Is there no nightlife in Ningbo? Lu Yun | Answering Che Mao'an's Letter | Ningbo
What kind of city is Ningbo? Everyone who lives or has visited Ningbo has their own answer.
In the eyes of the older generation of Ningbo people, Ningbo is the best city in the world. "Traveling around the world is not as good as Ningbo Jiangxia." After the reform and opening up, for a long time, many economic data in Ningbo ranked first in Zhejiang Province. Ningbo is a city with a collection of ancient and modern books, connecting Hong Kong and the world. Whether it is the Tianyi Pavilion, the earliest existing library in China, or the 120 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, or even the famous Zhenhai Middle School, all demonstrate Ningbo's strong cultural tradition; From the maritime giant port during the Song and Yuan dynasties, to the first batch of port cities in modern China, and to the world's major port Ningbo Zhoushan Port today, it demonstrates the profound maritime genes of this city. Outsiders who come to Ningbo will be deeply impressed by the city's civilization and richness, as well as the delicious East China Sea seafood. As far as I am concerned, Ningbo is a city that integrates ocean civilization and river civilization, resulting in a unique urban temperament, which is the combination of innovation and pragmatism.
The temperament of a city cannot be separated from its unique geographical environment. The opportunity for the rise of Ningbo city is precisely its geographical location at the intersection of the ocean and the Grand Canal. Those familiar with the history of Ningbo know that over 1800 years ago, the famous writer Lu Yun wrote "Answering the Book of Che Mao'an". When Che Mao'an's nephew came to Ningbo to serve as an official at that time, the whole family was worried, so they came to inquire about the situation with Lu Yun from the south. Although Lu Yun depicted Ningbo at that time very beautifully in his "Answering the Book of Chang'an", Ningbo at that time was indeed a backward area compared to the Central Plains. It was not until the Beijing Hangzhou Canal set the southern endpoint in Hangzhou, and Ningbo was able to develop rapidly through the connection between the Zhejiang East Canal and the Beijing Hangzhou Canal. Facing the sea and backed by the canal, it not only embodies the spirit of maritime civilization's outward expansion, but also the introverted and steady character of the river civilization, gradually becoming a giant city on the coast of the East Sea.
Let's turn our attention back to modernity. Today in Ningbo, the urban area has already exceeded the scope of Luocheng. The well connected subway system has already connected the Qing Dynasty's Ningbo Prefecture, Cixi County, and Zhenhai County. The Ningbo Municipal Government has also moved from the thousand year old Sanjiangkou to the newly constructed eastern new city. But the characteristics of a city are not easily changed.
A thousand years ago, the people of Ningbo, who were familiar with profiting from maritime trade, created many firsts in modern Chinese history. They learned what they were advanced, made money, and did what they wanted, which created the brilliance of the Ningbo Commercial Gang. To this day, the city of Ningbo is still constantly expanding. The eastern new city and the southern business district, these emerging areas, demonstrate the extraordinary vitality of the city. Of course, the vitality of a city is not just about new skyscrapers, but also the yearning and learning of its residents for knowledge and technology.
In the first half of this year, Ningbo made it to the news list to take the subway for free after 8 pm. Some people praise the grandeur of the Ningbo government, while others secretly criticize it: How many people in Ningbo can come out and take the subway after 8 o'clock? In Ningbo, even near the university town with the highest number of young people, there are not many people on the food street at night. The most popular restaurant is almost no longer in line at 8 o'clock. So what are everyone doing? In fact, a considerable portion of Ningbo people's nightlife is not about eating and leisure, but about studying.
Primary and secondary school students either study at home or self-study at school in the evening, even in the mall, there is still a crowd of learners. In Ningbo shopping malls, the most frequent customers at night may not simply come shopping, but rather parents who accompany their children to study on various occasions. In music, art, physical education, and LEGO classes, parents hurriedly leave work, pick up their children, and wander through various interest classes. Before or after class, they only have a meal at a restaurant in the mall. During their children's study break, they can buy clothes. In less than an hour, their children finish class and shopping ends. Therefore, if you visit the newly built shopping mall in Ningbo, you will definitely find that there are areas dedicated to education and training, which are the most attractive part of this mall to attract people. Wait for the child to finish class and go home immediately. When you return home, you still need to preview and review cultural knowledge. College students also have to dive into the library, in addition to their own libraries, the Ningbo City Library, and the Ningbo University Park Library. Whether day or night, they are filled with young people sitting at their desks reading, and sometimes even a hard to find one. Even company employees need to learn at night, constantly evolving new technologies and ever-changing situations. They have to wait until the evening when they are alone, carefully analyzing and digesting them.
Of course, it is not possible for everyone to learn without entertainment, but overall, Ningbo people are inherently very pragmatic. Compared to exploring and innovating, the practicality and stability of Ningbo city are often overlooked. The brilliant achievements of Ningbo in the ocean often make people forget that it is actually a city that emerged based on canals. Therefore, before modern times, Ningbo, although it was the eastern port during the Song and Yuan dynasties and the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, was essentially a traditional Chinese city with the stability and pragmatism represented by the great river civilization. For a long time, in order to achieve "peaceful coexistence" with the Yongjiang River, Ningbo has built a large number of water conservancy facilities, which cannot be completed without a serious and pragmatic quality. Therefore, Ningbo people, and even the city of Ningbo, are steady and not frivolous, and like to invest their energy in "useful" things. The rise and fall of something best reflects this.
In the 1880s, the invention of mahjong was related to Ningbo merchants. From the perspective of literature, there is ample evidence that mahjong was established in Ningbo. In his book "Fan Shan Continuum", Volume 26, "Ten Memories", the late Qing dynasty writer Fan Zengxiang wrote a poem called "Yi Bo": "Under the flower, the cypress and cypress rush to the stage, while the red felt silver candle row plays. The Ningbo sparrow knows what it tastes like, and its strong and convoluted movements make it clumsy." After the poem, it is also noted that "The play of playing mahjong started in Ningbo twenty years ago, and now it has spread throughout the world." The term "playing mahjong" was popular at that time. In Xu Ke's gambling section "Fork Sparrow" in "Clear Barnyard Banknotes", the beginning clearly states: "It started in Ningbo, Zhejiang, and then traveled far and wide, and then spread throughout the north and south.". Du Yaquan, a scholar of the Republic of China who wrote "Boshi", once said, "Although mahjong tiles have been popular throughout the country, as far as Europe and America, their popularity has not been very long. In the early years of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, there were almost no people in the country who played mahjong tiles. Its popularity period was ten years after the Guangxu reign. According to legend, the popular location began in Jiangxia, Ningbo, and it was passed down from Haibo Yun." By the early years of the Republic of China, newspapers of all sizes had reported that mahjong originated in Ningbo. However, Ningbo today is no longer famous for mahjong, but rather in Guangdong, Sichuan and other places where mahjong is more popular.
To investigate the reason, it may be appropriate to borrow the evaluation of mahjong by late Qing diplomat Zhang Deyi: "This card requires deliberate contemplation, knowing the enemy and oneself, poor design, and measuring the four directions. Observing its situation is like that of a strange door evading armor, which is a waste of energy. Therefore, it is necessary to abstain from it and leave the remaining energy for useful use."
Ningbo people tend to focus their energy on "useful places", and many Ningbo people believe that it is better to rest at home instead of eating and drinking outside.
