Escaping Modern China: Unwind in Historic Huizhou遠(yuǎn)離現(xiàn)代喧囂，徜徉古風(fēng)惠州

托馬斯·伯德

It is said that an immortal from the north flying on a goose was so taken by the scenery at Huizhou’s West Lake that she landed and her goose turned into Flying Goose Mountain. This is how Huizhou got its term of endearment， “City of the Goose”.

Located on the eastern periphery of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province， Huizhou can feel a world apart from the surrounding industrial region of the Pearl River Delta—China’s manufacturing powerhouse.

Urban upstart cities like nearby Dongguan and Shenzhen might outsize and outpace Huizhou （sounds like ‘hway-joe’）， but old Goose Town’s lakes， waterways， and verdant1 hills， not to mention its many historic attractions， make it the perfect antidote2 from the rush and clamour of modern China.

Poet’s path

The delight most feel when first confronted with Huizhou’s West Lake is not unique. The Song Dynasty scholar Su Dongpo （also known as Su Shi） was equally awestruck. Su hailed from Sichuan province， but had grown to prominence in the Song capital， Hangzhou， only to be exiled from the court for his contrarian3 views. In those days， anywhere south of the Nanling Mountains—which long sequestered far south China culturally and geographically from the rest of the country—was deemed barbarous， a malarial swampland4 on the very edge of civilization. Yet Su was genuinely taken by his home-of-exile， waxing lyrical5 about the local scenery， wine， tea and exotic fruits. Over his three-year stint6 in Huizhou， beginning in 1094， Su penned7 more than 500 verses ode to Huizhou and its people.

Today， Su’s lyrical endorsement is celebrated in the Huizhou West Lake Scenic Area. His poems have been carved into sculptures lining the Su Embankment， which leads towards Huizhou’s must-have photo， the Sizhou Tower—an 80-metre-high， seven-storey， hexagonal Buddhist pagoda first constructed during the Ming Dynasty.

In and around the Su Dongpo Memorial Hall， there are several sculptures depicting the wise and benevolent scribe8 enjoying southern9 life. The hall itself houses a collection of Su’s calligraphic verse. There’s limited English language information， but it’s a pleasant place to walk around， as its design is based on the classical Chinese gardens synonymous with the Song Dynasty.

Opposite the Memorial Hall， one can follow the Jiuqu （‘nine bends’） Bridge across Diancui and Fanghua Islands. The islands afford shade from the subtropical10 sunshine and are a great place to watch people potter11 about on pedal boats.

Religion and revolution

On the lake’s north shore， there’s more history to uncover， both religious and revolutionary. Tucked away in an old， mottled neighbourhood is Yuanmiao Temple， which was first constructed in 748 during the Tang Dynasty. Rebuilt again in 1990， this is incense-imbued homage to Lao Tzu， the philosopher at the heart of the Taoist tradition， is very much a living temple and a place where Huizhou folk come to venerate12 the gods （and presumably pray for some good fortune）.

As China reasserts itself， ancient culture is enjoying a renaissance.

A reconstruction of the Ming Dynasty city gate13 serves as another bold symbol that Huizhou is back in business. Walking through the gate， confronted by the surging Dong River and the gilded new district of Jiangbei across the water， lie the remnants of the original Ming wall preserved along the riverfront. This is clearly the boundary between the old and new， the China of scribes and temples within， the China of malls and manufacturing beyond.

The final piece of Goose Town’s historic jigsaw—a statue of Sun Yat-sen—is located in a park just behind the old wall. Intensely proud southerners revere Sun mostly because he hailed from Guangdong province; Sun even led a popular uprising from Huizhou in 1900.

Golden Belt Road

It can be thirsty work circumnavigating14 West Lake. Luckily， not far from the entrance to the Scenic Area is a quaint， two-storey coffee shop. Over a ￥30 fruit juice， the friendly patron15 will offer advice about the surrounding laneways. The adjacent16 alleyway， Jindai Jie （‘Golden Belt Road’）， is among Huizhou’s most historic streets.

First constructed in 1389， the winding old lane was once the commercial hub of Huizhou. Family houses and ancestral shrines line the route， affording a rare glimpse of a way of life fast fading from view in modern China.

Sacred slope

In Su Dongpo’s poem， Huizhou Yi Jue， Mount Luofu is lionised17， making for an easy excursion from Goose Town. Two hours by bus through disconcertingly18 messy industrial hamlets19 does little to invoke much anticipation： clearly， times have changed since Su’s day.

