How much do you remember about these wonderful memories of old Changzhou?

It is another winter, and it will be an exchange day. Northerners call it "market" and southerners call it "exchange", which is an annual festival of material exchange. October 20th of the lunar calendar is the traditional exchange festival of Zhuye Bridge in Liyang. When this tradition came into being has never been verified, but the memory of childhood is so profound.

1October 20th in my memory is not only a festival of material exchange, but also a festival of cultural exchange. Whenever there are exchanges, there are circuses in Shandong or Hebei, medicinal materials in Anhui, vendors of dog skin plasters, and sometimes literary and art groups in neighboring provinces, and various troupes gather here. It is also often a festival for thieves and pickpockets.

The girl's family are all waiting for this day, thinking about buying cotton cloth and new shoes for the family to prepare for the Spring Festival. Men are thinking that the year's hard work is over, and then they will go to the market town with friends in groups of three or five to watch the excitement. When they are happy, they will get together, put on two glasses of wine, relax and prepare some production materials for next year. The eldest girl and the new wife are looking forward to buying some fashionable items such as clam oil, bird oil, red beef tendon for tying hair and square towel.

Children's Home feels as happy as Chinese New Year. At this time, adults often give a few cents to the market town to buy toys and all kinds of delicious things that they dare not buy at ordinary times, or spend a few cents to buy rattan traps for clay figurines and some small toys that they can't see at ordinary times, but they often return empty-handed. Sometimes, if they can set a bigger toy, that kind of happiness is even more indescribable.

In Nanguan open space, monkey tricks or dog skin plasters are often concentrated, and a field is marked with lime powder. A big man in the middle was shirtless and surrounded by onlookers. I saw that the big man slapped his hand on his chest, took a bloody handprint on his palm and said, "The rich hold a money field, but the poor hold a gas field." Then you will be foaming at the mouth. See who looks pale, will pull him on the stage to interact, say what's wrong with the guest officer, and give him medicine for free. After taking his medicine, he will ensure that the medicine will be cured. Other spectators will be impatient at this time and will donate their money to buy his medicine, but these people often eat it after buying it.

The monkey in the middle of the venue, after being teased by the monkey charmer, took a gong and asked people around the venue for money. Su Beiren sells peppers, and installs a small hand-cranked pulverizer on the stool, shaking and shouting: "White pepper, black pepper, a big bag of ten cents, eating fish and eating meat is indispensable"; Selling all kinds of toys is the most colorful clay figurine in Huishan, Wuxi, which is the favorite of children. Holding an adult's hand, often reluctant to leave. Walking in the street, I bought a "machine gun" covered with a bamboo tube, and shook it while walking, making the child run behind his ass.

Because of the sea of people, many children can't find adults when they enter the street for a while. Adults have lost their children, so children who are too young will ride around their necks. When the streets are full of people, adults are already covered in sweat. In the afternoon, shoes and other items thrown away by people can be seen everywhere, including melon seeds and sugarcane skins all over the street. During the exchange, all kinds of living materials in Shannan and Haibei piled up on both sides of the street. There are all kinds of delicious and fun goods from south to north. Large-scale means of production are often piled up on the roadside and enter the street, so that people can feel the lively atmosphere of communication without entering the street.

In the past, there was a lack of material and spiritual resources. Now the material is extremely rich, and the pursuit of material and basic spiritual life has been sublimated. The annual festival-like expectation gradually fades away in people's hearts, so the feeling of communication is no longer so eager and expectant, but with the growth of age, the joy and happiness of the festival that I felt as a child is unforgettable. I haven't felt such a lively atmosphere for many years, and it will soon be the Zhuze Bridge Exchange Festival on1October 20th. I want to feel it again. I don't know if I can get my childhood dream back!

There have been fewer fairs in old Changzhou since the outbreak! Every township has its own special day in a year, that is, market day. In my hometown, February 20th of the lunar calendar is the market day of our street. There are three days before and after the meeting. There is a one-stop service of eating, drinking and having fun in these three days, and there will be stalls in unusual circumstances. These days are also a sea of people, crowded and lively!