How lively is the Spring Festival in Hegang: There is a long queue to buy egg burgers, "The children are all back, buy more."
Source of this article: Times Weekly Author: Liu Muxuan
At 4:47 a.m. the day before New Year’s Eve, in Hegang, Heilongjiang, the temperature was close to minus 20 degrees, and the road was newly paved. A thin layer of snow lies firmly on the ground.
The tranquility before sunrise was broken by the heavy breathing of the diesel engine. Many years ago, the bustle at dawn came from trains pulling coal, but now it is farmers selling pork.
It was less than 5 o'clock in the morning at the Hegang morning market, and there was already traffic flowing through it.
Wearing military green coats, Lao Gao and his wife moved tents, folding tables, and hundreds of kilograms of steaming pork from the car. Facing the customers approaching the tent, Lao Gao turned his head and muttered: "It's not open yet, why are you in a hurry."
The couple running the pork stall were making preparations.
On the other side of the road, Aunt Zhang placed different flavors of Baoquanling bean paste on white foam boxes, each bag weighing two kilograms. The stall next to it sells the basic necessities of life for Northeastern people in winter - hats, gloves, insoles, elastic bands and sewing kits. The fluffy insoles can slightly withstand the severe cold of 20 to 30 degrees below zero, while the waistband of cotton pants will become loose after being worn for a long time, and the elderly at home will have to use needlework to replace them with new ones.
This is the northeast of Northeast, Laojieji in Xiangyang District, Hegang City, which was the infancy of this city a hundred years ago. The Youyi Road morning market located in this area has now become the largest morning market in Hegang.
Morning market
The broadcast bell of the Mining Bureau building rang seven times. By this time, there was already an endless stream of people from Hegang who came to the morning market to buy new year's goods.
Pork stalls are the places where most people line up. People visiting the morning market usually come to order several kilograms of pork belly, pork belly and pork ribs. The dumplings are made in the front slot, the pork belly is served with sauerkraut, and the ribs are of course used to stew the beans.
The pork guy is burning the skin of the pig's feet black.
The most market-like sign is that the pork sellers will use an open flame to blacken the skin of the pig's knuckles and pig's knuckles. This not only makes it easier to clean the remaining pig hair and surface impurities, but also makes the pigs The gelatin in the skin is converted into an attractive aroma under high temperature, while retaining the waxy aroma of the pig skin. This is something only gourmets will do.
Like the south, chicken sellers in the north also pay attention to fresh slaughtering. They boil hot water in a deep iron bucket, kill the chickens and pluck the feathers on the spot.
The chicken still in the cage may understand that its time is running out.
The situation of river carps is the most embarrassing. They are crowded in outdoor water tanks, and their survival instinct drives them to twist their bodies to prevent themselves from freezing. But everyone knows that the more active you are, the more likely you will be picked first.
The carp were crowded in the water tank, almost frozen by the weather.
In winter in the Northeast, fresh fruits and vegetables receive the same courtesy as people. They lie in greenhouses and sleep under quilts. But there are also fruits that have been modified to adapt to the environment and made into frozen pears and frozen persimmons.
Southerners will find all this novel, but this method of modifying fruits to extend their shelf life also appears in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions in the south - fruit slices are used to make "salty and sour" on the streets of Guangdong, or on the streets of Guangxi The "sour_".
“Frozen pears and frozen persimmons! One piece at a time!”
People from different regions show the same wisdom.
Most non-staple food and staple food stores have stores, and their business model of small profits but quick turnover is extremely cost-sensitive. Due to the increase in raw material prices, the price of sesame cakes had to increase from 80 cents per piece.
“We usually buy pork and chicken for the New Year here, and only fish and seafood if the conditions are better,” Aunt Li introduced the Hegang people while queuing up in front of a stall making egg burgers. selection of new year goods.
It is not unusual for traditional New Year products to be popular, but the line to buy egg burgers is unusually the longest in the entire morning market.
Most of the people queuing up to buy egg burgers are for the "young children" at home.
