Sanpo
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The Adventures of Peking
What an interesting story,
What Beijing!
1939,
American writer Marianne Cannon Schlesinger
The small book "The Adventures of Sanbao Beiping" written for Beijing,
After 85 years,
It will still make readers sigh so heartily.
Like Mr. Lao She's "Camel Xiangzi", the little guy Sanbao also comes from a plain village on the edge of Beijing. On this day, I followed my father to the city to sell grain. Sanbao, who entered the city for the first time, was separated from his father, and therefore had many adventures: he ate a big bowl of hot noodle soup at the noodle stall, met the noodle kneader in the small alley, visited the Longfu temple fair, ate sugar gourds, and finally, after going through twists and turns, Sanbao reunited with his father and brought a beautiful dragon head kite home.
Illustrations in the book
Back 85 years ago, what Sanbao saw along the way was exactly what the writer saw in Beijing, and it was also the Beijing that she would never forget for the rest of her life.
"The Adventures of Three Treasures in Beiping" is only 110 pages, a thin small book, which allows Xiaobu to stand in Beijing today and see Beiping 85 years ago.
Illustrations in the book
A city has its own feelings, and it has its most interesting and nostalgic connotations.
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Take someone home
The dough sculptors that Sanbao met pinched all kinds of drama characters, birds and animals in the alleys, attracting children, and three big coppers could be bought.
The picture shows the scene of an old Beijing craftsman kneading noodles on the street. Source: Beijing Daily client
Today, the dough sculpture technique has become a national intangible cultural heritage, and has become one of the "Beijing gifts" that tourists from all over the world are willing to bring back to their hometowns after visiting Beijing.
It is said that the noodle sculpture originated from the traditional Chinese noodle making, as early as the Tang Dynasty, the folk made "noodle fish", "noodle sheep", "flower dumplings" and so on for festivals and sacrifices. Clever craftsmen gradually developed the art of dough molding, which has been perfected and passed down for more than 1,000 years.
The picture shows the old artist who sells noodles at the temple fair, inserting the kneaded noodles on the wooden frame in front of them, and knocking on the sugar gong to attract the children. Source: Beijing Daily Old Jingtu said
The most famous dough sculptor in Beijing is the "Noodle Renlang" family. During the 2022 Winter Olympics, a video of Prince Albert II of Monaco experiencing the making of dough sculptures in the Great Hall of the People once went viral all over the Internet. Lang Jiaziyu, who made the dough sculpture "Bingdundun" for him, is the youngest inheritor of the "Noodle Lang" family.
Lang Jiaziyu, the third-generation inheritor of the "post-95" national intangible cultural heritage of Beijing's "Noodle Lang", has been nurtured by his family since he was a child, and learned art with his father Lang Zhichun at the age of three, and has been more than 20 years old, inspiring to spread and carry forward excellent traditional culture and traditional art. Source: Beijing Daily
Prince Albert II of Monaco experiences dough making at the Great Hall of the People. Source: CCTV News
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"Gourd, rock candy"
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In the era when Sanbao lived, rock sugar gourd was one of the snacks sold by hawkers in the streets. I heard the shouting from afar: "Hulu'er, the ...... of rock sugar" The child's greed was instantly hooked.
A vendor selling rock sugar gourds in an alley. Source: Beijing Daily client
Rock sugar gourd occupies the status of "symbol food" in the ancient capital snack rivers and lakes. If you don't taste rock sugar gourd, you can't be considered to have "eaten" the taste of Beijing. To put it simply, the rock sugar gourd is a string of various fruits with bamboo skewers, dipped in boiled maltose syrup, the syrup is dry, and the fruits are "frozen" on the bamboo skewers, like a string of small gourds.
The most classic rock sugar gourd in Beijing is hawthorn. Early winter is the best season for hawthorn, and it is also the "best tasting period" for rock sugar gourds.
During the Republic of China, vendors selling rock sugar gourds on the streets of Beijing. Source: China Archives
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Visit the temple fair
For the old Beijingers, the temple fair is a commercial event. The "Five Great Temple Fairs" in old Beijing, including Longfu Temple, Baita Temple, Huguo Temple, Land Temple and Flower Market, were once very famous, among which Longfu Temple Fair was the largest and most lively. Sanbao found his separated father here, and he was also dazzled in the temple fair.
Huguo Temple Fair (selected from Sheng Xishan's "Old Beijing City Style Painting"). Source: Beijing Fangzhi Museum
The Beijing Temple Fair in 1939 (selected from the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, "Old Beijing Shuwen and Folklore"). Source: Beijing Fangzhi Museum
Today's Beijingers still like to visit temple fairs. Every year during the Spring Festival, there are many temple fairs. Visiting the Spring Festival temple fair in Beijing is a good opportunity to appreciate Beijing folk customs, taste Beijing food, and buy folk handicrafts.
temple
Yes
During the Spring Festival of 2024, temple fairs across Beijing will be bustling. Source: Beijing Daily client
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Dazha Yan'er flew into the sky
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"Dazha Yan'er" is the collective name for kites used by children in Beijing. In the primary school textbook, there are poems such as "children return early from school, busy taking advantage of the east wind to release paper kites", paper kites, is the nickname of kites.
The scene of flying a kite in "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival". Source: Beijing Evening News Five-color soil
The old Beijingers pay attention to flying kites after the Qingming Festival, and the "big Zha Yan'er" is flying all over the sky, which is a scene in spring. Buying a kite is also one of the pleasures of visiting the temple fair, and Sambo bought a dragon head kite.
A kite stall at an old Beijing temple fair. Source: Beijing Daily Old Jingtu said
Kite-making is also one of Beijing's intangible cultural heritages, and it is said that the "Beijing Cao's Kite" that has been passed down to this day is also related to Cao Xueqin, the author of "Dream of Red Mansions". Cao Xueqin's "Waste Art Zhai Collection Manuscript" Volume 2 "Southern Harrier and Northern Kite Examination Journal" systematically recorded the principle of kite lifting, paste technique, and painting essentials, no wonder the master wrote the scene of Baoyu and her sisters flying kites in the Grand View Garden so vividly.
Source: Beijing release