▲ Jinhua-Yiwu Metropolitan Area, the fourth metropolitan area in Zhejiang Province. Photo/Visual China
-Fengwujun Language-
The heart of Zhejiang
Star of China
"Jinhua" must be one of the most poetic place names in China.
▲ The north hill overlooks the whole view of Jinhua City. Photography/Wood grain
Unlike most cities named after mountains and rivers, terrain and other names, "Jinhua" comes from the sky, which is the place where Wu actress and Venus compete for glory, whether it is the ancient name "Wuzhou" or the current name "Jinhua", there is a poetry derived from the starry sky.
▲ Lunu Lake is located in the Wong Tai Sin Scenic Area of Jinhua Mountain, with an altitude of nearly 600 meters. Photography/Wood grain
The humanistic traditions here are deeply rooted in the heart of Zhejiang and are well-deserved "the heart of Zhejiang". But "upside down" has also become a prominent symbol of Jinhua, and locals often jokingly claim: Jinhua in Zhejiang, Yongkang in China, Hengdian in Asia, And Yiwu in the world! But behind the joke, it is undeniable that making great achievements in small industries and making big dreams in small towns is really the natural skills of Jinhua people.
<h1 style="text-align: center;"> "Zhejiang center", what is Jinhua? </h1>
Jinhuadi is located in the geographical center of Zhejiang, with Hangzhou and Shaoxing in the north, Quzhou in the west, Taizhou in the east, and Lishui in the south, making Jinhua the only city in Zhejiang Province that is neither coastal nor adjacent to the provincial border.
▲ Schematic map of administrative divisions of Jinhua City. Cartography/Wu Pan
The location of the heart of Zhejiang has made Jinhua a "spokesperson" for Zhejiang's landforms. Zhejiang Province is not large, but it can be divided into 6 natural geographical units, and Jinhua has crossed 4 of them with the strength of a city, becoming one of the richest geomorphological areas in Zhejiang.
▲ The quiet moment of Sanhekou in Jinhua City. Photography/Wood grain
The major rivers in the central region run through the Jinqu Basin, surrounded by small mountain basins such as the Wuyi Basin and the Yongkang Basin. These basins have become the main areas for the development of cities in central Zhejiang, and the urban areas and county seats within the city are concentrated here, feeding the historic city of Jinhua, The capital of small commodities Yiwu, and the Hollywood Hengdian in Asia...
▲ Xianhua Mountain is said to be the place where Yuan Xiu, a young girl of the Yellow Emperor of Xuanyuan, ascended to heaven. Photo/Visual China
The northern part of Pujiang County belongs to the northwest Zhongshan Hilly District, where Xianhua Mountain is known as the "area of beauty between heaven and earth", and it is said that it is the place where Yuan Xiu, a young girl of the Yellow Emperor of Xuanyuan, ascended to heaven.
The eastern part of Pan'an County belongs to the eastern hilly area, dapan mountain runs through the north and south, "remote view of the sea north thousand layer waves, the first peak of the South of the Shixin River", known as the Zhejiang Dongzu Mountain, Jiangnan Medicine Valley, not only the mountain control half of the province, but also the traditional Chinese herbal medicine "Zhejiang Eight Tastes" in the five flavors of the medicinal materials of the important production area.
▲ Through the tunnel is the main city of Wuyi County. Photography / Li Qiong
The southern part of Wuyi County and Yongkang City belongs to the southern Zhongshan District, where Niutou Mountain is 1560 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak in central Zhejiang.
The location of the heart of Zhejiang has also made Jinhua a classic representative of Zhejiang's "seven mountains, one water and two fields".
▲ Day and night on the six banks of the three rivers. Photography/Wood grain
The 10,942 square kilometers of land in Jinhua are dotted with more than 208 peaks of more than 1,000 kilometers. Under the mountains of Jinhua and Lanxi, there are karst landforms such as Shuanglong Cave and Liudong Mountain Underground River; there are also fiery Danxia such as FangYan in the mountains of Yongkang.
