Lin'an Adventure: A Brief Trip and Local Culture Exploration

The day before yesterday, I made a brief trip to Lin’an and rode the 16th line bus there. Going to Lin’an was purely because the city’s name seemed very attractive to me. Before, I had heard of Lu You’s “Lin’an Spring Rain” and loved its famous lines: “A small tower hears spring rain one night, a shallow lane sells apricot flowers in the morning.” Although Lu You expressed his dissatisfaction with being called to the capital of Lin’an during his stay there, it was the boredom of listening to spring rain that truly fascinated me. After all, besides wind and sand, Beijing has nothing else.

S Southern Song capital was Hangzhou, which used the name “Lin’an County,” simply because they were from Lin’an. Lin’an is where Wu You’s father came from; it was also the birthplace and ancestral capital of the Wuyue tribe. The Southern government, recognizing Wu You’s father, Qian Cui, for his loyalty to the Song and his contributions to Hangzhou history under the name of his hometown “Lin’an,” designated Lin’an as a county in the “Lin’an” region.

Wuyue Culture

The Wuyue Culture Museum, Lin’an City Museum, and Gongcheng are all closely connected. After visiting one museum, you can wander uphill to see another. The building design and display level of the museums are acceptable, but they lack significant artifacts like major relics. You can only learn about local events from these limited exhibits. Compared to other regions’ museums in China’s mainland, Zhejiang’s many museums are relatively underdeveloped, especially those before the Song Dynasty. As a small city, Lin’an has even fewer authentic artifacts; most have been taken away by Zhejiang Provincial Museum. Here, only imitations remain. However, these smaller museums still offer interesting content and an intimate dialogue with history.

When it comes to exhibits, I really wanted to buy some items from the second floor of the Wuyue Culture Museum in Lin’an City because the secret color looked very nice. After seeing all kinds of from different eras, I especially loved the Song-Dynasty glazed ware, which seemed to be filled with everything.

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After exploring Wuyue Culture Museum, I moved on to the lake and mountains surrounding it. The weather that day was exceptionally good; the greenery of the mountains made my eyes water with envy. As I ascended the mountain, I sent friend pictures saying how ’s colors seemed too much. Once reaching Gongcheng , I sat under a tree by the wind, which was quite strong, causing branches above and clouds nearby to sway as well. Thus, the tower looked even more . Unfortunately, it was built in the 1980s; the ruins of its foundation are no longer there. After descending the mountain, I walked through another green hill, returning to the foot of the mountain where a grassy area with a had people resting. This made me instantly feel sleepy. Although I wanted to join them for a lie-down like they were doing, as a J person (probably Chinese), I had to hurry off to the next point.

Later, I visited Qingshan Lake. Since the waterforest wasn’t worth visiting for money, I just walked along the trail to see what I could spot. These algae were probably thrown into the water by staff; otherwise, it would’ve been just a plain forested lake attracting no one’s attention. Some people even rented boats to enjoy the lake. I thought watching them play was quite entertaining. In Lin’an City, I rented a bike and rode around the lake. The lake itself isn’t much to talk about; what made it interesting were its excellent greenery along the shore and well-maintained bike paths. Riding there made me feel relaxed and happy. If I lived in Lin’an, I might take my bike out every now and then. However, cycling on a lake for two or three hours is something I only do occasionally to catch up with friends later.

Speaking of this, these past few days have been quite rushed. I don’t really know how to make time for everything I want to do; my energy isn’t limited by physical fitness when traveling, but time is. Thus, whenever I feel inspired about a place, I try to force myself to imagine all the sights in front of me and record them mentally. Hopefully, I’ll have more time later to revisit these memories. In travel, anxiety over time often overshadows the current experience; thus, managing my emotions by focusing on different things is essential for me. To put it another way, time is a precious resource that I need to mine.

I’m just here writing this in Chinese.