Notes on Xiang Xing: Under the Star City

Although they all belong to Hunan, the surrounding areas of Xiangxi and the areas represented by Changsha are completely different places.

Xiangxi is located in the border area of Hunan. I don't know what impression this place has in the eyes of travelers from other provinces. Many people may think that Xiangxi is the Phoenix or Zhangjiajie. It is Shen Congwen. Is it a border town? Or is it a mysterious area about "bandits", "corpse drivers" and "release methods"? But for me, an "inland Hunan native", it is just a pure land in a remote place.

On the way to the third arch bridge, I passed all kinds of interesting and strange place names. I just hope I can't take my hand out and write it in a small notebook. The car drove to the entrance of the village and turned several times without seeing the entrance. It turned out to be a narrow and inconspicuous path. There is a canteen at the door. Ten dollars can buy many packages of spicy strips. There are several "self-service" restaurants at the entrance of the village, and more than a dozen dishes are sandwiched by themselves for more than a dozen dollars. There is also the only tea shop nearby with wifi and air conditioning. My little sister is likable and her business is good.

Uncle, the doorman of Sangongqiao Primary School, speaks Mandarin with an unknown accent. It is said that he used to be an English teacher? Later, when he was old, (maybe the school didn't think he taught well enough), he became a janitor. To tell the truth, I don't quite believe that he can speak English ... but I dare not ask.

Here, at dawn, clear rivers and calm seas begin.

After people get up, they begin to live a faithful life day after day.

In summer, as soon as the sun came out, I carried the quilt to the river, pressed it with a big stone and turned on the sun. When the weather is unbearable, you can take off your clothes and jump into the river to take a bath. Suitable for both men and women, for all ages.

I don't know why, everything here has a sense of healing: as night falls, the blue dusk in the mountains keeps rising until the smoke from the kitchen covers the whole village, the little boy who goes to the river to bathe naked, the little girl who is shy when he meets strangers, the men, women and children who are holding bowls of rice in front of each door, the big hen who tripped over his threshold, the child who ate food that I respect, and the dark skin of people here, even the wrinkles on the old man's face.

There are also the most beautiful walking stars visible to the naked eye in the middle of the night. Time stands still here. No one cares about tomorrow's exchange rate and entertainment news, but occasionally complains about the weather and harvest.

Ahem, let me explain to you city people: at a fixed time, everyone takes their products to the same place for exchange or sale. This is called "market" or "market". There is also a lovely name for the market in western Hunan, called "market". In this era when you can buy the whole world by taking out your mobile phone, Xiangxi still maintains this folk custom.

It is said that the market in Heku is the most "Miao", which occurs on the first day and the sixth day of the lunar calendar (ahem, explain to people in the city: it is the first day, the sixth day, the eleventh, the sixteenth, the twenty-first and the twenty-sixth day of the lunar calendar every month). Before I went out that day, I flipped through the yellow calendar, which happened to be the 26th day of the lunar calendar. There are no lies in the book!

5: 30 is 5: 30 in the morning, so we will start in Daiyue. It's early in the morning, and you can still see meteors.

It takes nearly two hours by car from where I am to the barn. Before I woke up, I was arranged to open a narrow and winding mountain road. What's it like to drive this road? It's the unforgettable tingling feeling when running on the mountain road in thin-soled shoes, and the real shocking feeling when brushing the asphalt road with a pair of rotten skateboards. And then combine these two kinds of pain

However, what is suffering for me now is the tire. When the road winds to every corner, you have to honk your horn several times, which is too narrow to turn around. I can only drive forward at the risk of a flat tire. The three girls in the back seat always scream with the ups and downs of the road. ......

At half past six, the sun began to render the distant peaks, and we stopped in a clearing to prepare for the dawn. However, at the moment, I only have tires in my heart. ......

At the booth where we stopped, we passed many trucks and minivans, which were full of grandmothers who came from various villages to do business in the market. In addition, there are people on foot.

Driving is killing me. What is the concept of hiking? And at this age, this weak body, such a heavy basket. ......

I muttered, do you want to ask grandma to sit down? In fact, everyone wants to, but the space inside the car is really limited. But at this time, an old woman really waved us a ride, and she was embarrassed not to stop. Even though she was crowded, she could still sit alone in it, so we decided to take her up the mountain. Her basket was barely stuffed into the trunk, which contained a bundle of firewood.

In retrospect, we started early enough and drove for more than an hour to reach this place. They also arrived on foot, so when should we start? I dare not think.

However, even if you successfully carry this basket to the destination, even if you succeed in making a deal, is it worth it to exchange firewood for enough money or satisfactory goods?

However, I soon felt ashamed of my utilitarian guess. This is their life, this is their loyal life, so there is no need to let you, a tourist tainted by interests, judge yourself.

We passed many grandmothers all the way, but there was really no room in the car. Looking at the disappearing figure in the rearview mirror, I secretly sighed that this is the real hiker and cross-country god. There is no material, no advanced equipment, a pair of cloth shoes, and a heavy load, walking on this road full of stones and dust.

Even the driver felt that we had gone through a lot of hardships to arrive, and the smooth arrival was thanks to the grandmother on the bus who showed us the way. You can finally see the entrance to the market. This road is very narrow. We parked the car at the entrance.

