Ningbo Roots Journey (1)——Cicheng Ancient Town

Ningbo is my ancestral home. But my father moved to Shanghai with my grandparents when he was a child, so before this trip, I had never been to Ningbo. However, as someone who is at home all over the world, I still have a hometown complex. I have always wanted to come to Ningbo and wait for the opportunity to come. Coincidentally, Zhanjiang opened a direct flight to Ningbo in the second half of last year, and the air tickets were extremely cheap. My friend Xia, who was returning to Inner Mongolia in May to transit from Ningbo, invited me to accompany her. Therefore, my journey to trace my roots started half a century ago. In this early summer of this year, the trip finally took place.

I did a lot of homework before traveling, which was quite troublesome, because although Ningbo is not a tourist city, there are many tourist spots around it, including several ancient towns. After looking around, I decided to choose the place closest to Ningbo city. During the epidemic, Avoid taking long-distance public transportation as much as possible.

The first stop, Cicheng Ancient Town, is directly accessible by subway, but it is an ancient town that is beyond our expectation and still retains its original flavor.

 

 

There are not many tourists in Cicheng Ancient Town. The local people still live the slow life of the past, getting up early and going to bed early. After nine o'clock in the evening, the roads are empty and most shops are closed. My sister Gong from Kunming arrived in the town to meet us on the evening of the 26th. We went to have dinner together. It seemed to be only about 8 o'clock, but we were always rejected. At that time, there was light rain and strong winds to cool down the temperature, and we were so hungry that we were lucky enough to experience "small town time". The proprietress personally prepared a simple meal for us, including pork ribs, green vegetables and rice cake soup, fried rice with dried plums, vegetables and minced meat, plums and peanuts... The taste was far better than most of the Internet celebrity restaurants and time-honored brands we ate at later. There were only three of us guests in the "Small Town Time" that night. The singer Xiaoshuai still played the guitar and sang folk songs for us. Sister Xia couldn't hold back her nightingale-like voice and volunteered to sing on stage. I was not shy to play the drums to accompany. The proprietress was happily having fun with us, taking videos of us and posting them on WeChat Moments. We played until almost 11 o'clock before reluctantly leaving. On a stormy night, the hot nightlife in the ancient town is rare and unforgettable!

 

Cicheng has the best rice cakes in the world. The city of rice cakes has the flavor of the New Year everywhere!

This is the funniest official announcement poster I have ever seen. "The police station is open all day, but you'd better not visit." The cheerful, humorous and cultured people of the ancient town can be seen from this.

 

The police station officers were very humorous and the common people were not to be outdone. Have a bowl of "chaos", what a heroic spirit that swallows mountains and rivers!

 

Early in the morning, fresh seasonal side dishes are for sale at the door of every house.

 

The wall paintings in the ancient town are simple and full of warmth, very much like Feng Zikai.

 

Cicheng is one of the few well-preserved counties in the south of the Yangtze River. It has preserved a complete traditional living structure. Among the preserved traditional buildings, there are not only a large number of residential buildings, but also public buildings and structures such as Confucius temples, guild halls, archways, and ancient wells.

 

It was an unexpected bonus for us to book a visit to the "Feng Jicai Ancestral Residence Museum" on Sunday. It will be closed on Monday the next day.

 

The museum is full of greenery

 

Teacher Da Feng and I have similar experiences and complexes, and I can empathize even more when I read his works. His paintings are really good, similar to Lin Fengmian's painting style, with true feelings flowing naturally.

China on the Bite of the Tongue has made Cicheng rice cakes famous both at home and abroad, but little did they know that this thousand-year-old town was awarded the Heritage Protection Award by UNESCO. The small ancient town has produced a total of 5 academicians, such as Tan Jiazhen, and the well-known Zhou Xinfang, Qin Runqing, He Yujie, and Feng Jicai all came from here. Cicheng is an ancient town without any tourist atmosphere. It is quiet, peaceful and graceful.

In the simple and warm hometown town, order two hometown side dishes and have a bottle of Ala Lao wine, and feel comfortable.

 

One side of the ancient city is the human fireworks of ordinary people, while the other side is the exquisite and quaint elegance filled with fairy spirit.

 

Cihu is the highlight of Cicheng, adding water and elegance to Cicheng.

 

The famous time-honored brand "Zou Malou" in Ningbo is hidden in the park beside Cihu Lake. It should be an old house from the Republic of China. The fermented walnut soup is their signature dish. It's slightly sweet but not greasy, and paired with the sweet aroma of chopped walnuts, it's really good. The snails in Cihu are also good, but they are a bit difficult to eat...

The journey to find roots starts from the thousand-year-old ancient town.