But the mountain， now a quintuple20-A tourist site， is spellbindingly21 beautiful. The tapestry of history one finds around West Lake is also weaved into the experience here. The central attraction is the beguiling22 atmospheric23 Chongxu Temple， first founded by Taoist abbot24 Ge Hong in 327， though it was rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty.

It’s extraordinary to think a temple stood here in Su Dongpo’s day. Su is said to have first tasted lychee here， a spot now commemorated in the Lychee Virtue Garden.

In summer， the tropical25 climate can make climbing the mountain unappealing， but there is a chair lift to the top. The ride up offers a birds-eye of the abounding26 forest， making it hard to believe you are still in the heart of China’s manufacturing region. During the final assent on foot towards Luofu’s summit， you can’t help but feel a bit like poetry in motion.

Make it happen

Regular buses depart from Kowloon Tong Station in Hong Kong， Luohu Bus Station in Shenzhen and Tianhe Bus Station in Guangzhou. Huizhou is on the Xiamen-Shenzhen high-speed railway line. The Dongguan to Huizhou intercity railway opened at the end of 2015.? ? ? ? ■

傳說(shuō)中，古代有一位仙人騎鵝從北方飛來(lái)，看見(jiàn)惠州西湖景色迷人，于是降落在此地，不愿離去，她的鵝也變成了如今的飛鵝嶺。惠州的昵稱(chēng)“鵝城”就是這么來(lái)的。

廣東省珠江三角洲是中國(guó)制造業(yè)基地。惠州就位于珠三角東緣，給人的感覺(jué)可能與周邊的珠三角工業(yè)區(qū)相去甚遠(yuǎn)。

鄰近的東莞和深圳這類(lèi)迅速崛起的城市，在城市規(guī)模和發(fā)展速度方面可能超過(guò)惠州，但古老的鵝城有眾多湖泊、水道，有連綿的青山，而且還有許多歷史名勝，是一個(gè)舒緩身心的好去處，正好可以消除現(xiàn)代中國(guó)都市的繁忙和喧囂帶來(lái)的壓力。

詩(shī)人之路

第一次見(jiàn)到惠州西湖時(shí)，大多數(shù)人都會(huì)感受到同樣的喜悅。宋代學(xué)者蘇東坡（又名蘇軾）也同樣為之驚嘆。蘇東坡出生于四川省，在宋朝都城杭州聲名鵲起，結(jié)果卻因政見(jiàn)不合被逐出朝廷，流放到嶺南的惠州。由于南嶺的阻隔，中國(guó)最南端的區(qū)域在文化上和地理上曾長(zhǎng)期與中國(guó)其他地區(qū)相隔絕，因此，嶺南一帶的所有地方在那個(gè)年代都被認(rèn)為是未開(kāi)化的，是一片瘴氣彌漫的沼澤地帶，處于文明的邊緣。然而，蘇東坡真的就被他的流放之地迷住了。他熱情洋溢地贊美當(dāng)?shù)氐娘L(fēng)景、美酒、香茗和各種奇異水果。從1094年開(kāi)始，蘇東坡在惠州生活了三年，在此期間寫(xiě)下了500多首詩(shī)詞贊頌惠州及惠州人民。

如今，人們?cè)诨葜菸骱L(fēng)景名勝區(qū)展示蘇東坡這些贊頌惠州的抒情詩(shī)詞，將它們刻在沿著蘇堤陳列的石刻上。走過(guò)蘇堤，就是游客拍照必不可少的惠州一景——泗州塔，一座80米高的七層六角佛塔，始建于明朝。

在蘇東坡紀(jì)念館內(nèi)部及其周?chē)袔鬃鸬袼埽茉炝诉@位仁心慧思的文豪享受嶺南生活之時(shí)的形象。紀(jì)念館內(nèi)陳列著蘇東坡的詩(shī)詞書(shū)法作品。雖然這里的英文介紹資料不多，但紀(jì)念館本身也是個(gè)游玩的好地方，因?yàn)樗脑O(shè)計(jì)基于中國(guó)古典園林的造園藝術(shù)——古典園林正是在宋朝興盛起來(lái)的。

