plum city

Chapter 18 Lost City
Leave the Hangxinjing Expressway from the Yangcunqiao exit. Although the road to Meicheng is a provincial highway, it is very flat, with six lanes in both directions, and is wider than ordinary national highways.

This road is basically along the mountain road. On the right side of the road, Xin'an River will appear from time to time.

Fangyan drove for 10 minutes and passed the Xishan Ridge. It was a long downhill slope. At the bottom of the slope was Meicheng. Fangyan looked down from the top of the slope and was startled. He saw shadowy figures below. He was no longer there. That one The town is surrounded by fields. The fields can no longer be seen. The houses and roads continue to the foot of Wulong Mountain behind. The whole town seems to have expanded a lot.

The water system is also more developed than before. Several small rivers that I have never seen before connect several lakes in the city.

Dialect has seen the news that Meicheng is being renovated on the Internet, and when you enter the word "Meicheng" in the search bar, four words will pop up immediately below: "Meicheng Ancient Town".

He knew that without exception, there was capital that took a fancy to this place and spent a lot of money.But he thought that the renovation here would be small-scale, such as creating an antique pedestrian street or an antique garden.I didn't expect that the scope would be so large and the transformation would be so thorough. The small river that had been buried underground and turned into a sewer was dug out again.

Fang Yan drove the car and walked along the Station Road. Before he reached Meicheng Passenger Terminal, the navigation system instructed him to turn right and walk along Meihua South Road.Fang Yan knew this road. When he came here last time, this road was still a shabby cement road. From here, you can enter the West Lake, and at the end, you can reach the Meicheng Dam.

Meicheng Dam is not a hydropower station, but an artificial dam. After the Fuchun River Hydropower Station downstream was built in [-], Meicheng, including the entire Sanjiangkou, became the Fuchun River Reservoir Area.

At that time, Meicheng had a population of tens of thousands. With the financial resources at the time, the country was unable to immigrate tens of thousands more people to the Xin'anjiang Hydropower Station in the upper reaches, just after large-scale immigration.Therefore, the simplest way is to build a dam on the side of Meicheng along the Xin'an River and Sanjiangkou based on the original ancient city wall.

After the dam was built, the Fuchun River Reservoir began to store water. The water level outside the dam was already higher than that of the entire town inside the dam. The entire town was still safe and undisturbed by water.

When I was eating noodles in Tonglu earlier, I did a search in Dialect and found that Meicheng now has several good hotels, as well as many unique-looking B&Bs. Unlike when I came here, The hotel with the best conditions is the Forest Farm Guest House.

Fangyan chose a B&B located at the foot of the dam.He felt that the most suitable thing for his trip was to stay in a B&B.

Dialect didn't follow the navigation. He didn't think it was necessary. The B&B he booked was at the end of the main street.The nearest road should be along Zhanzhan Road, past Meicheng Passenger Terminal, to Ximen Street. Drive straight along Ximen Street until you reach the cross street where Ximen Street intersects with Zheng Street and Zongfu Street, where he used to go at night. A place for late night snacks.

When you reach the cross street, turn right into Main Street, drive all the way to the end, and you will reach Meicheng Dam. Turn right again at the foot of the dam, and you will arrive at the B&B you booked.

Fangyan drove past Meicheng Passenger Terminal. The passenger terminal has been renovated and the place is still in the same place. Fangyan used to get on and off the bus here every time he went between Hangcheng and Meicheng.

After passing the passenger terminal, we started to enter the city. There was a big sign at the entrance of Ximen Street that said "Meicheng Ancient Town". It seemed that people were afraid that people would not know how old this place was and needed special reminder.

Entering Ximen Street, Fang Yan feels as if the past impression has returned. There are basically two-story wooden houses on both sides of Ximen Street. They are still so old, with small shops next to each other.

Driving to the cross street in front, Fang Yan discovered that the navigation was correct, but he was wrong. There was an archway erected at the entrance of the main street. Looking through the archway, the entire main street had been renovated, with uniform white walls and black tiles. , the stone paved road has become Yanzhou Old Street, which has been closed to vehicle traffic.

The navigation system has re-planned the route for him, allowing him to drive straight ahead and into the opposite side of Zongfu Street.

Fang Yan shook his head. He didn't expect that without navigation, he no longer knew how to get around such a small town and his familiar birthplace.