This is a snack consisting of batter, eggs, meat fillings and salt and pepper. It was popular at the entrance of major schools in the north more than ten years ago. It is a childhood memory of the "post-90s" and "post-00s" . One pot can only make 36 pieces, so many people choose to pack five or six in one go. According to Aunt Li, this store usually has a good reputation, but it has been particularly popular these two days.
Ten minutes ago, Aunt Li said she only wanted two. When it was her turn, she suddenly changed her mind: "I'd rather have five. The children are back and they love to eat."
Homecoming
In the Northeast, Hegang is a well-known coal town.
In 1926, the first coal-carrying railway from Hegang Mine to Lianjiangkou was built. In the thirty or forty years since then, most of the coal mines mined in Hegang have become war materials that are scrambled by all parties.
By the end of 2022, Hegang’s first high-speed rail will be opened to traffic. This time, the high-speed rail, which also runs on two rails, will mainly serve people.
The "Green Giant" train traveling between Harbin and Hegang was unusually filled with fashionably dressed young men and women, many of whom were returning home for the first time in the past three years. After a tiring journey, they fell asleep tiredly as the conductor said, "Mineral water drinks, duck neck, duck paw, red sausage and potato chips."
The "Green Giant" EMU, which was just opened at the end of 2022, is currently one of the most convenient means of transportation to Hegang.
The older Lao Hegang people also seemed more energetic when they returned home this time.
They habitually talk to their families in their native dialect, which is bright and loud. If they hear someone passing by on the road with them, they will also exchange a few words in the air.
When talking about hometown with old Hegang people, you cannot avoid the past glory of Hegang.
The land beneath the feet of the Hegang people was once the activity area of the Blackwater Jurchens and the Manchu royal family. But Hegang is not named after cranes. It is said that its name comes from the Manchu transliteration, which means "deer hunting ground".
The modern history of the Hegang area can be traced back to the discovery of coal mines in 1914. For more than ten years, the Republic of China government, warlords, businessmen, farmers and miners built a town around the coal mines here, called Mining Town, also known as Xingshan Town, under Tangyuan County, Heilongjiang Province.
But troubled times soon came. After the Japanese invaders occupied the Northeast, they took the coal in Hegang as their own and used the war to support the war. It wasn't until the liberation of Northeast China that Hegang could finally recover. In November 1949, with the approval of the Northeast People's Government at the time, Xingshan City was renamed Hegang City.
In the 1950s, in front of Hegang No. 1 Department Store.
At that time, China was in desperate need of development, and Hegang already had a movie studio, a bank and a department store. China's first film studio was established in Hegang in 1946 and later moved to Changchun Film Studio.
"At that time, the air was full of coal ash. If you went out wearing a white shirt, you would be in darkness when you came home at night. But there were so many opportunities, and you could make money in whatever you did," said Aunt Liu, who was born in Her childhood in the 1970s was the golden age of Hegang.
In her view, smoke and coal were not entirely pollutants in that era, but symbols of new cities and prosperity.
The first train to transport coal from Hegang.
The Hegang Mining Area has the first modern large-scale shaft in New China, the Xinyi Shaft. Today, the annual coal output here is said to be the total output of the 28 years before 1949. Although there are still many reserves, Hegang has lost its original position in the coal market due to mining costs and other issues.
“The Mining Bureau’s income is low, and it is slowly declining. Those who retire from the mines and those laid off by companies will only get a pension of one or two thousand a month, otherwise young people will not be able to afford it. Gone." Aunt Liu was full of emotions, but she still looked very excited when she mentioned the daily afternoon specials at Hegang's Civic Square and Bute Supermarket.
Vitality
When the train arrived at the station, it was already dark. In front of the newly renovated Hegang Railway Station, cars picking up the train were jammed with each other.
It was already past dinner time in Hegang at 8:30 in the evening. "Why don't we just stop eating at home and have a barbecue," a young man said to his parents who came to pick him up.