▲ From top to bottom, they are: Jinhua Mountain Snow Scene, Wuyi River, Wujiang River. Figure 1, 2 Photography / Wood grain, Figure 3 / Visual China
Wujiang, Dongyangjiang, Wuyijiang, Puyangjiang and many other rivers pass through the hills and hills between the mountains of Zhejiang, although they are not considered large rivers, but they also save the trouble of the great flood. The precious basin fed by the river has become the "two-point field" of intensive cultivation by the Jinhua people, and the small terraces adjacent to the river in the basin have become the first land in Zhejiang to nurture the light of culture.
▲ The precious basin fed by the river has become a fertile field for the Jinhua people to cultivate intensively. Photo/Visual China
As early as 10,000 years ago, on a small plateau called Shangshan on the banks of the Puyang River, people began to build houses, make pottery, and grow rice – archaeological discoveries in 2005 proved that Shangshan was the world's earliest area for artificial cultivation of rice, which is one of the origins of the world's rice culture.
<h1 style="text-align: center;"> the light of Zhejiang culture, why jinhua? </h1>
In Zhejiang, where there are many famous cities, Jinhua's sense of existence is far less than that of Hangzhou, Yong, Wen and Shao, but when it comes to cultural inheritance, this is the real light of Zhejiang.
▲ Aerial photography of golden rice paddies near the Shangshan ruins in Pujiang County. Photo/Visual China
The 10,000-year-old Shangshan site is not only an important origin of the rice cultivation culture, but also the remnants of the "Shangshan culture" named after this site are spread throughout central and southern Zhejiang, opening the prelude to the origin of agriculture in the cultural history of Zhejiang and even East Asia.
In 2019, a ring trench settlement dating back 9,000 years was discovered at the Yiwu Qiaotou site, which belongs to the same Shangshan culture, which is an "important step from cave to basin" in the history of human habitation. The faience excavated from the Qiaotou site is one of the earliest faience remains in the world, and more archaeological discoveries have yet to be confirmed, and it may even push the world's winemaking history from mesopotamia's 6,000 years to 9,000 years ago.
▲ Figure 1: The Large Mouth Basin of the Shangshan Culture is a typical artifact of the Shangshan Culture; Figure 2: Many of the pottery pieces excavated from the Shangshan site also have chaff shells.
Whether it is rice, faience or winemaking, these achievements, which are inseparable from the soil, have laid the foundation for Jinhua's strong local traditions, and the "enterprise-level understanding" of the soil continues to blossom.
The later Wuzhou kiln was ranked as one of the six famous kilns of the Tang Dynasty, although it was inferior to the Yue kiln of the same Zhejiang in terms of fame, but it did not fall behind in the slightest, leading the times: this was one of the earliest kiln systems in the world to develop underglaze brown color decorative art, the earliest use of makeup soil to decorate the carcass, and the earliest creation of the kiln system of burning emulsion glaze kilns.
▲ Wuzhou kiln is listed as one of the six famous kilns in the Tang Dynasty. Photo/Visual China
This exquisite pursuit of decorative arts is the concentrated presentation of the terroir in Zhejiang. Since the Tang Dynasty, Dongyang wood carving has ranked first among the four major wood carvings in China, creating the "Baroque era" of Chinese, which can be called the pinnacle of Chinese residential decorative arts.
▲ Figure 1: Dongyang wood carving in Jinhua residential building; Figure 2: Pujiang Xinguang Village Yaoyu Hall. Photography / A man who loves Jinhua
Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the "Dongyang Gang", represented by carpenters, plasterers and carvers, has become one of the three major construction gangs with the Xiangshan Gang and the Ningbo Gang, and has a very wide influence.
