In the spring of 1992, I was intern\u00ading at a court in Shang\u00adhai. It was ear\u00adly spring, and every\u00adthing was damp. Every day, I had to squeeze into bus\u00ades for three to four hours to com\u00admute. Amidst the damp cars and crowds, I often had this thought: gar\u00adlic sprouts in the damp mud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
A\u2011Yi returned from his intern\u00adship in Hangzhou to pick up his belong\u00adings. That evening, they had a farewell din\u00adner with peanuts and beer, and every\u00adone was so excit\u00aded they want\u00aded to see A\u2011Yi off. A\u2011Yi boast\u00aded about Hangzhou all the way, incred\u00adi\u00adbly proud. A\u2011Jia got angry and said, \u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d so they arrived in Hangzhou that evening.
In Hangzhou, I stayed at Zhe\u00adjiang Med\u00adical Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty, near the Sixth Park. It was a med\u00adical school, after all, and the dor\u00admi\u00adto\u00adries were mixed on the first floor. Enter\u00ading the hall\u00adway, I could see a girl\u2019s hand\u00adwrit\u00ading: \u201cNo mat\u00adter how white your shoe pow\u00adder is, it can\u2019t hide the black mole on your face!\u201d It was said that a few dor\u00admi\u00adto\u00adries away had lost their white sneak\u00aders the day before, and the own\u00ader had writ\u00adten this in anger. It was quite cold that night. I did\u00adn\u2019t bring a quilt, so I pulled a blan\u00adket over the bed, wrapped my feet in my clothes, and wrapped myself in my coat, bare\u00adly man\u00adag\u00ading to fit in. The advan\u00adtage of stay\u00ading this way was that it was easy to get up ear\u00adly.
That morn\u00ading, my room\u00admates all went off to their intern\u00adships, leav\u00ading me alone with my free\u00addom. But how should I spend this free\u00addom? I remem\u00adbered a com\u00ade\u00addy I saw years ago, \u201cThe New Biog\u00adra\u00adphy of Ah Hun,\u201d star\u00adring Yan Shunkai. The scene that stuck with me most was when Ah Hun, see\u00ading the Yue Opera \u201cBut\u00adter\u00adfly Lovers\u201d on TV, sud\u00adden\u00adly had an idea and yelled, \u201cI want to read in Hangzhou!\u201d The next shot showed Ah Hun falling into Hangzhou\u2019s West Lake. Hangzhou is indeed a great place to read books, but based on my research, a rent\u00aded row\u00adboat isn\u2019t the right place for read\u00ading.
I grabbed a book and head\u00aded out. Break\u00adfast was, as usu\u00adal, a bowl of soy milk with gluti\u00adnous rice wrapped in fried dough sticks. Three ounces of gluti\u00adnous rice was plen\u00adty, and sprin\u00adkled with plen\u00adty of sug\u00adar, so lunch was prac\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly neg\u00adli\u00adgi\u00adble.
I made my way through the slight\u00adly crowd\u00aded morn\u00ading exer\u00adcise crowd by the lake and head\u00aded straight for Geling. I climbed all the way to the Chaoyang Tea\u00adhouse. The sun was just above the lake, lev\u00adel with the moun\u00adtain, warm but not glar\u00ading. I sat down at a tea table by the rock, ordered a cup of Longjing tea, and began to read.
I\u2019m hold\u00ading a copy of The Unbear\u00adable Light\u00adness of Being. I\u2019ve read it before, but I was in a rush and missed some parts. This time, I can review it care\u00adful\u00adly. It\u2019s a book that left a deep impres\u00adsion on me, but I can\u2019t say whether it\u2019s good or bad. I can only remem\u00adber a few triv\u00adial things about it, such as the painter\u2019s strange hat, the cute piglet, and a sen\u00adtence the author wrote some\u00adwhere: Life is a sketch that can only be drawn once.
