I can still remember how I longed to visit this land, when I firstly read an old saying that “too much heavenly is Sichuan for youngers to get in and elders out”. Two months ago, by a chance, my dream of touring Si Chuan came true--I stayed for 45 days there, each of which, I hope, could have been carved in mind, and never forgotten.
FoodIt is not hard to pick it as a start of impressions of Sichuan for its well known food cuisine. My first meal in Chengdu is the “huangcheng laoma hotpot”. You can find hotpots all over the world in one form or another, but this kind of hotpot could be the most powerful and tingling spiciest. Imagine that, hot summer night, noisy and crowded, free from complains and laughter, sweat and tears with capsicums, cold beers with warm friends……all these make it far beyond the real world, easy and relax. Maybe this is one of reasons why hotpot means so much for people living here. But to the frank, I am afraid huangchenglaoma is a little bit more expensive than it is spicy . Actually there are many more local snacks delicious as well but cheaper in this city, such as “lai tang yuan”(zongfu road), “fu qi fei pian”(zongfu road), “long chao shou”(chunxi road) and “pissing beef ball” tasty but with a most exaggerated name (jin li), and varieties of what I can’t remember clearly. Most of times you need not really to remember their exact locations, cause you will find them everywhere in Chengdu. When the sun falls, and it’s getting cool, even idling around on streets for dining is part of joy too. It’s really amazing that people here created so many delicious food, unique in taste and storied in history, but just out of the ordinary resources.
Just like their food, people of Sichuan are straight and spicy too. In the beginning you will find them tingling getting along with but soon, they will get deep into your heart, and settle down for so long.
Balance10 minutes walking in Chengdu, you may find it a real combination of the fast modernization and old traditions that survives throughout thousands of years. This is such a amazing city which is leading the latest fashion while filled with memories centuries ago; where engineers are working hard at hundreds of skyscrapers, while a block away it is another world cause slowing down and enjoying a good afternoon doesn’t make anyone a slacker at all. It is really confusing and encouraging for me, a stranger outside, to know when the whole planet is busy rushing for money there are still people who preserves their style, keeping their own pace of life, easy and in peace.
Rapid developing speed as one half, and well preserved traditions as another, Sichuan is keeping a tough balance in between.
The hardIt was said that, the God created heaven before there is land and ocean, and then he created Sichuan in shape of heaven. Longing for the greatest views in Sichuan, on the may 12th, I came to mountain Emei (3099m above sea level). And there, I saw those of the most beautiful views in my life…… Maybe because I was too young to see difficulties, I chose to climb up on feet within 3 days from bottom to top (about 50 km spot to spot). And what I experienced after proved what a hard but rewarding journey I had made.
Climbing at the daytime, when it is still warm and shining, it is pleasant to enjoy all kinds of flourishing flowers and giant trees covering the whole mountain above and the lane sides ahead. Despite a long journey it’s supposed to be, it is not boring at all, cause there are many ancient and beautiful Buddhism temples linking the entire route. You could visit them and pray. And there, you may see some really devout prayers who kneeled up the mountain, praying for hopes that rise from the ashes. In faith, people are so tough and strong……Besides temples and nature scenes, occasionally, you may come across the Emei Monkeys passing nearby. They are really the elves of this mountain. And I bet, they must take themselves as the host of Emei instead of human beings, cause however you get near, you found them in no scare. On the contrary, if you are not lucky, they could rob you for food or even camera. I am afraid sooner or later they will finally learn how to use it, and take pictures of the travelers. It is said that beautiful girls in skirt risk more to pass through the monkeys, as some monkeys tend to slide under and drag the skirt up ! I got robed a bottle of Coca, my favorite, I hate them!
Weather changes fast in mountain. A fall of the sun could bring about a sudden rain, and “sometimes when it stopped raining, long enough for stars to come about. There were a million sparkles up there in the deep blue sky, it was really nice. And then beyond the golden clouds in the dawn of a brand new day, I can’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began…”(FORREST GUMP)
Over trillions of stairs, finally I made it to the top, And with the whole mountain beneath my feet and gentle breezes touching through my wings, I took a deep deep breath, appreciating the god, for being there at that moment, and for all the tough times left behind…
Maybe the beautiful things always pass fast. It came my time back where I belong. But it is hard to say good bye. There are so many things that I can’t take along with. The day I went to Emei was a special day for each of the people in Sichuan and for us all. Disasters didn’t deprive much of their inherent optimism, fortitude and diligence. And I think, maybe that is just the most beautiful things that I’ve been hoping to keep in mind.
And I will.
