Venice of the South: Taste of Gulao Water Town

An Xiaoyu

The reason why Jiangmen, the capital of overseas Chinese, is also called \”Five Towns\” is because it includes Xinhui, Taishan, Enping, Kaiping and Heshan. If Xinhui is particularly famous for its dried tangerine peel, then Taishan’s seafood is no less famous. What about Enping’s hot springs, Kaiping’s watchtowers, and Heshan? There is a whole Venice in Heshan.

The \”Venice of the East\” Gulao Water Town is an important town in the northwest of Heshan City, Guangdong Province, located on the bank of the Xijiang River. In the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu\’s reign in the Ming Dynasty, floods abounded. Feng Baxiu petitioned for the construction of \”Gulao Wai\”. Each \”circuit\” under the embankment was divided into \”piers\”. The wise and brave Gulao people used the rising and falling tides to revitalize the water flow in the area and irrigate the land. With the ingenuity of \”Nine Dou and Thirteen Pits\”, they built streets along the river and could easily reach by boat. Since then, Gulao has gradually transformed from a tidal flat town into a beautiful southern water city, and the fertile land has gradually given birth to outstanding people in Wufu. This has a history of more than 600 years.

UAV aerial view of Gulao Water Village The pictures in this article are taken by An Xiaoyu and Xiangzi.

Viewed from a high altitude, the criss-crossing stone roads, dotted \”piers\”, and large and small rivers shaped like spider webs unfold their poetic scrolls to people inch by inch. . As soon as we entered the village, we heard the sound of flags in the distance. Looking closer, we saw the colorful dragon boat flags fluttering in the wind, with bright slogans such as \”Must Win\” written on them. Every year before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, Gu Lao traditional culture dragon boat racing is staged here. People practice shirtless, with oar shadows flying, and you chase me. The \”ships\” that break through the water are the initials D in the dragon boat world.

Due to the epidemic this year, only spontaneous competitions among private citizens were allowed. When I went there, I was not in time for the event, but there was a large group of seven or eight-year-old children playing in the pond. There was a boy who was crying loudly because he couldn\’t swim. There was also a boy who probably found it too noisy. He got up and ran away alone. He easily picked out a log-colored boat with a pointed head and tail from the shore. It was thin, narrow and wide. There is only room for one person to sit. He held the boat as if he were holding a paper boat, and his skillful gestures were like oil dripping gently into the water. He slid into the boat with a \”whoosh\”, and with three or four oars, the boat was already very far away.

The little Gulao boy in Chizhou

The ancient banyan tree is a sight in Gulao. People tie red ropes on its hanging beards and hang lanterns to pray for good luck. Considered to be a spiritual energy tree, the tree is 20 meters tall and has a canopy covering It covers an area of ​​more than 700 square meters. There is a bee cave at the root of the tree. The villagers sealed the cave many times, but it was soon penetrated by bees. Later, considering the harmonious coexistence of animals and plants, it was no longer blocked. A single banyan tree forms a forest, which is a tourist attraction It is a holy place for tourists to enjoy and rest.

The original ecological scenery where animals and plants coexist is not uncommon here. In the \”Mother Lake\” of Kulao, thousands of egrets, a national second-level protected animal, breed here. Live and breathe. The sun sets in the west, with banana trees on both sides of the bank. Like a young girl swaying, the ten-thousand-acre fish pond is like a bright mirror, and then you look up and see the gulls and herons flying together under the green mountains and above the green water. Isn\’t it exactly what Li Qingzhao wrote: \”fighting for the crossing, fighting for the crossing, startling a beach of gulls and herons\” \”The reappearance of poetic scenery.

\”Start up a beach of gulls and herons\”

A hundred birds return to the ancient tree at dusk and stray into the depths of the lotus root flowers. 20 yuan for a round trip to Hehuadang It is easy for people to \”get back to the boat late after being so excited\”. They can choose to rock the boat with an oar or use an electric boat. Visitors can sit or stand and let the wind wash their faces and the color of the water moisturize their hearts. The boat moves like a shuttle, with twists and turns in the distance. The ancient Xiqiao There is an unmanned boat crossing the stone bridge in the distance. I close my eyes and listen to the chirping of summer cicadas. When I open my eyes, I suddenly hear the boatman saying, \”I\’ll open it for you. You can stand there and take photos with the lotus flowers.\” It\’s ancient \”The most beautiful Internet celebrity.\”

After saying that, the storm started, and the boat sailed into the flowers that were several heads taller than the people, completely blocking out the scorching sun, and everyone was jostling and jostling Smile, so pretty The beautiful southern scenery. Before the \”endless green lotus leaves touching the sky\” have turned into \”the remaining lotus leaves listening to the sound of rain\”, young men and women are already picking out the lotus heads with long net bags.

