The hometown has changed dramatically - Shazikou is a good place
Zhou Yaoquan
The hometown I am talking about here is not the hometown where I was born and raised, but the second hometown where I have dedicated 23 years of youth - Shazikou. Shazikou is located in Laoshan Mountain, Qingdao, and the Shazikou I am talking about here only refers to the coast of Shazikou Bay.
My 23 years in the Navy were 23 years of working in different units within a radius of less than 10 kilometers centered on Shazikou.
If Qingdao is a naval city, then Shazikou is a veritable naval town, and when you look up on the road, two of the three people you see are cadres or soldiers wearing naval uniforms.
At that time, Shazikou was a small east-west market town built along Shazikou Bay. The main transportation is by bus No. 4 to the city and bus No. 3 to Li Village. The town is more famous for its two-story supply and marketing cooperative, a garment factory in the north that arranges employment for the families of military troops, a school for the children of military troops, and local fishermen living in the bay on the east side. On the west side, there is a grain store, a post office, and a military supply station, mainly for the garrison troops, and on the south side, there is a shipyard by the sea, which also arranges for the employment of military families. The large seaside tidal flats are overgrown with various alkali-tolerant plants, which look very desolate.
Shazikou, as its name suggests, not only has there been a lot of sand on the beach, but also there is more sand on the land shore, and there is a thick layer of sand for several meters when dug down, and the family courtyard of the cadres of the army is built in a place called Shawo.
Shazikou Bay, the sea water is clear, the slope is gentle and flat, and the swells are light, so in the summer, the troops often organize swimming training at sea. The sandy soil is also very suitable for shellfish, so nearby villagers often take advantage of the tide to dig clams and sail out to catch fish. But when a factory was built to extract iodine from kelp, a pungent smell filled the air, making people passing by quicken their pace. Coupled with the sewage from some other factories, it caused serious pollution of the seawater, and a thick layer of sticky material would often float on the surface of the sea, and the original yellow and shiny sand was also soaked in gray-brown, and I could dye my hands black when I grabbed it, and I have never been to the sea since.
In the 90s of the last century, the barren beach was gradually transformed, the iodine extraction plant was also relocated, the shipyard was also relocated, some of the original sewage factories were also treated, the sand on the seaside was also rejuvenated, and the sea water became transparent again. Since entering the 21st century, it has changed by leaps and bounds, and its appearance is changing with each passing day.
Today, when we take Metro Line 4 from downtown Qingdao and step into Shazikou again, the first thing we see is "Invalids Street", a big red five-pointed star across both sides of the street. There are various types of business on the street, and the original supply and marketing cooperatives can only be relegated to a corner, and all kinds of goods are also available and dazzling.
Passing through the underpass, it is the Shazikou Leisure Square transformed from a barren beach, and the entrance is a giant blue circular sculpture with a diameter of 13 meters, on which there are mackerel jumping along the spiral body cycle (someone carefully counted, it is 76 mackerel, what the meaning, I did not find out), but it shows the happy life and the spirit of endless struggle in the prosperous era of Yuteng.
Shazikou is the birthplace of mackerel culture (mackerel jumps, the father-in-law laughs - in spring, the son-in-law must send mackerel to the old man), and from April every year, not only the annual mackerel festival is held here, but also a large-scale mackerel trade is carried out on the nearby fishing boat wharf, which has become a local scene.
Walking along the seaside wave embankment, strolling to the east, the once low shantytown has long been gone, only rows of three-story and four-story single-family villas built with red tiles in stone, which are very eye-catching and built on the mountain and water, showing the wealth of the local people's life and the beauty of the environment, and it is no wonder that the total rural economic income of Shazikou Street has been ranked first among the townships and towns in Qingdao since 1991.
Looking at Shazikou Bay, surrounded by mountain peaks on three sides, and the sea is wide and flat on one side. The white clouds overhead are leisurely, the blue sky is beautiful, the sea breeze in front of you caresses lightly, the seagulls fly low, the shallow swells and thin waves, kissing the coast, full of romantic and warm atmosphere. There are a few anglers are throwing the fishing rod into the distance, and later there is a buoy sinking and being dragged away, the quick angler quickly lifts the fishing rod, and sure enough, there is a gluttonous Zhaihua fish shaking its tail and is fished out of the sea.
We turned back to the leisure plaza again, and the plank road in the forest winds forward, surrounded by lush flowers and greenery, and there are also wooden eaves covered bridges, which can be described as ingenious and ingenious. I saw a few workers building the stage, it turned out that the summer party was about to be held here, and the local residents had a good place to spend summer. There are also families with children who are having a picnic, and some people are lying on the bench with their backs open, it turns out that they are enjoying the sun bathing and using the sun to replenish their body with calcium.
But what I've always had in mind is the Internet celebrity stele – a boulder with the inscription "Shazikou is a good place" on it. The three words "Shazikou" are a god-like existence for people who have served as soldiers in Shazikou. Therefore, the stele engraved with "Shazikou is a good place" has become a sacred scenic spot in the hearts of those who have been soldiers, and the photo of this stele has long been widely circulated in the circle of comrades-in-arms, and everyone who has been a soldier in Shazikou hopes to leave a photo in front of the stele as a permanent memorial.
This has also become a knot in my heart, so I have been looking for it since I entered the square, but I have not found any trace of it when I have walked through the square. So I had to ask the tourists, the chengguan team members, and the uncle who cleaned the toilets, and they all told me: I walked along the seaside and saw it. But......
When we walked out of the square and looked at the junction between Shazikou and Jianggezhuang from afar, there was a stone tablet carrying us on its side, until we walked to the front and turned around a little, and finally saw the stone monument that was erected in January 2019 and was divided into two lines with vertical writing "Shazikou is a good place". The greatest wish has finally been fulfilled, and the trip is considered a complete one.