West Lake is dot\u00adted with stone bench\u00ades. If the sun warms you up, find a shady spot and spend a com\u00adfort\u00adable half-day read\u00ading. The path from Bai\u00addi Cause\u00adway to Pinghu Qiuyue is lined with these won\u00adder\u00adful spots. I remem\u00adber fin\u00adish\u00ading anoth\u00ader Milan Kun\u00addera book there in a sin\u00adgle after\u00adnoon: \u201cA Farewell Par\u00adty.\u201d It\u2019s a fast-paced nov\u00adel, depict\u00ading an absurd and infu\u00adri\u00adat\u00ading era, a ridicu\u00adlous\u00adly endear\u00ading doc\u00adtor, and sev\u00ader\u00adal absurd sto\u00adries, told with a cin\u00ade\u00admat\u00adic, jumpy style. Read\u00ading it all in one breath felt like a life\u00adtime ago, and it was quite to my taste.
Kun\u00addera is good, but it\u2019s too intense and too quick\u00adly digest\u00aded. I need\u00aded some\u00adthing more sub\u00adstan\u00adtial by the West Lake. The most delight\u00adful part of West Lake in spring is the Ori\u00adoles Singing in the Wil\u00adlows. Ten\u00adder wil\u00adlow branch\u00ades droop gen\u00adtly, the broad lawn is invit\u00ading\u00adly green, and bursts of chirp\u00ading emanate from large bird cages. The most eye-catch\u00ading thing is the sam\u00adpans prac\u00adtic\u00ading on the lake, their bright\u00adly col\u00adored sails glid\u00ading leisure\u00adly across the water. Every\u00adthing is sooth\u00ading and relax\u00ading. The tea in the tea\u00adhouse here is also the cheap\u00adest among the parks, and the unlim\u00adit\u00aded self-refill water is espe\u00adcial\u00adly help\u00adful, allow\u00ading me to fin\u00adish the fried dough sticks I brought with me, elim\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading the wor\u00adry of a mid\u00adday hunger.
A whole day in a place like this would\u00adn\u2019t be too much. I unknow\u00ading\u00adly fin\u00adished a book called \u201cGua\u00adva Fra\u00adgrance,\u201d a jour\u00adnal\u00adist\u2019s inter\u00adview with Gabriel Gar\u00adc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez, which con\u00adtains many fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading sto\u00adries. What sur\u00adprised me most was the depth of Cuban Pres\u00adi\u00addent Cas\u00adtro\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00adary sophis\u00adti\u00adca\u00adtion; he\u2019d read near\u00adly every book on Gabriel Gar\u00adc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez\u2019s list. Of course, the most fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading sto\u00adries were about how Gabriel Gar\u00adc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez skipped school to read Kaf\u00adka on the city bus, and about his mag\u00adi\u00adcal jour\u00adney along the Ama\u00adzon Riv\u00ader.
At a used book stall, I found a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly deli\u00adcious book: Taniza\u00adki Junichi\u00adro\u2019s The Makio\u00adka Snow. It was incred\u00adi\u00adbly thick, and only cost two yuan. It\u2019s a tru\u00adly elu\u00adsive nov\u00adel, rich\u00adly fla\u00advored with Japan\u00adese ele\u00adments. It tells the tale of the mun\u00addane lives of four sis\u00adters from a declin\u00ading aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic fam\u00adi\u00adly, with excep\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly nuanced psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal descrip\u00adtions. It\u2019s a life-size micro\u00adcosm of the world. It\u2019s a clas\u00adsic, but exhaust\u00ading! I read from Ori\u00adoles Singing in the Wil\u00adlows to Watch\u00ading Fish at the Flower Har\u00adbor, and from there to Changqiao Park. I could\u00adn\u2019t stand it any longer, so I climbed to Yuhuangding Peak in one breath, only to come down to catch my breath before fin\u00adish\u00ading. But it was also thanks to this book that I dis\u00adcov\u00adered the per\u00adfect place to read in Hangzhou\u2014Changqiao Park.
