"Green Tea Town: Follow Shen Congwen's Pen and Embrace the Border Town of Western Hunan"

[The Green Pier in the Morning Mist] Before the sky is fully bright, the Tuo River is already carrying half of the river's blue mist, and the old ferry boat is swaying with a creaking tune. The eaves of the stilted building hook a wisp of morning glow, and the wooden window opens, startling the tabby cat napping under the porch. The morning in Tea Town is the water vapor in Mr. Shen's inkstone, and it is the seventeen-year-old morning when Cui Cui guards the yellow dog and waits for the guests. [The Wrinkles of Time in the Bluestone Alley] Walking on the stone road polished by a hundred years of straw sandals, you will meet a bamboo weaver at the corner, weaving a basket with his fingers flying. The spicy aroma wafts from the rice tofu shop with a slanted wine flag, and the silver hairpin on the proprietress's temple shines with the luster passed down from her ancestors. The hammering sound of the old silversmith at the end of the alley is like the sound of time breaking, falling on the knees of the Miao embroidery grandma basking in the sun by the threshold, and the thread in her hand is embroidering the third tail feather of a phoenix. [The Private Whisper of Mountains and Rivers under the White Pagoda] Climbing up the mountain path surrounded by wild chrysanthemums, the old white pagoda hides cicada shells and stars in its brick cracks. Standing on the cliff that Mr. Shen once gazed at, you can see the border town embraced by the You River like a piece of warm jade. The water marks left by the ferry boat are swimming with the shadow of clouds, and the reflection of the stilted building is broken into thousands of golden scales by the ripples. The distant boatman's chant startles the egrets, carrying the aura of the entire western Hunan to the depths of the clouds. [Listening to the Rain in the Stilted Building at Night] When the twilight soaks through the green tiles, red lanterns are hung on the eaves. Open the carved wooden window facing the river, and let the evening breeze with the smell of mugwort slip into your sleeves. The sound of the wooden zither from the tavern on the opposite bank mixes with the rain tapping on the canopy boat, and in the flickering fishing lights, you seem to see your grandfather's tobacco pipe lighting up and hear Cui Cui gently calling in her dream: "That person may never come back, or may come back tomorrow." >> Traveler's Notes Take the hand-rowed boat of the old boatman and count the seven wind and rain bridges Taste a bowl of ginger sugar sweet wine at the mill ruins Watch the silver jewelry and mountain songs collide on the market day of October 9th Tie your thoughts to the wishing bell in front of the octagonal building Wait for an unexpected border town rain "In winter, the collapsed white pagoda was repaired again." But Tea Town will always live in Shen Congwen's spring.