Eating Melons on Site at Yanguan Ancient City: Qianlong Is the Son of Chen Gelao!

Yanguan Ancient City is now called the City of Tide Music. I prefer the name "Yanguan Ancient City" because it has a strong sense of history. "Yanguan" originally referred to an official position. In the early Western Han Dynasty, King Wu of Chu, Liu Pi, established the salt official position called Yanguan. Liu Pi was the initiator of the Rebellion of the Seven States. In the early Han, salt could be privately operated and was highly profitable. Liu Pi boiled sea salt in his fief to accumulate capital for rebellion. During the Later Liang period of the Five Dynasties, the place name "Yanguan Town" appeared. From the Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China, it served as the seat of Haining Prefecture (County). · Besides being a legitimate regional center, Haining is also famous in unofficial history circles: Qianlong is the son of Chen Gelao from Yanguan, Haining! 😂 Chen Gelao was an official in the capital. His son was born on the same day as Yongzheng’s daughter, and then a "switched at birth" story happened. Qianlong traveled south six times, visiting Haining four times, and stayed at the Chen family home in Yanguan Town. If this isn’t a family visit, what is?! Also, Haining has a local snack called "Jingfen"~ · In 2018, the ancient city began developing a music and cultural tourism project called the City of Tide Music. It opened in 2024 with a ticket price of 55 yuan. It seems they want to build the next Wuzhen, but the infrastructure and popularity are still far from it... Another highlight of the ancient city is its cultural relics and historic sites. There are four national-level protected sites and several provincial/municipal-level protected sites densely located here. I didn’t have time to visit the An Guo Temple stele, but I toured the others, and only the Haishen Temple is worth seeing~ · The tide wall outside the scenic area Water is released on the hour for 15 minutes, making it a great photo spot · Haishen Temple Built in the eighth year of Yongzheng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty (1730), it was constructed by order of Zhejiang Governor Li Wei, covering 40 acres and costing 100,000 taels of silver. Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Qiantang River had severe flooding problems. Yongzheng worked hard to control the floods, repairing the Haining Qiantang embankment 18 times during his reign, spending 340,000 taels of silver, and establishing the annual maintenance system for the western Zhejiang sea dikes—these sea dikes are embankments that block tides. He built Haishen Temple both to demonstrate strict supervision of water management to local officials and to show the people the court’s determination to control flooding. Haishen Temple in Haining is known as the "Silver Luan Hall" or "Temple Palace" because, first, the palace-style architecture is of high standard and was built by imperial decree, and second, it uses a large amount of white marble, even though Zhejiang does not produce white marble. The two archways in front of the temple, a pair of stone lions, the columns, steps, and stone railings of the main hall are all carved from white marble. · Wang Guowei Former Residence Wang Guowei lived here from ages 9 to 21. The building has two courtyards and is called "Yulu." It is the 5th batch of national protected sites. · Chen Gelao Residence The Chen family of Haining produced many imperial examination talents, with 32 jinshi (successful candidates) during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and 15 prime ministers or high-ranking officials, maintaining prominence for over a hundred years. This is also the origin of the big Qianlong gossip. The scenic area’s introduction board says: The Chen family of Haining is widely known because of the saying "Emperor Qianlong is the son of Chen Gelao from Haining" 😂 This residence was first built in the late Ming Dynasty and expanded after Chen Yuanlong became prime minister during Yongzheng’s reign. The Grand Secretary was commonly called Gelao, so this place is also called "Chen Gelao Residence." It is the 7th batch of national protected sites.