Dream back to the border town and crow in three provinces.

in the spring of March, I stole time to go to the border town.

drive away from Xiushan county in Chongqing for half an hour, get off at "Hong 'an" of Yuxiang Expressway and drive into National Highway 319. After a few kilometers, you will arrive at Hong 'an Ancient Town.

Hongan ancient town is the intersection of Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan provinces. The ancient town is famous all over the world because of Mr. Shen Congwen's Border Town, which brings the land of "stepping on three provinces" into people's field of vision and the "beautiful love story" into people's hearts.

The stone bridge on Qingshui River, a tributary of Youshui River, was built across the river. The stone bridge is quaint and old, and it has been some years. The blue stone railing is carved with a cirrus cloud pattern, and the Longmen Square is erected at the bridge head, with the words "the first gate in the southeast of Sichuan" written on it. The time-mottled handwriting is faintly discernible. When Sichuan passes over the bridge and enters Hunan, it can be described as "the rain from the Shu Road blows to Guizhou and it is involved in the clouds in Sanxiang".

the intersection of Hunan, Chu, Sichuan and Guizhou is a border town. Border town, formerly known as Tea Cave, belongs to Huayuan County, Hunan Province. The ancient town is built near the Qingshui River. Across the river is Hong 'an ancient town in Xiushan County, Sichuan Province (now classified as Chongqing), and to the south is Mijia Town in Guizhou.

the dock of Guzhen Town in Xinbu Border Town. Border town just woke up from a deep sleep. The Qingshui River, whose green hills are dyed on both sides of the river, is still in the morning, and the faint mist on the river seems to be absent, shyly unwilling to lift her charming veil. In the mist, the ringing knock of the early-rising Huan girl beating clothes on the ancient pier in Chadong, accompanied by the laughter of children playing in the water, filled the whole Qingshui River.

The Wupeng fishing boats lined up on the edge of the dock are moored by the Qingshui River, and the river gently beats the boat's stilts, making it soft and soft. Fishermen got up early and went to the market, so they had to go to the market early to exchange the fish and shrimp harvested last night for cash.

Suddenly, I heard a boatman banging on an unfinished Wupeng wooden boat not far away, and the banging echoed on the river, whirling around in the quiet morning light, and following the Qingshui River to a far, far place.

that light morning? The border town in China is like a beautiful woman who just woke up from her sleep and didn't have time to dress up. She shyly sat quietly by the Qingshui River and stared at the spring water that took away her endless thoughts.

The weeping willows are green and fresh by the Qingshui River. The newly-built antique promenade with red columns and green tiles and the pavilion on the balcony are in harmony with the old bamboo house with hanging feet. Walking in the meantime, it is really a place to explore the past.

Looking into the heart of Qingshui River-the tall white marble statue of "Cuicui" on the artificial island is graceful, and Cuicui looks at and misses her border town and her "Laladu" with a faint dawn.

From the ancient pier of Chadong, there is the old border town street, which is small in town and not wide in road. Tujia, Miao and Han people who live together are tolerant and assimilated with each other in the long river of time. The townspeople, who are used to a leisurely life, lazily clean up the garbage in front of their houses. All kinds of bamboo houses with hanging feet and old quadrangles are staggered, which seems messy but also harmonious.

Walk along the bluestone path to the mouth of Laladu, and when you look up, you can see that the scarlet color of the huge word "Border Town" carved at the height of the cliff near the river bank seems to have been newly painted, which is very conspicuous.

The ferry still retains the old look of "Laladu" written by Mr. Shen Congwen. A steel cable connects Sichuan and Sichuan, and the old man sits leisurely alone on the wooden platform in the boat, using a two-foot log with a thin slot as a hinge to get stuck on the steel cable for crossing the river, dragging the boat to the other side little by little, and the ferry moves gently on the green water. Those who want to cross the river for money must throw themselves into wooden boxes and keep the price of one yuan unchanged for many years. This is the only way to cross the river in the current market. Different from the "Laladu" in Xiaocui at that time, people crossing the river must consciously take "life jackets" and put them on to ensure safety. During the conversation, the old man told me that the ferry crossing was public welfare, and his salary was paid by the town government instead of relying on "crossing the river", which was different from the ferry crossing not far away to the Cuicui Statue on the artificial island in the middle of the river, where the ferry-person had to charge you 2 yuan.

The ferry docked at the dock of Hong 'an Ancient Town opposite, and a small stone was carved with the word "Laladu" on the shore. The lighthouse-like building at the ferry was suspected to be an old thing from the Cultural Revolution, and the bordeaux tower was covered with old slogans such as "Long live" and "Great".

Next to the blue stone ladder on the bank of Laladu, walk up the stone steps and you will reach Hongan Ancient Town.

for the protection of the ancient town, vehicles have to park outside the town, and the town takes steps to act on its behalf, so there is no noise. Different from the border town across the river, there are few diaojiao buildings in Hong 'an ancient town, and the pavement paved with granite strips is much more spacious and quiet than the streets in the border town. Next to the two streets, there are large and small courtyards, the walls of which are made of bluestone, and houses are built in the courtyard. On the way, I suddenly saw a white western-style building, and the black traditional word "Fuxing Bank" on the lintel was particularly conspicuous, so I knew it was a legacy of the Republic of China. It has been turned into a memorial hall for the Second Field Army. During the civil war, the Second Field Army Command of China People's Liberation Army was located here. In that year, Liu Deng's army moved southwest from Hong 'an and advanced into Sanxiang, which opened the prelude to the liberation of Jiangnan.

there is a must-see place in the ancient town, that is, "Three Ignored Islands". There is a small island in Qingshui River called "Three Ignored Islands". According to legend, in the old days, all the people who caught the crime of rape and lived on this island were not arrested, so Shimakawa, Hunan and Guizhou had no jurisdiction, so it became a "vacuum" place. Now the ancient town and the island have been connected by a long corridor, which has been turned into a place for leisure and health, and you can board the island without wading. Boarding the island and looking at Sichuan, Hunan and Guizhou, it can be said that it is a three-way street, "one rooster crows three provinces." Shiqiao and Laladu connect Sichuan, Hunan and Guizhou.

Over the years, the border people in the three places have created a unique food "Tofu Horn Fish" which is "one pot for three provinces".

the "horned fish" in Dongting Lake in Sanxiang, together with the unique pickled vegetables in the old town of Hong 'an in Sichuan (now Chongqing), and the tofu and tomatoes in Guizhou, are blended with the ingredients in the three provinces to make a unique and special food "tofu horned fish". This distinctive dish has now formed a gourmet street, and various stores are competing to win the business of passers-by with "authentic" signs.

the sun is setting in the west, so I don't want to leave. Hong and Anbian Town in the garage are gradually drifting away.

Farewell to the green Qingshui River and the "Laladu" of the dream department.

Farewell, Xiaocui in my heart.