Quanzhou

2020/09/12

after gliding

perfect fall

 

 

September / month / / trip / trip / notes / notes

I don’t remember how long it’s been since traveled.

Even when taking the BRT, I habitually walk in the direction where I usually go to work , and my daily life is like an NPC.

Maybe I have been busy for too long. When I opened my eyes and looked at the world seriously, I realized that so many flowers were blooming!

Poinciana, kapok, eryngium, jacaranda, jacaranda, hibiscus, emerald ... I'm so happy that we can seriously experience the world together again!

 

There is a long list of destinations in the travel list , but the reality is that there is no time to go far away. The concept of distance is becoming increasingly blurry. Quanzhou, which used to be very far away to me, is now less than thirty minutes away by train.

Originally Sister Kagura planned to come to Xiamen to find me, but in the end the foodie changed her appointment to Quanzhou temporarily and planned to go to Quanzhou West Street to sweep around. Not to mention, I have all the food guides listed for me.

 

When talking about Quanzhou , there is always a sense of intimacy. Kaiyuan Temple in the busy city, Chengtian Temple on Nanjun Road, Guanyue Temple and Qingjing Ancient Temple on Tumen Street, and the Quanzhou granny who speaks warm and soft Hokkien.

The city of Quanzhou is quaint and lovely, as are the people living there. They are the ones who take the initiative to hand masks to children who forget to wear them on the bus; they are the ones who chat with you; they are the ones who compliment you on how good you look; and they are the ones who are eager to help you.

 

Many times , it really gives me the impression that it is like the grandfather next door who lies on an old wicker chair to bask in the sun every day. He is kind, casual, and a complete story.

Quanzhou has too many good reputations, such as Quannan Buddha Country, Citong City, Carp City, and City of Light. Adjacent to Xiamen, its light has been obscured a lot, but the number of people who love Quanzhou is no less than the number of people who love Xiamen.

But , after two days of eating and drinking in Quanzhou, I still miss Xiamen. In the old town of Quanzhou, the alleys are quiet, but the bustling city is a bit crowded. Rampant motorcycles and electric vehicles are everywhere. You must be especially careful when walking to avoid being hit.

 

All the way north , from the sunny days of Xiamen to the cloudy days of Quanzhou. Sister Kagura came from school, but she didn't catch the train she bought, so she had to change her ticket to the next one. I had the honor to say "Welcome to Quanzhou" to her at the exit.

People were coming and going at the station . Although the new coronavirus was no longer rampant, people still did not take off their masks. In early September, some people packed their bags and rushed to a new campus; some people dressed in military uniforms and went away from home, parents and friends to train in the army. There are still people, like us, who look for fun elsewhere.

 

stickers on the bus

 

 

The more you love food, the more you look forward to life

My stomach is gripped by the delicious food here;

My eyes are attracted by the bricks and tiles here;

Our pace is always in a hurry, afraid of missing everything here;

Like two sleepwalkers, intoxicated in a dream and unwilling to wake up.

QUAN

Zhou

9/12

2020

2020/9/13

Q U n Zhou

Under the leadership of Kagura , I honestly followed the guide for the first time, and I followed the food guide. The first stop for food was a beef restaurant. The glass sliding door at the entrance of the store had a slogan "Famous in Southeast Asia". It seemed that the store owner was very confident!

Although it was almost two o'clock , the store was still full of people. We both ordered beef soup and dry noodles. The dry noodles didn't look very attractive, but they tasted amazing. They were very different from the noodles we usually eat in Shaxian County (maybe it was because we were hungry).

 

Quanzhou Food

Q U n Zhou

The beef soup is chewy and crispy , I can eat several bowls by myself. But I was criticized by Kagura. It turns out that the basic principle of food check-in is to order only a little bit at each restaurant and eat less but better.

 

The second food stop was taro pancake. This is a willful cake shop that only opens at 4:30 p.m. and closes when sold out. Walking from one end of Guifang Lane to the other end, diagonally opposite the Taro Cake Shop, there is a cluster of bougainvillea trees that look like a Fujian version of a Christmas tree in a Quanzhou alley. The stone pavement in the alley is also covered with its branches, leaves and flowers. I wonder if it wants to try this famous taro cake.