Among the famous Huizhou residences, in fact, a considerable number of them are from the hands of the Dongyang Gang. Professor Shan Deqi of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University believes that "the so-called Huipai architecture is the traditional construction technique of Dongyang. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, most of the traditional houses in Huizhou were built by Dongyang gang craftsmen. ”
▲ Jinhua has preserved a large number of high-quality ancient villages, the picture shows Xinguang Village in Pujiang County. Photography / A man who loves Jinhua
Not only that, the Dongyang Gang is even more "entering the room" and becoming the construction force of the royal palace. When the Forbidden City was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty, the Dongyang Gang became an important main force, and between 1736 and 1795 alone, more than 400 Dongyang wood carving artists were ordered to enter Beijing. In 2007, the Imperial Pole Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing reproduced a "Qianlong Throne" carved with 900 dragons, which was written by Huang Xiaoming, a master woodcarver in Dongyang.
The "hometown of hundreds of workers" has been passed down to this day, and to this day, the number of special qualification construction enterprises in Dongyang still ranks first in the counties and cities in the country.
<h1 style="text-align: center;"> Zhejiang cuisine secret, why jinhua? </h1>
Starting from the rice husk rice grains of the Shangshan culture, it is this "erfen field" in Jinhua that has achieved a wonderful gastronomic tradition.
▲ Jinhua ham, one of the world's three major hams. Photo/Visual China
There is no doubt that as long as the input of "Jinhua" in the brain of any Chinese, the first associative keyword that pops out must be "ham". As one of the three major hams in the world, Chinese is both familiar and unfamiliar with Jinhua ham.
The so-called "familiarity", of course, is that everyone has heard of this famous jiangnan product, and from time to time it can be found in the pen of Wang Zengqi, Liang Shiqiu, Jin Yong and other literary gourmets. But the sense of "strangeness" is always the same, and many people can't figure out the difference between "ham" and "ham sausage".
▲ The real Jinhua ham is made of locally produced "two-headed wu". Photography / Princess Xingyue, Picture / FigureWorm Creative
The real Jinhua ham is made of dried and fermented pig legs of the local "two-headed wu" (a pig with a black head and tail), which is moderate in size, thin in skin, small in skeleton and full in the heart of the legs, which is ideal for making ham. The preference for "smelly, rotten, moldy and salty" is one of the important characteristics of Zhejiang cuisine, and Jinhua ham, which is characterized by fermentation, is undoubtedly one of the classics.
Hanging a whole pig leg in a shady house is a common scene in the homes of many "old Jinhua", and the jokes of foreign friends and the Jinhua people who study and work outside are often helpless - if you really want to send a whole pig leg to your classmates and colleagues, it must be the most smoky boy on campus or in the company.
▲ Drying ham and wax flavor is a style of Jinhua. Figure 1 Photography / Kouzi, Figure / MarketMap Network; Figure 2 Photography / Princess Xingyue, Figure / Figure Worm Creative
The influence of Jinhua ham on Chinese cuisine is also extremely far-reaching. First of all, the famous dish honey juice fire party in Zhejiang cuisine, the most important raw material is the large square of Jinhua ham. But in addition to this extravagant practice of using ham as the main protagonist, the soul use of Jinhua ham is more often about freshness. Two other major chinese cuisines known for their delicacies are deeply essential: the broth with Jinhua ham basically forms the base of Cantonese and Huaiyang cuisine. So even if you think you haven't eaten Jinhua ham, you may have tasted it in other dishes.
▲ Jinhua ham has a huge influence on Chinese cuisine.
Cao Xueqin's "Dream of the Red Chamber" can be described as an encyclopedia of ancient aristocratic life, among which the famous ham dishes written about include more than ten kinds of ham stewed elbows, Luohan jumping wall, ham fresh bamboo shoot soup, etc., because the taste is too delicious, but also hot to the anxious Jia Baoyu. Zhang Dai of the Ming Dynasty was well versed in Jiangnan customs, and also praised Jinhua ham as "the only pork in taste, Jinhua has long been named." Corals are soft with flesh, amber and fat", making people drool.
