Pictures and Texts/Reason
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It seems that I am still in the ancient teahouse in the back city of Licheng District, Quanzhou. As soon as I enter the courtyard, I walk through the two sides In the wing room, under the slender eaves facing the foyer, you lean against the four-legged bamboo chair placed in the corner on the right, looking at the early summer sunshine shining from the square patio.
The chair is low enough, which makes me, who was born in the north but has the figure of a small southern woman, feel extremely comfortable.
This is a teahouse with the traditional architectural style of southern Fujian in the Qing Dynasty. It has a three-entry courtyard with swallow-tail ridges, black tube tiles, red square bricks and carved window lattice. It is very consistent with the description in Xu Cishu's "Tea Book" of the Ming Dynasty. The most suitable time and environment for drinking tea: when drinking, the mind and hands are relaxed, tired of chanting, listening to songs, playing the piano and watching paintings, the windows are bright and clear, the guests and hosts are greeting each other, the wind is sunny and the sky is slightly cloudy. Rain brings lush forests and bamboos, flowers and birds are taught, and incense is burned in the small courtyard.
Pure tea ceremony music continued to play softly in my ears. Several calligraphy and paintings by local Quanzhou literati were hung on the square glass windows. There were words inscribed by the writer Mr. Wang Meng on the first and second doors. "Qing Qi Shen", Wu Jieqiu, a cultural elder in Quanzhou, inscribed the "Gucuo Tea House" for tea guests to appreciate while tasting tea.
The windows of the tea house are bright and clean, and thin bamboos decorate the corners of the courtyard. Birds chirp occasionally, and the fragrance of flowers in the courtyard is shaken by the fans hanging high in the wings on both sides.
The light fell on the body and face of the female tea guest sitting at the round table in a bright place in the courtyard, watching her drink hot tea from the first cup of tea to asking the waiter for a cattail leaf fan. I was shaking the fan while enjoying myself.
The base supporting the glass tabletop is a round stone water tank. I guess there should be a dozen small koi fish playing in it.
The youngest daughter of the female tea guest, who looked about six or seven years old, was wearing a white gauze Hanfu dress. She looked around every place in the teahouse with curiosity. She walked back and forth across the threshold of the third courtyard and found a place. When she got excited, she ran back to her mother and narrated: "Mom, I was scared by the big yellow dog in the middle room, but when I got closer, I saw it was fake. ! I even touched its head!”
“Mom, there is a big stage in the innermost room”
Even though it’s early May, two days before the beginning of summer. , the warm breeze at noon blows on my face. It is not extremely hot, but it is still very pleasant.
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Quanzhou is an ancient city that is dear to my heart. I feel like I want to reunite with a new friend I met eight years ago. I always bring up memories with my husband on weekdays. There are Quanzhou delicacies, Kaiyuan Temple, Qingyuan Mountain, Chongwu Ancient City, Hui'an Old Street and other scenes. We should walk that old street again, but we haven't seen enough; we should go eat those small seafood restaurants again, but we haven't seen enough. ; There is a feeling of nostalgia for the customs and customs of Quanzhou area that will never be forgotten. Lili came to the south during the May Day holiday just to savor the unique taste of Quanzhou.
When we completed a long-cherished plan, we discovered the undiscovered scenery along the way in southern Fujian, the unpredictable weather along the coast that we had never seen before, and the local people who knew what was going on. Humanity is what softens the trivial matters of life and puts them in front of us. It allows us to walk through the foggy road and come to the seaside to watch the morning sun rising in the sky. We can take a walk in the rain along the coast and appreciate the flowers and trees on the roadside being brushed by the drizzle. Joy; the inner warmth you enjoy after being greeted warmly by the boss in a teahouse in the backstreet of the old city.