I said goodbye to my grandmother here. She took another less crowded road with a basket on her back. We broke into the busy market. At this time, the sun has completely risen, and it has not hesitated to reveal its light and shine on the fruit stalls on the roadside. Glittering peaches and watermelons make people drool frequently.

The market peaks between 1 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. There were not many people when we arrived (the old ladies on foot were still in time, so it seemed that they would not "close the door"). We stopped all the way, ate and filmed, and finally chose a noodle shop at the end of the market to solve breakfast. Because it was too hot inside, we took it to the side of the road to eat. It is also a good experience to enjoy all kinds of passers-by on the roadside while talking about powder and being observed by passers-by.

Most women in the street carry baskets on their backs, or tie their children behind their backs with all kinds of embroidered cloth, and come and go to buy their favorite goods;

My old grandmother has a dark handkerchief wrapped around her head. I heard that there are small products such as fruit in it, but I can't confirm it because of my limited height. ......

Boys usually wear hats. We wanted to buy one, but we tried it and found that the diameter was too large.

The uncle selling melons across the street looked at us with great interest, and I listened casually to the hawking on his loudspeaker while chatting about powder. ......

Occasionally, an uncle with a big camera passes by and looks so out of place in the crowd. Just like us. Suddenly I feel a little sad. I'm here, but I can't fit in completely.

When we walked back after talking about powder, the sun rose higher and the market became more noisy.

There are not many strange foods in the street that make me curious. Most of them are fried dough sticks, which are not very appetizing. It seems that Xiangxi is not famous for its delicious food. For me, the morning powder, oh, I still don't comment. Miss Beijing, on the other hand, has always been curious about what rice tofu is.

We visited an embroidery shop, bought a windmill by the roadside, ate peaches and tomatoes, found local tobacco smoked by bandits, and bought a pink hair band in blingbling. When we came to the right path again, the sun was already dazzling.

Narrowing my eyes to see the scene in front of me, smoky and buzzing.

The human market has just begun.

Grandma Liao's house looks like loess from the outside, with no decoration at all. But just, there is a strong smell of home. Especially when I saw their family banging pots and pans, ready to eat. I can't see the food on the table clearly, but the hot rice in my hand is a big bowl.

When someone is at home, all three wooden doors are open, and when no one is at home, they are all closed. I always feel that in this village, there should be no problem sleeping without closing the door.

Yesterday, I told my grandmother that I wanted to visit her home in Gua Tian. She knew we were going and picked two melons in advance, but we were too embarrassed and inconvenient to take them, so we refused to take them. When I went to her house that day, the whole family was having dinner, which looked delicious ..... Then the next day, they had the cheek to ask for dinner at her house.

Her daughter-in-law is pregnant with another child. They were all daughters before. It seems that this is the third or fourth child. The eldest granddaughter helps to take care of her mother in the hospital. Today, grandma is the only one at home.

It was a little late when I was ready to go to grandma's house after six o'clock in the afternoon. It suddenly occurred to me that it would be closer and less sunny to cross the path in front of Gua Tian. When I finally found the loess house across the path, I saw her door closed. I thought grandma thought we were not coming, so she went out. Just as we were leaving, we heard grandma's voice coming from a distance.

She came from the opposite side, still smiling. Every time I see her, I am always so enthusiastic, and my skin wrinkles are all together. It turned out that she was waiting for us at the entrance of the village, and we missed it because of the perfect path. T.T

Grandma spoke with a strong accent, but after listening to it several times, she was able to communicate fluently.

Grandma opened all three wooden doors, but didn't turn on the light at home. There are five or six dishes on the table. She asked what else to fry? We repeatedly said no, but she insisted on frying eggs.

Grandma took out four eggs, and then poured oil in the pan. She also has a very old firewood stove at home. After the oil was hot, grandma suddenly said, you come.

At first we didn't understand what she meant, thinking that she wanted us to try her stove. Then she smiled shyly and said, I'm afraid my old man is not clean. We kept talking about how it happened, and then considering that I couldn't disturb grandma, I fried four eggs with a spatula. I haven't eaten fried eggs for a long time, but the noodle restaurant in this village is too lazy. They only cook marinated eggs instead of fried eggs. ...

It's obviously getting a little dark, and so is the living room where we eat.

When eating in the dark, we looked at the photos on the wall in the night. On the left side of the room is an artistic photo of her granddaughters growing up, and on the other side is her photo. It turns out that she likes traveling. These are photos taken after going to many places.

At this time, the village broadcast sounded. Grandma smiled and said, I'll go dancing when you leave.

Later, when we left, we rubbed a big bottle of water in the faucet in front of grandma's house and drank it on the way. The tap water here is drinkable.

We are going to leave after dinner, not only from grandma's house, but also from this small village. Grandma always wanted to see us off, but she was sent back halfway. Maybe I thought I would never see her again, so I couldn't help but open my hand and give her a hug.

The sun is going down, and the shadow is so long. On the opposite river bank, my brother took his younger brother and walked naked along the river bank to their usual specific bathing base. The river bank is not wide, so they walk in tandem, crossing the grass beside them from time to time. As if no one was watching, Coco walked affectionately.

At dusk, the sunset falls into the chimney in the distance. The wisps of clouds on the horizon were baked by the afterglow of the sunset, from pink to blue-purple, and finally all merged into a deep blue.

We must leave before the stars fall today.

—— To be continued—