[35-Days Trip 2010] Déjà vu @ HongCun

A friend told me that when someone starts recalling memory and feeling nostalgic, that means he/she is getting old. Somehow I remember this conversation happened when I was in junior high, on the way walking back home along the street in front of my home in Shanghai, where Phoenix tree's branches and leaves covering the sky above.

Summer in 1996, I was on the top floor of LiuHe Tower in HangZhou, leaning against the brick wall more than 850 years old. Sudden passion made me a plan to go back in 10 years, I thought it would be easy, because HangZhou is like a step away from Shanghai. While, 10 years later, summer in 2006, I was struggling through my first semester in Columbia, HangZhou is more than 10,000 miles away, I couldn't stick to my plan.

I spent the whole day of my 20's birthday on the train to HuangShan. That night I stayed in a small village called, HongCun, so did the next 20 days. And look, nothing seems changed ever since...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8499133@N02/sets/72157625335003166/with/5155550265/

The lane is deep and narrow.
I was one of them, sitting there entire day, painting.

Except  in the corner of my painting, it shows "01.8.31".

Almost forgot Oscar winner "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Unlike Avatar introduced HuangShan in a fancy science-fiction way, this one told a pure Chinese heronic story. Ancient village plus legendary kongfu caught eyes from all over the world.

However, what brought its name all the way to UN, is its water system.
The smaller central lake and bigger outside lake resembled cow's two stomaches in shape when our genious planner designed it hundreds of years ago.
Furthermore, rainwater collected by gutters in every single courtyard runs into these two lakes through underground ditches across the whole town. This circulation is still alive and being used in daily life.

(to be continued)