Requesting a diary about geography

Memories of Changsha

I entered Changsha in October. It rained a little in the afternoon when I arrived. It wasn’t heavy, but I could clearly feel that my luggage was a little thin. The sky in Changsha is not as bright as expected. Looking west from the 27th floor of the Yinhua Hotel, Orange Island and Yuelu Mountain are faintly visible. There are no iconic buildings in Changsha. The only ones that can represent Changsha are Orange Island and Yuelu Mountain given by God. What makes Changsha desirable should be its autumn, because Chairman Mao’s song "Qinyuanchun·Changsha" at the head of Juzizhou made Changsha’s autumn popular all over the country.

The Xiangjiang River is to Changsha, just like the Qinhuai River is to Nanjing. Orange Island is located in the middle of the Xiangjiang River. When Chairman Mao "brought a hundred couples to visit" Orange Island, they went there by boat. The experience of climbing to Orange Island by boat is definitely different from that of climbing to Orange Island by car. Today, the Xiangjiang River Bridge connects the east and west banks with Orange Island. Standing on the river bank, blowing my hair and collar, I kept changing directions. The same as before, Jiang Feng has not changed. There is no longer a scene of "hundreds of competing boats" here. At the end of October, the river to the west of Orange Island had dried up, and many dense reeds and wild grasses grew on Love Island across the water from Orange Island. The river east of Orange Island is dotted with sand-carrying boats rumbling by, breaking the calmness of the river.

I got up early on a Saturday, walked onto the bridge, and walked along the sidewalk on the bridge wing toward Orange Island. Although the sun has risen, there is still thick fog on the river, and visibility is very low. Yuelu Mountain cannot be seen at all, and it feels like it is deep in the clouds. The wings of the bridge are probably more than twenty meters high. The trees on the island are beyond the bridge deck. The leaves on some tree crowns have begun to fall, while others are lush and green. Judging from the tree's growth rings, its age should be about a hundred years. It was probably in its childhood when Chairman Mao visited the island. There are no maple trees on either side of the bridge, otherwise the red leaves that most easily evoke lovesickness would be the ones that catch the eye.

Below the west side of the bridge wing is a coal factory, where several workers are working manually. There are two three- and four-story villa-style buildings with red walls and tile roofs on the east side. One of the buildings has its exterior wall renovated in a courtyard style, while the other one looks very mottled. According to residents on the island, the renovated building was originally a US consulate, but it has now been requisitioned by a company that renovated Juzhou Island. The mottled building was originally a Japanese consulate, but now several families of islanders live in it. Walking towards Zhoutou, there are several houses where missionaries lived. Although they have signs of modern cultural relics marked by the government, some people still hang up advertisements for hair salons outside and use them as restaurants. It's a miracle that this kind of house survived the Cultural Revolution.

It is four kilometers from the consulate to Zhoutou. As soon as I landed on the island, a group of autorickshaw masters came around to greet me speaking authentic Changsha dialect. Although I couldn't understand, I could still understand their intentions. I shook my head and wanted to use my steps to measure this place that made great men so proud. This is a tree-lined road. The trees on both sides of the road are very tall. Some of the thick trees have tree species and ages marked on them. It can be seen that this is a road that has experienced vicissitudes of life. On the west side of the road are some factories, private houses, or restaurants that have been renovated from private houses. Most of the restaurants have long since been empty. Some factories have been moved away, leaving only empty shells. Some Private houses are also being relocated.

There are several shipyards at the end of Juzizhou. It is said that the Shipping Shipyard and Juzizhou Shipyard were the most profitable enterprises in the 1970s and 1980s. Now they have closed down or been relocated. The iron doors of the factory buildings are rusty, and some The vine-like plant climbed up the iron gate and climbed over to the other side of the wall. These factory buildings from the planned economy era still retain the characteristics of the planned economy today, as can be seen from some slogans left on the walls. Factory buildings and residential areas are mixed together. The factory buildings have been empty for a long time, but there are still many people living in the residential areas. Some old people moved a big man and leaned against the door to eat, with a dog watching from a distance, which was very similar to the scene seen in front of the cave dwellings in northern Shaanxi. The location of these factories may be related to the admiration of Chairman Mao among people in the early 1990s.

Arrive at Juzizhoutou before 12 noon. The fog in the Xiangjiang River has not yet gone up, and Yuelu Mountain cannot be seen clearly, so it is impossible to see the scenery of "all the layers of forest dyed". I was the only tourist in Orange Island that day. Orange Island Park is closed and is said to be undergoing maintenance. The golden fallen leaves on the road in front of the park are in sharp contrast to the colors of the evergreen trees transplanted from the south in the park. Opposite the park is a row of restaurants, and the waiters are sweeping the fallen leaves in front of the door.

Along the way, yellow leaves falling from the sycamore trees filled the road. Many dogs were looking at the roadside. Many retired or laid-off men and women stood blankly in front of the low houses. Looking at the falling yellow leaves. The years pass like the water of the Xiang River, the leaves fall every year, and the weeds wither and bloom every year. Only the trees in Orange Island use their annual rings to remember the history of this city.