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That day, we arrived at Kaiyuan Temple early, just to stagger the peak period of visiting crowds, slow down and start visiting from the central axis, and walked through the mountain gate ( Tianwang Hall), Daxiong Hall (also known as Ziyun Hall, with the four words "Sanglian Dharma Realm" written on the horizontal plaque under the double eaves in the front), Sutra Pavilion, etc., and then to Master Hongyi Memorial Hall and Zhenguo Pagoda (East Pagoda) in the east wing. , take a closer look. We walked through the ancient banyan trees in front of the Main Hall for the second time, to the Qilin Bi and the Renshou Pagoda (West Tower) on the west wing, and looked up at their silhouettes.
I visited Kaiyuan Temple eight years ago. We took a group photo with our children under the big banyan tree in the temple. At that time, there was no time to stay in the Food Culture West Street next to it. This time we walked from the street to the end of the street and took photos of the iconic clock tower.
The snacks on the food street next to the scenic spot are very characteristic of fast food culture and attract young people. If we want to taste the local specialties, we need to go into the streets and alleys and walk around. Only by looking around and treating yourself as a real local can you see the vivid and lively urban customs in all aspects of Quanzhou.
It was almost noon, and my husband decided to find the famous Gucuo Teahouse in Quanzhou first, take a rest, drink the tea thoroughly, and then go to have lunch.
Follow the navigation prompts and walk all the way to the back city of Licheng District. We pass by the Quanzhou Confucian Temple. We go in to visit and stay for a while. We browse the antique streets and find the local specialties that we had eaten eight years ago. The two old houses of the seafood restaurant are still there, but they have just opened up the business of catering for tourist groups. The store has been expanded vertically with two rows of private rooms. The locals eating at the small square tables have disappeared, and the people eating around the large round tables are all tourists. When I saw the steamed sea fish on the table that the guests had not yet used their chopsticks, it was still a miniature version of what I remembered.
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We arrived at the teahouse. My husband went first to find a good seat. I took photos outside the yard and entered the teahouse to sit down. The waiter brought a bamboo slip tea list for the guests to choose from. .
In summer, you should drink oolong tea and green tea to dispel internal heat. The most famous local tea is Anxi Tieguanyin. We are from northern cities and are used to drinking relatively neutral teas such as jasmine tea and white tea. , my husband delegated the right to choose tea products to me. I glanced at the tea list and chose the rock tea set without hesitation. This set meal comes with three bags of black tea varieties, Lapsang Souchong, Hokkien Narcissus, and Dahongpao. The price is not expensive. Customers who entered the store at the same time also ordered the rock tea set.
I don’t know much about the tea tasting characteristics of the rock tea series such as bud shape, tea aroma, and tea soup color. I feel that the aroma of Narcissus tea is the lightest among the three varieties. Since we sweated a lot when we walked here at noon, we needed a stronger tea to refresh, protect and replenish our spirits!
While waiting for the waiter to serve tea, the owner of the tea house took the initiative to ask my husband if he had ordered tea. After getting the reply, he greeted us with a smile and asked us to wait patiently, and then called another waiter to serve some refreshments for us to choose from.
The round basket contains plates of snacks and snacks, such as peanuts, flowering beans, dried plums, kuey tiao, dried hawthorns, black plums, thin dried tofu, etc. You can choose salty or sweet ones according to your personal preference. , we picked one salty and one sweet.
When it comes to making tea, what if you are not familiar with the stylized rules and can be willful? Ever since, Zhi raised his orchid fingers in a decent manner, picked up the teapot, scalded the tea cup, rinsed the tea leaves, and started the first brew of Lapsang Souchong.
"Lapsang souchong is smoked with pine needles or pine wood and has a very strong aroma. Because of the smoke, the tea leaves are gray-black, but the tea soup is dark amber."
"The narcissus in southern Fujian has fat and strong cords, like the head of a dragonfly; the leaves are green and yellow-green in color, oily and shiny; the aroma of the inner substance is rich and long, with obvious rock charm characteristics. After brewing, the soup color is orange-yellow, deep and bright, The taste is rich and mellow, with refreshing and sweet characteristics. The bottom of the leaves is tender and clear, and the green leaves have red edges. It is very beautiful."