A good place for out\u00addoor read\u00ading is nei\u00adther too com\u00adfort\u00adable nor too com\u00adfort\u00adable, nei\u00adther too noisy nor too qui\u00adet. While the prin\u00adci\u00adple of nei\u00adther being too uncom\u00adfort\u00adable nor too noisy is obvi\u00adous, too much com\u00adfort can eas\u00adi\u00adly lead to a loss of moti\u00adva\u00adtion, while too much qui\u00adet can make one rest\u00adless, a prin\u00adci\u00adple less wide\u00adly under\u00adstood. Ori\u00adoles Singing in the Wil\u00adlow Waves is too com\u00adfort\u00adable, so read\u00ading a few short essays is enough. Watch\u00ading Fish in the Flower Har\u00adbor is either too busy or too seclud\u00aded, so strolling in an emp\u00adty pavil\u00adion and hum\u00adming a few lines of poet\u00adry is accept\u00adable, but the entrance fee and tea are too expen\u00adsive, mak\u00ading it unwor\u00adthy. The stone bench\u00ades along the Bai Cause\u00adway are bustling with peo\u00adple, so they\u2019re fine for read\u00ading grip\u00adping nov\u00adels, but read\u00ading any\u00adthing more roman\u00adtic can be daunt\u00ading if you let your\u00adself get car\u00adried away. Chaoyang Tea\u00adhouse is nice, but after morn\u00ading, it becomes a place for sun\u00adbathing.
Only Changqiao Park offers the cheap\u00adest admis\u00adsion, rarely sees crowds, and with its moun\u00adtain back\u00addrop and lake views, it\u2019s a tru\u00adly relax\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adence. The park lacks any recre\u00adation\u00adal facil\u00adi\u00adties, elim\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading any dis\u00adtrac\u00adtions. Enjoy a stroll in the pavil\u00adion, recline on a stone bench, or relax on the lawn. It\u2019s tru\u00adly a per\u00adfect place to read! When you get bored with read\u00ading, climb to the Jade Emper\u00ador Peak across the way and vis\u00adit the \u201cLantern Pavil\u00adion\u201d with its panoram\u00adic views of West Lake to the left and Qiantang Riv\u00ader to the right. Relax\u00ading in the breeze is tru\u00adly a delight! (Note: The winds at the top of the moun\u00adtain are strong, mak\u00ading it unsuit\u00adable for read\u00ading.)
I forcibly fin\u00adished read\u00ading \u201cThe Makio\u00adka Sis\u00adters.\u201d I almost for\u00adgot every\u00adthing about this nov\u00adel after fin\u00adish\u00ading it, but there\u2019s one scene I\u2019m afraid I\u2019ll nev\u00ader for\u00adget. It tells the sto\u00adry of a group of sis\u00adters who meet up at a famous sushi restau\u00adrant on a Tokyo river\u00adbank to eat \u201clive sushi.\u201d Live sushi is made with fresh lob\u00adster. Thanks to the chef\u2019s excep\u00adtion\u00adal knife skills, the lob\u00adster seg\u00adments sand\u00adwiched between the rice balls are still under\u00adgo\u00ading \u201clow-lev\u00adel nerve reflex\u00ades,\u201d so the sushi still moves when you eat it, as if it were alive. The dis\u00adcern\u00ading female cus\u00adtomers would often let out adorable excla\u00adma\u00adtions, while the chef would look smug\u00adly dis\u00admis\u00adsive. This is my favorite pas\u00adsage. Every time I read it, I get a rage inside me. I take out my fried dough cake, chomp on it, and then, after forc\u00ading it down with min\u00ader\u00adal water, I\u2019m over\u00adwhelmed with the urge and yearn\u00ading to call for \u201crev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a beau\u00adti\u00adful Sun\u00adday, so A and B went out togeth\u00ader. Hav\u00ading vis\u00adit\u00aded West Lake many times before, they decid\u00aded to try some\u00adthing new this time.