In winter, it gets dark every day at four o'clock in the afternoon, and people in Hegang usually go to bed early. Most shopping malls close at 9 p.m., and only barbecue restaurants are open until the early morning.
In Heilongjiang, Hegang Xiaochuan is famous.
Hegang small skewers, served with Jinhe beer.
Compared with the kebabs from Shandong and Inner Mongolia, the meat on Hegang kebabs is cut into smaller pieces and seems to be more flavorful. It can be grilled quickly and quickly. Thirty-four small skewers were grilled in one handful and served in 5 minutes, with the fat still sizzling. Paired with the local Jinhe beer and calling one or two eloquent old friends, it is enough for Hegang people to forget the mental internal friction of being vain. It reminds people of Zhao Benshan's popular Northeastern saying, "You have to stand up!"
It is not that easy to stand up. In recent years, Hegang has been out of the entertainment industry due to low housing prices, which actually reflects the insecurity about the future that is common among generations of young people.
An ice and snow amusement park built on the ice of Tianshui Lake in Hegang.
For outsiders who want to come to Hegang and "lay down", unless they see through the world, the only viable options left are jobs that allow remote working.
In live streaming, self-media, and online stores, practitioners can earn salaries in first-tier cities while enjoying the cost of living in Hegang. However, this kind of work often requires higher self-discipline, and it is impossible to just lie down. Some followers may not have thought clearly about the loneliness they would have to endure if they left their hometown. Not everyone can rely solely on the Internet to survive.
In fact, the people of Hegang have never "lain flat". This city is not satisfied with this reason for being out of the circle. It seems that outsiders only look at this city from the perspective of housing prices, talk to themselves and leave cursingly, while ignoring the history, spirit and spirit that should be paid attention to here. lifestyle.
Outsiders like to regard Hegang as a mirror, but in the eyes of many locals, Hegang is actually a river. Even if the surface is frozen in winter, it never stops under the ice. flowing river.
Nowadays, Hegang’s core commercial complex is Butte Times Square.
In 2002, a Hegang native opened a dumpling shop named Xijiade, which only made dumplings. Now he has more than 700 stores across the country and has become one of the leaders in the dumpling category, with annual revenue exceeding 3 billion yuan.
In the same year, another Hegang native who resigned from the Mining Bureau founded Bute Supermarket. During the epidemic, it expanded against the trend, with sales growing at double digits for two consecutive years. Bitute ranks 36th in the China Chain Store and Franchise Association's "2021 China Supermarket TOP100", with sales reaching 4.2 billion yuan in 2021. It is said that its secret is highly digitalized community operation services.
There is also the graphite industry that is rising in the wake of new energy vehicles. Luobei County, located within the jurisdiction of Hegang City, has the largest crystalline graphite mineral resources in Asia. It is of high grade, easy to collect, and has good selectivity, so it is very popular in the market. In July 2022, China Graphite Group Co., Ltd. was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first listed company in Hegang City, Heilongjiang.
The former Soviet-style Hegang Mining Bureau building tells the history of Hegang.
This is a city that has experienced decline, but there is never a lack of life or vitality in this city. They live a more dignified and happier life than outside evaluators.
On the day of the Spring Festival, Hegang writer Chen Ruijiu sent a new poem "Promise" to the Times Weekly reporter. As he is about to retire this year, he plans to wait for the weather to warm up and go south to see if there are any suitable job opportunities in the south. "If it doesn't work out, just treat it as a trip," Chen Ruijiu said, showing the open-mindedness of Northeastern people.
"Promise"
Written by Chen Ruijiu
There are always many beautiful flower seeds
Growing in the heart
Accompany me to grow in dreams
Countless beauty and fragrance
Often blocked by some sights
A seemingly romantic bouquet
Become a professional The badge that belongs to me
Those unforgettable memories
Lingering in my ears
Resounding as the beautiful voice of my sixties
Even at the concert The curtain call is in progress
The passion is still budding in my heart
As if this is the butterfly and the bee
The spring promise with me