"Dahongpao is very resistant to brewing and still has a fragrance after being brewed seven or eight times. The color is green-brown and fresh, and the soup turns bright orange after brewing. The most outstanding quality is the rich and long-lasting aroma of orchid, with a thin layer of tea oil. Floating on the tea cup, she extended her rational gesture to her husband, "You have it! Be the first to brew Lapsang Souchong! Try it."
As soon as the hot tea was in his mouth, my husband smiled and asked: "How is it? "Is this trip to Quanzhou worth it?"
A pink light suddenly appeared on his rational face, "It feels great, this trip is really worth it!" , the tea soup is in my stomach, and I am tired from the journey in recent days. To express my gratitude, I will write an article about my tea drinking experience for your thoughtful planning! ”
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While making tea, I took a break from my busy schedule and walked in and out of the teahouse three times with my mobile phone in hand, looking for scenery to take photos. I saw three bamboo bookshelves in the second room, so I picked two local magazines "Erythrina", put them at hand, and started reading while drinking tea.
Travel wisely. Everywhere you go, in addition to visiting famous attractions, you will also visit local museums, memorial halls, and former residences of celebrities, and pay attention to how literati describe the local countryside.
I once visited the ancient town of Nanxun in Huzhou, Zhejiang, which is the hometown of the writer Mr. Volume, replenishing supplies for the brain, making the short trip more colorful.
I have also been to Chaozhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Nanchang and other places, and I have brought back more or less works and information about my personal preferences in prose, painting, and food, such as "The Original Time of Chaoshan" ", "Chaoshan Old Houses", "Shanghai Old Taste", etc. After returning, I deepened my understanding and expanded my knowledge reserve by reading books, and then practiced writing some prose to consolidate the new knowledge and store it in my mind.
Old Shanghai in the old days "Teahouse is a small society with accumulated habits. Tea guests also have their own skills when they sit down. They don't ask for tea and use gestures to express it: a straight index finger means green tea, and a bent index finger means black tea. "If you stretch out your five fingers and bend them slightly, it's a chrysanthemum. If you hold out your fist, it's a tortoise flower. If you stretch out your little finger, it's boiled water." (Shen Jialu's "Sequel to the Old Taste of Shanghai")
In the old days, "teahouses were a gathering place for three religions and nine schools of thought." , in addition to tea guests and storytellers, there are also businessmen who are good at dealing with business, the shady-eyed Bao Dawang, the brokers who sell antique calligraphy and paintings, the "Tiekou" or "half-immortal" who predict astrology, including the pitiable singing girl and A hawker selling melon seed cigarettes." (Shen Jialu's "Old Taste of Shanghai Sequel")
Teahouses and restaurants in the traditional sense have long withdrawn from the stage of history. In the past, teahouses were considered a lively place while drinking tea, discussing business, and listening to books about ancient times.
The ancient teahouse has preserved the culture of storytellers, listening to books and free tea for the elderly to this day, which also shows the high level of emotion of the boss in his life and career.
During this trip to Quanzhou, Lili did not find any books with local cultural characteristics in the teahouse.
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"When we have free time in the future, we will make an appointment to go here to drink tea and be in a daze. The Quanzhou Ancient House Teahouse is also an Internet celebrity store with a rich cultural heritage. Fufu has been open for more than 20 years. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the store invites professional old men to tell stories about ancient times. It also provides free tea to local elderly people. It is near the Confucian Temple, and there is also an antique calligraphy and painting street similar to Beijing Liulichang. Behind Kaiyuan Temple and West Street." I sent an invitation to my friends on WeChat.
Good tea must have an aftertaste. If friends who can really talk about everything get together here, hear her sweet voice, see her gestures, and leave a conversation worth remembering, believe us. Each other will treasure it in their hearts for a long time.
