Fourth stop of the road trip south: Ganzhou, an ancient Song Dynasty city

Leaving Jingdezhen, we headed southwest through Jiangxi Province to Ganzhou for a rest. I didn't know much about Ganzhou before, but I found out that it is the largest prefecture-level city in East China, and it has the most complete Song Dynasty city wall and pontoon bridge. I was filled with respect. We visited the Song Dynasty city at night. It was brightly lit, and there were people in ancient costumes taking photos from time to time. It was like being in a TV drama. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see the inscriptions on the Song Dynasty city wall. So, in the morning, we went to the Song Dynasty pontoon bridge. Like the Song Dynasty city wall, it has been around for thousands of years and has been constantly repaired. It is still in use today. By the bridge, fishermen were drying fish and selling all kinds of dried fish and salted fish. Some people were fishing by the pontoon bridge, some were swimming in the river, and some were boating and fishing in the river. In front of the pontoon bridge, there are three famous chess games: Sun Ce and Lü Fan from the Three Kingdoms period, the Immortal Game of Liu Zhongfu from the Tang Dynasty, and Go Seigen and Hideyuki Fujisawa. By the pontoon bridge, fishermen were selling all kinds of local dried fish, some people were boating and fishing in the lake, and some were swimming in the river. The Bajingtai Pavilion, named by Su Dongpo, was rebuilt in the 1980s after being damaged, so the details in the sunlight are not perfect, but the Bajingtai Pavilion is still well worth a visit. What made me happiest was that I found more than a dozen bricks with inscriptions on the city wall next to the Bajingtai Pavilion, one of which clearly read "Xining 2nd Year"! From 1069 to 2025, a thousand-year encounter... The sign of the cafe next to the Bajingtai Pavilion used the calligraphy of Huang Tingjian. Ganzhou is really a city suitable for living and slow travel. Apart from the 158 yuan dinner last night and the 3 yuan parking fee this morning, I didn't make any other contributions to Ganzhou. Oh, and they gave us some hot skin and crispy soybeans for dinner, which my wife thought were better than the main course. I hope to come back again...