Little Bridge and Flowing Water Ancient Banyan Tree

The people in Lotus Dangli

After enjoying the lotus, go ashore to those solemn ancestral halls and houses with water town characteristics Take a look and feel history crawl by The charm of the skin. The former residence of Li Jiacheng in Erduqiao is called \”Eight Towers\” by the locals, also known as \”Xindun\” because it is a courtyard composed of 8 brick and wood structure bungalows. Each roof and eaves are decorated with ancient and gray colors. It is carved and decorated, and its design and construction are full of the essence of traditional Chinese architecture.

There is also a more niche place, the ancient village of Jitianfang in Maishui. It was named \”Jiantian\” because it was used to see crops. Next working day At noon, the whole village is silent, with mulberry trees and bananas planted, cornices on the corners, deep alleys and winding paths, and green moss. When you are in it, you feel like you have traveled through a hundred years. At the end of the 19th century, the villagers rushed to go abroad to work in the printing industry. Mainly, they spread throughout Southeast Asia. After the overseas Chinese became rich, they did not forget their homeland and returned to their hometowns to build houses and donate auditoriums, so there are rows of ancient dwellings in front of us.

<img src=\"https://p3-sign.toutiaoimg.com/pgc-image/S46uAYV6e1jfZY~tplv-tt-origin-web:gif.jpeg?_iz=58558&from=article.pc_detail&lk3s=953192f4&x-expires=1737256932&x-signature=4I q kgTg . Although it has been eroded by the years and has been abandoned for a long time, you can take a closer look at the meticulous hollow carvings and exquisite gray sculpture murals in the house. It has both the traditional Lingnan architectural style and Western charm. The narrow stairs seem to still have the wooden clogs used to walk on them. The kick echoes above

The rivers in the southern country bend and stretch, forming a circle of their own. The people of the water town follow the flow of water and use the simple water and soil to nurture extraordinary people.

芊门

Roof Mural

Ryazan’s Former Residence Memorial Hall

Gu Lao is famous far and wide, and celebrities have always appeared in large numbers, such as the popular movie stars and movie stars in the 1930s. Hou Hu Die, Wang Laoji Herbal Tea founder Wang Zebang and others. The movie \”The Grandmaster\” was shot in Jiangmen. The \”Master Liang\” mentioned in the film \”Ip Man\” is the Wing Chun master Liang Zan. There is no historical record of the origin of Wing Chun. The general line is that it originated from Liang Zan, became popular with Ip Man, and became famous with Bruce Lee.

Liang Zan’s Former Residence Memorial Hall

To practice Ku Lao Wing Chun, practitioners are required to breathe through the nose, slow down their movements, and keep the energy flowing. Untiring and tireless, the strange way of \”Northern Tai Chi and South Wing Chun\” goes hand in hand. In the square, tourists scattered around to compare Wing Chun techniques and compete for photos while standing next to wooden dummies. They seemed to be trying to pass on the Wing Chun spirit of \”fisting down tigers in the mountains and beating dragons under the sea with sticks.\”

Liangzan’s Former Residence Memorial Hall

Outside the former residence, a hawker stall There are many people in the restaurant, but the most lively one is that almost everyone has a bottle of the local specialty \”Gulao Noodles with Black Soybean\”. This excellent reputation stems from their insistence on using the traditional natural sun-drying method, with a nine-layer production process that takes more than 90 years. God, it can be said that the fragrance of soy sauce is not afraid of the deep alleys.

People say that you can eat mountains by relying on the mountains, and you can eat the delicious water by the water. Beautiful, a big pot of sweet and pickled fish makes you feel homesick after eating it. The fish skin dumplings are made from local materials, including beaten fish, pork, water chestnuts, etc. The white water dumplings are thicker and larger than ordinary dumplings. Times, two tubes are full; the most unforgettable thing is the minced fish porridge with tangerine peel, which is fresh but not fishy, ​​and a small portion is enough.

鱼皮角

Sweet Pickled Fish

White Water Corner, Fish Minced Porridge

Walk out with your belly swaying , I came across a Tang Dynasty kiln site on a hillside. Bamboo has been planted on the kiln bed, and the kiln walls and vaults still exist. It reminds me that more than a thousand years ago, Su Dongpo, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, passed by Gu Lao on his way to Hainan and saw ancient banyan trees. It\’s so towering that I \”can\’t go there\”. Today\’s Dongpo Pavilion in Poshan Village on the edge of Xijiang River was the \”Pogong Parking Place\” in those days. src=\”https://p3-sign.toutiaoimg.com/pgc-image/S46uBpo8CTwdtZ~tplv-tt-origin-web:gif.jpeg?_iz=58558&from=article.pc_detail&lk3s=953192f4&x-expires=1737256932&x-signature=0o %2B Y3tj8tfX3gYkIUoO4CwR%2BHPo%3D\”/>

Kiln Sites of the Tang Dynasty

Mr. Dongpo, who has always been fond of food, did not know which ancient food he was impressed by. Beautiful and exciting That sense of slowness is probably the reason why people are willing to stop.

Editor: Zhu Zhe

Proofreading: Luan Meng

The Paper, unauthorized. No reproduction allowed. News reports: 4009-20-4009