穿過(guò)紀(jì)念館對(duì)面的九曲橋，就能走到湖面上的點(diǎn)翠洲和芳華洲。這兩座小島上可以納涼避暑，同時(shí)也是觀賞湖景的好地方，可以在這里看游人乘著腳踏船泛舟湖上。

宗教與革命

在西湖北岸有更多的歷史等著游客去發(fā)現(xiàn)，其中既有宗教歷史，也有革命歷史。始建于唐朝（公元748年）的元妙觀坐落在一個(gè)斑駁的老街區(qū)。這座道觀于1990年重新修建過(guò)，供奉著道教的核心人物——哲學(xué)家老子，如今仍然香火繚繞，惠州人會(huì)到這里來(lái)拜祭神靈（想必是為了祈求好運(yùn)）。

隨著中國(guó)在國(guó)際上重新發(fā)揮出重要影響力，中國(guó)古代文化如今正在復(fù)興。

重建的明代城門(mén)樓是惠州重振雄風(fēng)的又一個(gè)鮮明標(biāo)志。穿過(guò)城門(mén)，面前是奔騰不息的東江水，沿江有一段保存至今的明代古城墻，東江對(duì)岸是閃著金光的江北新區(qū)。這里顯然是新舊相接的邊界，內(nèi)有中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)的文人和廟宇，外有現(xiàn)代的商場(chǎng)和制造業(yè)。

鵝城歷史的最后一塊拼圖就在古城墻后面的一個(gè)公園里，那是一尊孫中山的塑像。嶺南人崇敬孫中山，并深深引以為傲，這主要是因?yàn)閷O中山是廣東人。1900年，孫中山領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了轟轟烈烈的惠州起義。

金帶街

繞著西湖走上一圈之后，可能會(huì)有些口渴，好在景區(qū)入口不遠(yuǎn)處有一家古色古香的兩層咖啡館。你可以點(diǎn)一杯30元的果汁，一邊喝果汁一邊聽(tīng)熱情友好的店主介紹周邊的大街小巷。咖啡館附近的金帶街，便是惠州的一條古街。

這條蜿蜒的老街始建于1389年，曾是惠州的商業(yè)中心。街上有很多老宅和祖祠，代表著中國(guó)人傳統(tǒng)的生活方式。在現(xiàn)代的中國(guó)，這種生活方式正在迅速消失。

圣地之坡

蘇東坡在《惠州一絕》這首詩(shī)中把羅浮山視作名勝，讓人覺(jué)得從鵝城出發(fā)到羅浮山游玩會(huì)很愜意。兩個(gè)小時(shí)的大巴，途經(jīng)一些雜亂無(wú)章的小工業(yè)村，這個(gè)過(guò)程很難引起游客的期待。很明顯，在蘇東坡那個(gè)年代之后，已經(jīng)時(shí)移物換。

不過(guò)，如今已經(jīng)是5A級(jí)旅游景區(qū)的羅浮山，確實(shí)美麗迷人。在西湖周?chē)l(fā)現(xiàn)的一些歷史畫(huà)面，也融入到了游覽羅浮山的旅程之中。羅浮山最重要的景點(diǎn)是神秘而迷人的沖虛觀。沖虛觀最初由住持葛洪道人于327年創(chuàng)建，不過(guò)，如今的道觀是在清朝重建的。

蘇東坡那個(gè)年代就有一座道觀矗立在這里，這真讓人感到驚奇。據(jù)說(shuō)蘇東坡就是在羅浮山第一次品嘗到荔枝的味道，現(xiàn)在山上的荔德園，就是紀(jì)念他當(dāng)年初品荔枝的地方。

在酷熱的夏天，爬山可能就沒(méi)有什么吸引力了，不過(guò)這里有吊椅式索道可以直達(dá)山頂。乘索道上山的途中，可以俯瞰羅浮山茂盛的森林，這種景色令人難以相信自己仍然身處中國(guó)制造業(yè)地區(qū)的中心位置。在最后步行登上羅浮山最高點(diǎn)的過(guò)程中，你不禁會(huì)感到詩(shī)意盎然。

踏上旅程

香港九龍?zhí)粒ǜ坭F）站、深圳羅湖汽車(chē)站和廣州天河汽車(chē)站都有固定班次的長(zhǎng)途客車(chē)開(kāi)往惠州。乘坐廈深高鐵可以到達(dá)惠州。東莞至惠州的城際鐵路也已經(jīng)于2015年年底開(kāi)通。 □

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)選手）