The queue was very long , and Kagura actually had the patience to wait in line for about half an hour. If it were me, I would probably turn around and leave.

 

Fortunately they haven't sold out yet, and we were lucky enough to eat this taro pancake! It's really delicious, but it should be eaten while it's hot, as it will lose its flavor slightly when it's cold. It comes in two flavors: sweet and salty. My sister and I both think the sweet one is delicious!

The first bite made a click, the crispy skin on the outside of the taro pancake was really crispy and refreshing, and the inside was filled with hot, fragrant and soft taro paste, so sweet! I can eat several! I wanted to buy a few more, but was ruthlessly rejected.

 

The third stop for food I checked in Shihua jelly. The Shihua jelly I had here was okay. Shihua jelly was added to the four-fruit soup. I don’t know whether it counts as Shihua jelly or as four-fruit soup. We ordered two portions, and each portion had taro paste added to it. When we were waiting in line, a lady said that we must add taro paste, which is the signature of this restaurant. Tsk, isn’t the signboard Shihua plaster? But taro paste is really delicious, taro paste, taro balls, red beans, roasted grass jelly, watermelon... four-fruit soup, my love! But Kagura insists that Zhangzhou’s four-fruit soup is the most delicious! Let me have the opportunity to go to Zhangzhou to buy it and eat it!

We are like food hunters , following the map on the guide and constantly tasting delicious food. The last time I had such a satisfying meal in a city was when I was in Chaozhou. In Chaozhou, you can eat delicious food just by walking into any restaurant. To this day, I still miss all the restaurants with the word "kueh" there, as well as the rice rolls in the alley.

 

X / I / J / I / E / West / Street

West Street , I have typed these two words on the keyboard dozens of times. I know that this place has the most orthodox ancient flavor of southern Fujian. I know that there are many cultural relics and ancient buildings along the streets. Even if I already know all this, it is better to come here to experience it in person.

The evening breeze blew away , blowing away the remaining heat of the day and making us so happy that we seemed to be floating.

 

Food

Along West Street , we checked out handmade mochi, moist pancakes, Tongan fragrant bone chicken legs (with the taste of Xiamen), roasted pork rice dumplings, Teppanyaki (barbecue) and so on. West Street is not just West Street. There are also many delicacies hidden in the alleys on both sides of West Street. All kinds of delicacies are hidden in the alleys, and it seems that they will not give up until you spend a little effort to find them.

When I went to the alley of Xiaoxicheng to buy pancakes, a small incident happened, which really shocked me. When I took pictures of Kagura, I put her mobile phone on the back seat of the scooter. After taking the photo, no one thought to pick up the poor phone. After realizing that I had forgotten my phone, I ran wildly in the alley. Fortunately I still have my phone. Kagura, the person involved, said calmly: "You ran so fast!"

 

 

 

Maybe it’s genetically determined that people will be nostalgic

"Let's climb over the wall and get in!"

"No, it's illegal, and it's unsafe." Fortunately, we asked the person at the auto repair shop later, and he showed us the way, and we could enter from a gate not far away.

 

This is a train station that looks abandoned, but there are still many railway workers working inside. There will be no passenger trains, no passengers, but there will be freight trains.

 

Rusty railway tracks , weeds covering the fields beside the tracks, slow-moving old trains, simple and dilapidated platforms, and railway workers wearing orange work clothes. The funniest thing is that when you talk to the ceiling of the platform corridor, you can hear the echo from a loudspeaker.

 

We spent the whole afternoon taking pictures here. Railway workers would remind us to pay attention to safety. The wild dogs passing by were not as ferocious as mentioned in the guide. When greeting the railway workers, he said that he would give them some pictures. The elder brother smiled quite shyly, haha.

 

Sitting idle on the deserted platform, listening to the sound of the wind blowing across the rails, watching the rust eat away at the car body bit by bit, and watching the weeds grow inch by inch, everything in the world has nothing to do with them.

Leave a Reply