He followed the navigation and drove to Zongfu Street. Like Main Street, the houses here have been renovated and turned into brand-new antique buildings. Several five- and six-story high-rise buildings are blocked behind by these antique buildings.

Fang Yan secretly sighed. He felt that this was a bit funny. Meicheng became "Meicheng Ancient Town", but it was actually a new city. The buildings on both sides of the street and the archways were all new, just like a stage. With all the props and scenery on the movie, a so-called ancient town was pieced together?

Fang Yan is very familiar with Meicheng. When he came here before, he would ride his bicycle around the streets and alleys. At that time, there was not a single archway in Meicheng. They had all been demolished. He would not call himself "Meicheng". "City Ancient Town".The old houses facing the street, which could be demolished, were mostly demolished and new houses were built. The whole town seemed to be trying hard to make itself look fashionable and modern.

To keep up with that era.But when you are riding around, you can still inadvertently see an alley with a stone road, a broken courtyard wall, an ancient well, a boundary monument, and the traces of time will still struggle to get out of the gaps, leaving You realize that this is an ancient town that has accumulated over time.

But now, this place is deliberately imitating the ancient times, Fang Yan feels, but has also erased the traces of time and turned it into a new city.There are antique buildings, almost exactly the same as all the so-called ancient towns. They try hard to cover up the traces of modernity, but they make themselves nondescript.

When it is not called an ancient town, you know it is an ancient town. When it is called an ancient town, you see a new city, not an ancient town.

Fang Yan doesn’t know what’s the point of doing this. Isn’t it good to keep a place where time accumulates over time?Dialect doesn't know what kind of people are produced on the assembly line, so they have the same preferences and thinking, and they create almost the same, brand-new "ancient towns" in various places.

In these "ancient towns", the fireworks of people's lives have disappeared, leaving only the atmosphere of tourism and selling. People with thick eyebrows and pink lips, leaning on the door frame, posing and saying "come on, come on" .

Drive from Zongfu Street to Minshi Road, then turn to Beimen Street, and then to Chengnan East Road, where you will reach the foot of the original Meicheng Dam.

When he arrived here, Fang Yan shook his head again. He saw that the original Meicheng Dam had now become a city wall. This was not a real city wall, but a brand new city wall that had been rebuilt.

There used to be a city wall here, but because of the need for flood control, it was converted into a dam. Now, because of the needs of the "ancient town", they have been turned into a city wall.Just like the original rivers in the city were turned into sewers and roads above them, but now, because of the needs of the "ancient town", these rivers have been dug out again.

Along Chengnan East Road and past Main Street, there used to be a section of the city wall, most of which was covered by the dam, leaving only a blocked doorway.Now, the city tower has been re-erected here. What makes Fang Yan strange is that even the gate that was originally blocked has been dug out again. You can walk from the old city gate to the outside of the original dam.

The dialect is strange, why aren't you afraid of water flooding in?Well, after he settles in, he will come over and take a closer look.

After passing the main street, it was Chengnan West Road, and we arrived at the B&B that Fang Yan had booked.

The B&B was renovated from an ancient building. There are stone steps at the door. Climb up the steps and enter the stone door. Inside is a small hall.Directly opposite the gate is a screen wall, also called a Xiao wall or a screen wall. According to the ancients, this was used to ward off ghosts.It is said that ghosts can only walk in straight paths and not in curves. With this wall, ghosts cannot go inside.

From a Feng Shui perspective, the Qi cannot flow directly into the hall or bedroom, otherwise it will be unlucky.Such a wall can be installed in front of the main entrance, the patio at the back, and the main hall to avoid gas rush.In order to keep the "air flow" from being clogged, this wall cannot be closed, so it forms an architectural style like a screen wall where people can pass by on both sides.

On one side of the hall, there are two chairs and a coffee table for people to rest and drink tea. On the other side, a girl is sitting behind a small table. On the table are several signs with QR codes on them. There are also logos for MasterCard, Visa and UnionPay cards, so you can tell at a glance that they are for hotel registration.

Fang Yan walked over and said his name, and the girl said, "I know, I'm just waiting for you."

As she spoke, she took out a handheld scanner from under the table and began to scan the dialect's ID card.

Fang Yan asked: "Beauty, are you a local?"

"Yes." The girl said.

"Then do you know about Meicheng Knitting Factory?" Fang Yan asked next.

"Knitting factory?" The girl shook her head, and then said firmly: "I've never heard of it. We don't have a knitting factory in Meicheng."

(End of this chapter)