Just like that, if you meet up with like-minded friends on WeChat, you must come to the Gucuo Teahouse again to drink tea, discuss Taoism, calm your mind, and talk about ancient times and the present to understand life.
"Gucuo Teahouse is also a small distribution center for local culture in Quanzhou. It often holds poetry gatherings, art exhibitions, art salons and other exchange activities. Its owner is also a well-known local figure." Continue to follow on WeChat Friends chatting.
Behind the foyer, there is a plaque hanging, "Respect the elderly and the virtuous." Mr. Liang Shiqiu mentioned in the book "Life is like a message", "Old people have gone through changes in the world and have no disputes with others. They just hope to have a bowl of food to eat in peace and contentment." "Respect the elderly and respect the virtuous." It’s often used... Only those who are old and virtuous, and virtuous and old, are truly worthy of respect.”
My husband, who has done travel guides, reminded me that this teahouse was opened 20 years ago. For many years, it has allowed the elderly to listen to books and provided free tea every afternoon, which is well-known to almost everyone in Quanzhou.
"We brewed three bags of rock tea here, feeling very comfortable all over. We leaned on the bamboo chairs under the eaves, blowing the breeze passing through the hall. Looking at the magazines describing the local customs, Time passed so slowly and fleetingly, and I felt a little nervous because my sense of smell, hearing, and eyesight were no longer able to search for fresh breaths. During the conversation and laughter, I joked about the funny jokes between the two. , sometimes bursting into laughter, and sometimes looking at the patio in silence."
I quickly described the mood at that time in words and showed it to my friend.
After just a round of tea, I had the heart of an old-school catechu but not the sanity of a tea worm. I told my husband: "I am going to go to my wife's house for a while, but I will not go to my husband's house." "My husband looked me up and down and said, "You can go in, too! Not just anyone can go in and out. I'll take a look around for you later!" The sign on the toilet is "Lady, Husband", I am a little girl with a rich imagination)
"A good word is not enough to describe the scene I saw described in Zhiwen. It is indeed a good place. Jing." The scenery, scenery and environment complement each other well with the local customs and customs of Quanzhou. Free tea is provided to the elderly. This is a profound cultural heritage that refreshes people's minds through daily life. Although the scenery is beautiful, the humanistic spiritual quality is subtly affecting people. Everywhere they go, they finally feel. The important thing is to absorb all the wisdom of entering this place and feel it!" A best friend in Nanchang sent a text.
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In the busy days, when I realize that time is passing quietly around me, in this dream of life, as a traveler, I take the The boat on the river of eternal time came to Quanzhou. I really want to thank my husband for his strong recommendation. I finally found a place where I can calm my thoughts.
"Life is harsh, and a passionate mind is not enough to cope with the environment. Enthusiasm must be combined with wisdom and courage to avoid the destruction of the environment. Courage is the product of understanding life, one and two, and two. First, a person who fully understands life can be brave. If wisdom cannot create courage, wisdom is of no value. Wisdom restrains our ambitions and prevents us from being deceived by the liars in this world, whether in thought or in life. —Courage comes from freeing one's hands." (Lin Yutang's "The Art of Life")
This trip made me feel a lot. People who use wisdom to enjoy a leisurely life also have the feelings of a poet. The use of leisure time not only expands our horizons of free space, but also easily leaves behind the temptations of ambition, fame and fortune.
Drinking hot tea rationally, I saw a tolerant and gentle expression on my husband's face.
Every time Zhi takes a trip, he completely frees his mind without any distracting thoughts. When he sets off, he carries an empty suitcase. After arriving at the destination, he follows the planned route planned by his husband and takes every step carefully. Experience, see it with your eyes, taste it with food, record it with photos, and communicate it with words. Before returning, you should fill it up and carry it back. When you are free, take it out one by one from your luggage, savor it and play with it!