I once read Yu Dafu\u2019s novel\u00adla, \u201cLate Osman\u00adthus Blos\u00adsom,\u201d about a mid\u00addle-aged man who, at a friend\u2019s invi\u00adta\u00adtion, coun\u00adsels his younger sis\u00adter. The two spend a day togeth\u00ader on the shores of West Lake, forg\u00ading a pure, broth\u00ader\u00adly bond. I read it on a strong rec\u00adom\u00admen\u00adda\u00adtion, and after fin\u00adish\u00ading it, I\u2019m still unsure whether it\u2019s good or not, except that it\u2019s a rare Yu Dafu nov\u00adel full of whole\u00adsome, bright vibes. I actu\u00adal\u00adly man\u00adaged to mem\u00ado\u00adrize the gen\u00ader\u00adal route of the West Lake itin\u00ader\u00adary. The local host in the nov\u00adel is named Weng, and his home is on Wengji\u00adashan, a moun\u00adtain near Man\u00adjue\u00adlong. It\u2019s from here that the hero and his younger sis\u00adter set out on their jour\u00adney. The nov\u00adel is set in Sep\u00adtem\u00adber, and the osman\u00adthus blos\u00adsoms in Man\u00adjue\u00adlong have already bloomed, but the late osman\u00adthus on the moun\u00adtain is even more fra\u00adgrant and beau\u00adti\u00adful.
We first took a bus to Lingyin Tem\u00adple. In front of Lingyin Tem\u00adple, there\u2019s a small path lead\u00ading to Zhong\u00adtianzhu and Shang\u00adtianzhu. We stopped for a while at the nun\u00adnery in Zhong\u00adtianzhu, where admis\u00adsion is free. The nuns were chant\u00adi\u00adng morn\u00ading prayers. It\u2019s no exag\u00adger\u00ada\u00adtion to say they were chant\u00adi\u00adng \u201cNamo Amitab\u00adha\u201d over and over in a gen\u00adtle, melo\u00addi\u00adous melody. It was tru\u00adly refresh\u00ading and enlight\u00aden\u00ading, like a rev\u00ade\u00adla\u00adtion.
After cross\u00ading Shang\u00adtianzhu and walk\u00ading for a while, we asked the locals and were told that Wengjia Moun\u00adtain lay just below us. We did\u00adn\u2019t want to take the high\u00adway, so we fol\u00adlowed the moun\u00adtain path for a long, some\u00adtimes uphill, some\u00adtimes down\u00adhill path. We met almost no one and lost our sense of direc\u00adtion. It was\u00adn\u2019t the right time of year, so we def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly would\u00adn\u2019t see any osman\u00adthus flow\u00aders, but we did see plen\u00adty of bam\u00adboo shoots. We passed sev\u00ader\u00adal vil\u00adlages along the way, but since we had no clear des\u00adti\u00adna\u00adtion, we did\u00adn\u2019t both\u00ader ask\u00ading for direc\u00adtions and just kept walk\u00ading.
After climb\u00ading a hill\u00adside, we found our\u00adselves in a tea plan\u00adta\u00adtion perched on a hill\u00adtop. A few old\u00ader chil\u00addren popped out from the area, eye\u00ading us war\u00adi\u00adly. Upon ask\u00ading, we learned we were at Lion Peak. The pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist in the nov\u00adel had also tra\u00adversed this spot. Just below Lion Peak lies Longjing Vil\u00adlage, and not far from the vil\u00adlage is Hupao Spring. It was past noon when we stopped for tea at Hupao. After a quick bite to eat, we head\u00aded into the Nine Creeks and Eigh\u00adteen Streams.
After walk\u00ading the Nine Creeks and Eigh\u00adteen Streams, A and B dis\u00adcussed whether to fol\u00adlow the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist\u2019s lead and walk to the Yun\u00adqi Bam\u00adboo Path. We asked the locals, and they said it was still more than ten miles away, and the road was uphill, so we gave up. I just could\u00adn\u2019t under\u00adstand how the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnists in the nov\u00adel could walk so fast, stop\u00adping and start\u00ading, and still arrive in time for the wed\u00adding. It was tru\u00adly incred\u00adi\u00adble.
It was a very tir\u00ading day, but it was also a dif\u00adfer\u00adent kind of read\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ajia in Decem\u00adber 1998<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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