind is whistling. The four seasons of Nanshan accompany the four seasons of Tianshui people, and the beautiful snow of Nanshan covers the beauty of Tianshui City. Shengxue flowed from the eaves of Longnan Academy, circled lightly from the eyelashes of Tianshui people, and laughed and laughed from the bird's nest on the branches. The abundant snow makes the winter in Tianshui city peaceful and the winter in Tianshui people warm and safe.
Kneeling in the snow, I saw my knees surrounded by surging white, my hands clasped, my hands clasped, my hands clasped, my hands clasped in silvery white, like flowers instead of flowers, blooming in the depths of many people's memories and on Du Fu's thin shoulders. Because of Du Fu's footsteps, there are always people with poetic feelings lingering in front of Shaoling Ancestral Hall of Nanguo Temple above Nanshan.
The snow in Nanling, Huaiyin, the eastern suburb, is a natural combination of the creator. Their clothes are fluttering, which makes people in half the city fragrant, fresh and elegant. They are a picture on the wall of every household in Tianshui.
Shui Tian yi se Huan new city
More than ten years have passed. Now, in the hinterland of Zaitian An Shuicheng, my hometown, the urban river that dried up many years ago has been filled with green water and passed through the city. People call it Tianshui Lake.
Yes, how can a city named after water be without its elegance?
In its infancy, Tianshui was named Qin Zhou. Zhou Qin has many beautiful women.
At that time, the state was outside Longshan, with a large population. Irrigated by water and nourished by rain, this fertile soil is covered with dense forests and grass grows and warblers fly. The shepherd waved a soft whip and ran with wild flowers.
The most abundant is water, with rivers and lakes, so the water plants are flourishing and endless. Ponds, banks and streams are covered with mist, autumn water is pure and reeds are like snow. What floats with the wind stops at the root, if it floats, if it exists, if it does not. In the meantime, seagulls haunt and wild ducks flock.
This is the land of lovesickness. The Millennium is frost. The so-called Iraqis are on the water side. Tracing back and forth, the road is blocked and long. Swim back from it, in the middle of the water
The morning breeze is the morning breeze, and the forests in the north are gloomy. If you don't see a gentleman, you are worried about Qin Qin. Anyway, forget yourself!
Beauty and gentleman, facing each other across the bank, in the white reeds, Qin Feng is melodious.
Like the name Qin Zhou, men and women in Qin Dynasty inherited the heroic spirit of their ancestors and Pu Wei's flexible and graceful temperament.
Nowadays, the ancient customs of the Qin Dynasty are still continuing. The old city of Tianshui is still ancient, and there are many high-rise buildings in Tianshui New City, and the outer diameter of the city is infinitely expanded. The most refreshing thing is a pool of clear water and a amorous feelings line flowing slowly from west to east.
Between spring and summer, weeping willows form a curtain by the lake. At first glance, the goose yellow cage embankment is crystal clear. Red, green and various kites are hung on the rope. The two ends of the rope are tied to the willow, and the long willow branches are fluttering. In the grass, several waterfowl occasionally settled down, suddenly started up and flew away with black wings.
When autumn water is long, red leaves are like fire, maple trees are like frost, and Hanfu women with oil-paper umbrellas walk slowly, which suddenly makes people return to the past when white clothes are fluttering.
In the twelfth month, the riverbed is frozen, and a box of white on the roof scattered along the river shines in the orange-red winter sun. Fuxi Temple, yuquan temple, north and south houses with high cornices, carved beams and painted buildings, white snow and colorful pillars set each other off, adding a little warmth.
When a wanderer returns to his hometown, if he wants to find homesickness on the tip of his tongue, he can go to Fuxi Workshop in the west of the city, where all the snacks in Tianshui are concentrated. Passers-by who come to Tianshui can appreciate the solemnity of Maiji Mountain and the beauty of Ren Xian Cliff, listen to Songtao in Jingtu Temple and see jathyapple in Shimen Mountain. As for the Shenshui people who grew up in Sri Lanka for generations, without guidance, they can breathe the smell that permeates the skin texture with their eyes closed, which is the smell of genes passed down from generation to generation.
This is Tianshui, a place where the stomach is intimate and there is also a quiet and peaceful place. People living in this city love fireworks and live a comfortable and peaceful life. The temperament of the city cultivates the temperament of people, and people's actions endow the city with character.
Well, since the autumn of 1989, I have lived in Tianshui for 30 years, which is far longer than my time in my hometown. Here, I go to school, work, get married, have children, and complete the life that everyone wants to complete. I will spend the rest of my life here. The fireworks in Tianshui city have penetrated into my skin texture and my blood soul. I never said I loved her, but I clearly know that I never wanted to leave her.