▲ Jinhua shortbread and rice sieve climbing. Figure 1 Photography / Shao Xiaoxiao, Figure 2 Photography / Nuo Orange Mother, Figure / Figure Worm Creative
In addition to the fact that ham can be named Jinhua, there are enough local names to be proud of, jinhua shortbread, crispy and delicious shortbread with plum vegetables and pork as fillings, and co-branded combinations with Jinhua ham as the filling. Jinhua soup bun is also known as "Jinhua first point", is the leader in the southern soup buns.
Another maverick way of Jinhua cuisine lies in the preference for pasta. Although it was the first place in the world to grow rice, Jinhua people are also full of creativity in their noodles, which can be called Zhejiang's version of "Xiao Shanxi".
In Pujiang County in the north, a snack called "rice sieve climbing" is popular, where small dough is crawled, pressed and rolled out of a small pasta shaped like a cat's ear on the rice sieve. Panzhoujia village in the same county is also popular "one noodle", tens of kilograms of flour pull out a noodle hundreds of meters long, has long been a routine operation in the village.
▲ Pan Zhoujia noodles are a well-known dish in Jinhua Domain. Photo/Visual China
Yongkang City in the south is popular Yongkang meat wheat cake, Lanxi people eat chicken kon, Dongyang people like fertile noodles, a variety of noodles are simply to the point of ten different winds, Jinhua people eat a Zhejiang characteristics of wheat road. This is also related to several major immigrants from the north since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, bringing the noodle tradition of the Central Plains to this hinterland of the Jiangnan.
<h1 style="text-align: center;"> the fourth pole of Zhejiang, what is Jinhua? </h1>
The hills of the basin complement each other with local folklore, and Jinhua, which is known for its excellence, is actually not the main player of Zhejiang's economic development. Therefore, Zhejiang once lacked central cities, but small and medium-sized cities and small towns changed from generation to generation.
▲ Jinhua is an important transportation hub in Zhejiang. Photo/Visual China
The location of the heart of Zhejiang has made Jinhua an important transportation hub in Zhejiang very early. Historically, Jinhua has been the only way to connect southern zhejiang and northern Zhejiang, and the transportation and commerce methods of different eras have also contributed to the rise of different regional centers.
In the waterway era, the Jinhua River and qu river converged in Lanxi to become the Lan River, which is the largest tributary of the Qiantang River. Lanxi, which occupies the convenience of land and water, once became the most important industrial city in Zhejiang, and 70% of Jinhua's industry and more than 50% of its financial revenue were concentrated in this water and land hub, and it became the first county in Zhejiang with a fiscal revenue of 100 million yuan, and in 1985 it became the first county-level city in Zhejiang.
▲ The fishing boats floating on the LanJiang River are also a scenery. Photo/Visual China
In the railway era, Jinhua is the intersection of the Zhejiang-Gansu Railway and the Jinwen Railway, and has become the most important railway hub in Zhejiang except for the provincial capital Hangzhou.
▲ The Jinwen Railway is a major artery connecting central Zhejiang and southern Zhejiang. Photo/Visual China
The construction of the Jinwen Railway has distinct Zhejiang characteristics: this main artery connecting central Zhejiang and southern Zhejiang was once "seven up and seven down, and the discussion was not decided", and finally completed and opened to traffic in 1998 under the auspices of Zhejiang scholar Nan Huaijin, becoming China's first joint-stock local railway and pioneering the introduction of foreign capital to build a local railway. Promoted by literati and volunteers, and managed by private forces, it can be described as a very "Zhejiang spirit".
In addition to making good use of the existing geographical conditions, Jinhua people are better at breaking through the constraints of physical geography. The vigorous development of small and medium-sized towns here is inseparable from the spirit of the times that dare to break through and dare to fight - Jinhua's road to breaking the situation is particularly exciting.
