How about Huzhou? It feels like the pace is so slow and suitable for retirement.
The city of Huzhou was built in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. "In the fifteenth year of King Kaolie of Chu, Huang Xie, Lord of Chun Shen, established Jiancheng County, which was named after the abundant wild grasses in the area."
I still remember that when I was practicing calligraphy in elementary school, many people’s signatures were Jincheng XXX, and this is where they came from. The so-called wild grass is wild rice, and people in Huzhou pronounce it "gao ba"
Huang Xie, the king of Chunshen, was one of the four princes of the Warring States Period. He was close friends with Qu Yuan, who wrote "Li Sao", and once had great power. In both the court and the public of the Chu State, he was a very popular minister. Today, there is a statue of Chun Shenjun in front of the city hall.
After Qin unified the world, Jiancheng was renamed Wucheng.
After the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms were established. Wucheng was once the fiefdom of Sun Hao, the last emperor of the Wu Kingdom, and was renamed Wuxing by Sun Hao, which means the rise of the Wu Kingdom.
This shows the importance of Huzhou.
By the Song Dynasty, the importance of Huzhou was increasing. "Suhu is ripe and the world is rich", "Jiangnan Granary", etc. Huzhou has gradually become one of the focuses of the government at that time.
At that time, Huzhou had the unique advantages of a dense water network, a suitable climate, and a warm and pleasant climate. Coupled with the geographical advantages of the Hangjiahu Plain and the precision farming technology accumulated over thousands of years, Huzhou’s agriculture was already quite advanced. developed.
During the Song Dynasty, the trend of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business was no longer prevalent, so the sprouts of a small bourgeoisie also appeared in Huzhou, combining agriculture with cottage industries, such as silk in Huzhou.
Starting from the Song Dynasty, passing through the Ming Dynasty and reaching the Qing Dynasty, Huzhou experienced its most glorious and well-known stage.
After that, there was a huge turning point.
The Taiping Rebellion.
The smoke of war finally filled the city of Huzhou. The flames of war were like the dense water network in Huzhou, intertwined and complicated, burning away the rice, silk, and drying up human lives.
One theory is that the population of Huzhou Prefecture in 1858 was approximately 2.989 million. During the Taiping Rebellion, the seven counties under Huzhou Prefecture lost a population of 2.357 million. After the war, only 632,000 remained, with a population loss rate of 78. 9%.
Another theory is that the population of Huzhou dropped sharply from 2.989 million to 92,000. During the Taiping Rebellion, the seven counties under Huzhou Prefecture lost 2.897 million people, with a population loss rate of 96.9%.
As a result, Huzhou went from prosperity to decline, and its population dropped sharply. Most of the merchants and wealthy merchants moved out of this bloody ancient capital, making old Huzhou a city with ten rooms and nine empty spaces, with fallen flowers and withered flowers. city.
This is also one of the reasons why the questioner asked, "Huzhou was a very wealthy city in history" and "even some people from Zhejiang Province don't know about it".
History continues to move forward, experiencing the devastation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the colonization of the Japanese invaders (my grandfather still clearly remembers when he was a child, the Japanese troops who occupied Huzhou stood guard at the city gate. There have always been old people in Huzhou The city walls (most of which were torn down during the ten-year Cultural Revolution), the corruption and oppression of the Nationalist Party, the rich and world-famous Huzhou in history finally disappeared in the smoke of history, and was replaced by a poor, small population, small area, northern Connected to Taihu Lake, Huzhou is adjacent to Mogan Mountain in the west. Turn
Realistic feeling:
First of all, Huzhou people are generally relatively wealthy, but not very wealthy. Most people are content with what they have, so they don't have the energy to work hard. They think that they will be content with a little wealth, so they develop relatively slowly.
In life, I am more particular about eating, and the pace is indeed a bit slow, but it has gradually been affected by the times and has changed a lot.
The geographical location is on the edge of Zhejiang Province, but it is close to the provincial capital, so Hangzhou takes all the limelight. Now looking at the big picture, the geographical location is very prominent. It is in the center of the Yangtze River Delta and is relatively close to Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou. There is a future for development.
Weather: Huzhou has heavy winds and heavy rains, extremely cold winters and dry skin, so it is not recommended to live there
Humanities: Huzhou has many famous people in its history, and the cultural atmosphere is still very good
Consumption: There are very few commercial districts in Huzhou, and there are fewer choices for consumption. However, the prices are much more expensive than in Hangzhou, so it is not an ideal shopping location.
The nightlife in Huzhou is underdeveloped, and most shops are closed after 10 o'clock. It cannot be compared with Hangzhou.
Tourism: Taihu Lake, the most famous lake in Huzhou, is now well developed. Tourism development in the three counties is in full swing, especially the homestay industry, which is very hot. As the birthplace of the "Jinshan Yinshan" theory, its popularity is also increasing day by day. The development prospects of tourism are very good.
Snacks: Huzhou’s taste has obvious Jiangnan characteristics. It is sweet and loves to add soy sauce and gravy. There are many delicious snacks, including Chow Sang Kee wontons, Qianzhang steamed buns, Zhulaoda rice dumplings, Zhenyuan Tong pastries, etc.
Aquatic products are particularly rich, and Taihu Lake is the most famous.