Ancient gems in structure
By Jin Rong and Wang Jie |
March 29, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GELONG Town of Jiading district has developed quickly in recent years due to its favorable location.
But different to other fast developed areas, Gelong enjoys a kind of ambience filled with harmony and tranquility, which is redolent of a famous poem written by Dai Wangshu about a slender lady with an oil paper umbrella leisurely walking on the stone bridge or through the lanes of the ancient town on a rainy day.
The doors and windows of most houses on the small streets in Gelong are made of wood and residents usually gather for a chat on the street in the afternoon.
When we visited we found an old structure that we had been seeking for a long time in an old man's house.
The only remaining corridor was narrow and could only allow four people to pass at one time.
If you opened the window on the second floor, you would bump into your opposite neighbor.
In another house owned by a Zhang family, we saw a pattern similar to a striking clock pausing at 12:03 on the wall of a second-storied building besides the street.
The same pattern appears in another facet of the building, but more vague.
There is a green-glass decorative openwork window below the striking clock. Although the windows are worn out, they are still functional.
On its left side, there is an archway made of red bricks, and the windows on the frame of the archway used imported colored glass at that time.
The remaining white and blue glass glitters under the dust, as if revealing the owner's bygone prosperity and splendor.
The building has survived in the ancient town for 100 years.
Today when we are surrounded by high-rises, we have a special feeling looking down the old street with its short old houses and history carved on every brick.
Every one of the visitors will have his own ideas when seeing the old town bathed in dusk.
But different to other fast developed areas, Gelong enjoys a kind of ambience filled with harmony and tranquility, which is redolent of a famous poem written by Dai Wangshu about a slender lady with an oil paper umbrella leisurely walking on the stone bridge or through the lanes of the ancient town on a rainy day.
The doors and windows of most houses on the small streets in Gelong are made of wood and residents usually gather for a chat on the street in the afternoon.
When we visited we found an old structure that we had been seeking for a long time in an old man's house.
The only remaining corridor was narrow and could only allow four people to pass at one time.
If you opened the window on the second floor, you would bump into your opposite neighbor.
In another house owned by a Zhang family, we saw a pattern similar to a striking clock pausing at 12:03 on the wall of a second-storied building besides the street.
The same pattern appears in another facet of the building, but more vague.
There is a green-glass decorative openwork window below the striking clock. Although the windows are worn out, they are still functional.
On its left side, there is an archway made of red bricks, and the windows on the frame of the archway used imported colored glass at that time.
The remaining white and blue glass glitters under the dust, as if revealing the owner's bygone prosperity and splendor.
The building has survived in the ancient town for 100 years.
Today when we are surrounded by high-rises, we have a special feeling looking down the old street with its short old houses and history carved on every brick.
Every one of the visitors will have his own ideas when seeing the old town bathed in dusk.
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