“一个你来了就不想离开的地方”
我依然记得小时候第一次听到“少不入川老不出蜀”的说法时，自己关于四川的神奇想象。两个月前，因为一个机会，童年时关于这片神奇土地的向往终于梦想成真。我在四川待了45天。每一天，我都希望可以铭记于心，永不遗忘。
美食
由于川菜的名气，选择这个词作为四川的第一印象似乎并不困难。我在成都的第一餐就是皇城老妈火锅。你可以在世界各地找到各种各样的火锅吃法，但皇城老妈恐怕是其中最辣的一种。想象一下：仲夏之夜，陋室斗厅；喧闹嘈杂，汗如雨下；清酒故友，快意恩仇；暂遁尘嚣，无扰无忧。我好像明白了对四川人来说，为什么火锅那么重要。(老实说，比起味道，皇城老妈还是有些贵 )。事实上，在成都到处都是更多好吃不贵的小吃。比如“赖汤圆”(总府路)，“夫妻肺片”(总府路)，“龙抄手”(春熙路)和有个夸张名字的美味“撒尿牛丸”(锦里)，以及其他各种各样我记不清名字的美食。事实上你也不必记住它们的地址，因为这座城市里到处都可以看到它们的影子。夜幕降临，暑意渐散，即便在街上闲逛找食也很惬意。不过是普普通通的原料却能制作出历史悠久千变万化的美食，着实让人惊奇。
就像他们的食物一样，四川人刚直而泼辣。一开始你会不适应。但很快，这份耿直品性就会溶入你的心底，生根发芽。
平衡
在成都只需走十分钟。你就会发现这座城市是一个现代文明与千年传承的不折不扣的结合体。一方面成都时刻走在时尚的前沿，同时却到处载满了几千年前的遗迹；一方面这里的人们时刻忙碌着建造一幢幢摩天大楼，而同时一个街角之外却是另一番安逸清闲的景象。四川人千年沉淀下的“派”让我这样一个局外人既困惑也振奋，在这个整个星球都发疯一样忙着赚钱的世界里，依然有一些人们保留着自己的节奏和亘古不变的传统，从容不迫……
一半是快速的现代文明，一半是古老的传统遗迹，四川始终保持着艰难但稳健的平衡。
艰难
人们说：天地之初，混沌愚冥，海川之前，已成仙境，后为神州，以其之形……带着对神州至美之一的四川美景的向往，我来到了峨眉山景区。在那里，我看到了一生里最美的景色……或许因为年轻，不知天高地厚的我计划3天内徒步登顶(大概50公里)。后来我所经历的证明，这是一个多么艰难但值得的决定。
白天艳阳高照的时候，登山真的是一种乐趣，旅途中满山遍野的野花和参天古树让人赏心悦目。尽管山路崎岖漫长，可一点也不乏味，因为一路上都是许多古迹寺院，它们把漫长的旅途分割成段。每到一个地方你都可以稍作休憩或参观膜拜，一路上，你能看到一些磕长头上山祈福的人，虔诚地祈祷着灰烬后重生的希望。因为信念，他们如此坚强……除了古老的寺庙和美丽的风景，偶尔还会碰到一些穿行的猕猴。它们是峨眉当之无愧的精灵。我敢打赌，它们一定只把自己当作峨嵋的主人而不是人类，因为不论你靠得多近，它们才不会害怕，相反如果你不够走运，它们还会洗劫你的食物甚至相机，恐怕早晚有一天这帮家伙终能学会使用方法，然后大摇大摆的给游人照相。据说穿裙子的漂亮姑娘穿过猴群的时候更加危险，因为强盗猴子之外的好色猴会悄悄溜过去掀女孩子的裙子 。我被抢了一瓶可乐。我最喜欢的口味的那种。这帮家伙！
山里天气阴晴不定。有时候太阳落个山就会带来一阵豪雨，而有时候，雨停了，等到星星出来的时候，深蓝的夜空里就会出现亿万闪烁的星光，景色真的美极了，而当新的一天黎明到来的时候，在山和云的彼端，我分不出天空到哪里消散，大地从哪里开始……(阿甘)
爬上不计其数的台阶后，我终于到达了金顶。那一刻，群山伏于脚下，微风穿过双翼，我深深吸了一口气，感谢上苍，让我最终站在了那里；以及身后那些曾经艰难的时光。
美丽的时光总是短暂。又到了回家的时候了。说再见真的很难，有太多的东西我带不走。到峨眉的那一天对每一个四川人或者说对我们所有人来说都是特别的一天。灾难并没有夺走他们与生俱来的乐观、坚毅和勤奋。我想，或许这才是我一直以来渴望留驻心间的最美的东西。
一定！
本贴仅代表作者观点，与麻辣社区立场无关。
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发表于 2010-7-25 00:20
