Introduction#
I don't know how many people enjoy reading history and poetry, and still remember when my father taught me to recite the Three Hundred Tang Poems. I remember how angry my father would get when I couldn't recite them. When I was young, I thought poetry was just poetry and not fun. It wasn't until I grew up that I realized that these were the essence of Chinese culture, and they could provide comfort from thousands of years ago when my own soul was in turmoil. Recently, I have been reading "Shining Stars of Song Dynasty Poetry," which introduces the superstars of the Song Dynasty. It includes figures such as Li Yu, the last emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty (considered the father of Song Dynasty poetry), Fan Zhongyan, who worried about the world before himself, and Li Qingzhao, the first talented woman of the Song Dynasty. The book explores their experiences and how they reflected historical events through their poetry.
History is a circle, and everyone will experience the ebb and flow of life multiple times. When we are happy, we enjoy music and poetry, and when we are sad, we feel like a river flowing eastward. In the face of history, humans are just a microcosm of society. Happiness, pain, and melancholy are all reflections of society on ourselves. We cannot escape from these things. When we feel overwhelmed, it may be helpful to understand the wisdom of ancient Chinese sages. It might provide some solace in this rapidly changing society.
Drinking Tea#
When I was young, I used to stay at my grandmother's house for a long time. My grandfather would set up his tea set and brew a pot of tea. As soon as the hot water was poured out of the kettle, he would refill it and continue boiling. The small teapot could only pour four cups of tea at a time, but even so, my grandfather was still happy. At that time, I didn't understand why Chinese people drank tea like this. For me, beverages were just for quenching thirst. In the hot summer, I would gulp them down and continue to "go crazy" with my playmates.
These past few days, Chengdu has finally started to heat up. Our weekend travel plans have been almost ruined by the scorching sun, so we have to choose to go out in the afternoon. Perhaps it was because of the tea we had in Longquan with my colleagues last time, I suddenly felt that it would be a pleasure to sit outside leisurely with friends and family, drinking a pot of tea and chatting about our recent lives.
We set off for Wangping Street this time, as my girlfriend found it online and thought it was a nice place in Chengdu to visit. There are also places to drink tea there. So we headed to Wangping Street.
Wangping Street runs along the Jin River. There are various stalls along the river, and the storefronts facing the river offer traditional Chengdu food and drinks. There are tea, alcoholic beverages, bubble tea, hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, hot pot, dry pot, skewers, and so on.
As we walk along this street, we can see the Sichuan Radio and Television Tower in the distance. It lights up at night, and there are crowds of people of all kinds nearby. Young people dress fashionably, sitting by the street playing cards and drinking tea. If you have a pet dog, you will be the most popular person on this street.
Since we had lunch late, we found a place to drink tea. They had cold-drip tea, and the tea set for cold-drip tea was quite special. The container for water was inverted and filled with ice cubes. There was a water outlet at the bottom of the container with a valve to control the flow of water. The container below collected the water and had a tea filter similar to a thermos with tea leaves. The water dripped into the tea leaves through the filter, underwent multiple extractions, and then dripped into the container below. When drinking tea, you only needed to pour the tea water from the lower container.
Sitting by the river with my girlfriend, watching people come and go, there was a fortune teller who came over and said, "A guy with a big nose like you will have good fortune. Let me read your face." I laughed and declined the fortune teller's offer. The shop we were in not only served cold-drip tea but also had a bulldog lying in front of it, holding a baseball bat in its mouth. When we first arrived, the owner was trying to exchange sausages in his hand for the baseball bat, but it was unsuccessful. They are said to have live broadcasts on TikTok, so there may be a chance to "play with the dog" online (laughs).
After the sky darkened, the heat of the afternoon was swept away by the river breeze and the tea. My girlfriend and I talked a lot, from work to blogs, and from blogs to life. We also tried to invite our colleagues to join us, but we had to settle for being online friends because they needed to write service reports for our boss.
We sat down at 7 p.m. and stayed until 10 p.m. The heat of the day had dissipated, and it was even a bit cool by the Jin River. But the enthusiasm of the people on this street never waned. Since we lived far away and were afraid of missing the last subway, we had to leave early and end the night that had just begun.
Afterword#
Faced with market deflation, it seems that we are all powerless. Our current work is quite difficult, and we dare not make any changes easily. Perhaps the only way to resist the market is to keep saving money. One night, my girlfriend told me that we don't need to be very wealthy; taking care of our health and living to be 100 years old is true wealth. Yes, it is not worth sacrificing our health for work, regardless of how much we earn. Work is only for a better life, not the entirety of life. It seems that I have forgotten these principles because I have been on the road for too long.
Life hasn't taught me anything in particular, but the experiences I have had in life have shaped who I am today. I hope that your life and mine will treat us well. If life slaps us in the face, we must find a way to fight back!