▲ Jinhua at night has the fashion sense of a big city. Photography/Wood grain
Due to the narrow size of the population and the lack of materials, the limited basin could not support such a dense population, and Jinhua's commercial spirit became a light that broke through the agricultural era.
As early as the 23rd mile of Yiwu in the 1960s, some people smelled the breath of thin profits, and through the form of "chicken feathers for sugar", established a small commodity trading model for the purpose of the original generation, even in the criticism of "speculation" and "capitalist tail", it still maintained its vitality.
▲ Yiwu International Trade City. Figure/Figureworm Creative
Later, everyone knows the story, Yiwu, which started from chicken feathers to sugar, has been iteratively updated after the reform and opening up, and has now become the world's largest small commodity trading and distribution center. In Yiwu's markets, it is not uncommon for small shop vendors who know many foreign languages, and authentic Central Asian, Turkish and even Lebanese dishes can be eaten in the streets and alleys.
▲ Yiwu Sanding Road Night Market. Photo/Visual China
In 2020, 1399 new European trains crossed the Eurasian continent, accounting for 11.3% of the total number of Central European trains. Almost 40% of the passengers at Yiwu Airport are foreign passengers, which even exceeds that of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, ranking first among airports in the country.
The international Yiwu has become the most magical modern story in Zhejiang, where the volume of orders and the direction of goods have even become important parameters for studying the international situation. In the United States election, the World Cup and other international events thousands of miles away, the "Yiwu Index" has become an important reference.
▲ Yiwu International Trade City. Photography / Lu Wen
Yiwu may be the most well-known county-level city in China, but in addition, jinhua's counties, cities and even townships are also martial arts masters with extraordinary skills.
Dongyang's Hengdian is known as the Hollywood of Asia, and the street group performance here may be able to talk to you about Stanislavsky or Brecht. Rooted in Dongyang, "Noonday Sunshine" frequently produces blockbuster TV series, such as "Mountains and Seas", "Langya List", "Parental Love" and so on. Yongkang's hardware, Dongyang's construction engineering, and Pujiang's crystal all have an eye-catching industry leader.
▲ Hengdian Film and TV City. Photography / Lu Wen
Even in the challenging Internet era, Jinhua can lead the way: among the top ten counties and cities of cross-border e-commerce in Zhejiang Province, Jinhua alone accounts for half, and Yiwu and Yongkang rank first and second, respectively. In the data released by the State Post Bureau, Jinhua is relying on strong private enterprises, and even suppresses the traditional commercial town of Guangzhou, ranking first in the national urban express delivery business.
The small town of C is no longer enough to describe Jinhua today - the "Jinyi Metropolitan Area", which does not have obvious geographical advantages, is becoming the fourth pole of Zhejiang, becoming one of the four major metropolitan areas that are side by side with Hangzhou, Yongwen and jointly lead Zhejiang to participate in global competition.
▲ The central axis of Bayi Street is illuminated at night. Photography/Wood grain
In the small village next to the "Erfentian", some people hang hams, some people light kiln fires, and some people carve out the imaginary ideal world. This ideal world:
It is a trench guarded by the ancient dwelling,
It's a bunch of rice in the field,
It is a vernacular building with the smell of food,
It is a commercial market with five sounds,
It's a strange film and television city,
It is a hardware shop that is pervasive in daily life...
This is not only a gift of natural conditions, but also a myth of "making something out of nothing" written by the Jinhua people who broke through the constraints of geography.
▲Ten Thousand Pagodas in Jinhua City. Photography/Wood grain
In the heart of Zhejiang, the "Star of China" shines with brilliance enough to illuminate the world!
- END -
Text | A man who loves Jinhua
Edit | ZZZ
Photo editor 丨Wang Jiale
Map editor 丨 Wu Pan
Cover photo丨Visive China
Resources
Lu Haiming's "Wuzhou Kiln Exploration"
State Post Bureau "State Post Bureau Announces the Operation of the Postal Industry in 2020"
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