I believe that most people will have the same rational thinking. When we do things, we will definitely find a self-balanced life state. It should be the kind of laziness mixed with the pursuit of perfection, and in the process of laziness And insist on the instinctive reaction to achieve the goal.
In Quanzhou, I have gained a lot. It is all because of my husband’s careful planning and guidance that I can have such rich insights.
Reality plus dreams plus humor equals wisdom! Reasonably give this high-level comment to your dear husband!
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Back in the capital, the bookcases are full of books covering poetry appreciation, food culture, celebrity biographies, mental health, prose novels, etc. Reason is always ready for the Expo You can read in a group and exchange reading experiences with your best friends, but you won’t become an expert in any field.
My sensible best friend can play the piano. Although it is not a professional level, she can play "The Piano Music of the Night, Fifth Movement" to my close friend in the waiting hall where our flight is delayed. Use the skills you learned to entertain yourself!
People inevitably like the new and hate the old, and are often attracted by new things, which is not a bad thing. Go back to a familiar place and be your familiar self. "Leaning on the south window expresses my pride, and it is easy to put my knees at ease when I look at my face." I lean on the south window to express my pride, knowing that this small place can easily make me feel at ease. (Tao Yuanming's "Returning Speech"
"The clouds have no intention of leaving Xiu, and the birds know how to return when they are tired of flying." White clouds naturally float out from the mountain peaks, and the tired birds also know how to fly back to their nests. (Tao Yuanming's "Returning Letters"
If we had not walked closer to the old streets of the old city, we would not have queued up with the locals to eat a bowl of braised noodles for four yuan, and we would not have eaten in the place that was about to be demolished. Meat rice dumplings that cost six yuan a piece in other places will not be eaten by high school students who get together to eat a bowl of fish soup that costs ten yuan.
I like painting, photography, writing, reading, and music. When I am full of interest, I can enjoy it. Pulling a cloud as a pillow, holding a clear stream as tea, I am grateful to meet new friends and make old friends during the trip.
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When we walked out of the door of the ancient teahouse, we saw the boss waving goodbye to us through the glass window of the wing.
I was still thinking about the prose works of Quanzhou literati, so I opened the door of the wing again and wanted to ask. He recommended the names of several local writers' prose collections so that I could buy them online.
He happened to not have such books on his bookshelf, and asked me to add him on WeChat to push electronic articles by Quanzhou writers. , while promising to courier it to me when I find this book.
Rich experience, contempt for money, simple lifestyle, knowing how to give back to society, respecting the elderly and the wise, these are all I drank in the teahouse. Tea, the impression left after reading the interview with Zhuang Jianfeng, the owner of Gucuo Teahouse, on WeChat, Xiaohongshu, and the Internet
A person who has persisted in serving public welfare for twenty years without seeking fame and fortune. , worth learning!
After returning to Beijing, the news came quickly on WeChat that the collection of essays had been found and was ready to be delivered to the capital.
This is a book by Mr. Cai Feiyue. "Heart Reaches Thousands of Miles" essay collection, a local writer in Quanzhou, is currently the vice chairman of the Quanzhou Writers Association of Fujian Province and the chairman of the Quanzhou Fengze District Writers Association. Mr. Zhuang also sent an autographed photo of Mr. Cai.
The book that was sent to me was already on its way, and my words were freshly published before it arrived. It took less than two hours to drink tea at the Gucuo Teahouse, but it left a deep impression. There is still a lot I want to explore in Quanzhou. I will leave the place to explore again in the future, and I will go on my third trip to Quanzhou with my best friends at some point to fulfill this small wish.
I borrowed a little poem written rationally as a reference. The conclusion of this article:
Cooking old tea, full of oil, brings two people closer together
Drinking strong feelings, making an appointment with a close friend, the fragrant tea makes the wind calm.
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Telling one’s confidants, but one’s thoughts are not finished, they dispersed and the scene was deep.
Written rationally in Beijing on May 8, 2021