Ancient Poem Stone Tablets and Taizhou Ground Carving

A three-day National Day trip to Taizhou, with travel ads mainly promoting 'Qinhu Wetland'. On the first day, I finished the wetland. On the second day, I finished Taoyuan, Old Street, and Mei Garden early in the morning, and the highlights exceeded expectations. Taizhou can be called a water city north of the Yangtze, with such profound historical and cultural accumulation that I never expected.

After leaving Mei Garden, could the excitement continue? I had doubts before heading to Wanghai Tower.

Historically, ancient Taizhou was near the sea, once called 'Hailing', with superior conditions for sea salt production. Salt tax revenue was abundant, ranking first in the country. Wanghai Tower was first built in the Southern Dynasty and is known as 'the first tower south of the Huai River'. Climbing this tower, 'gazing at the sea' has become an empty name. So when entering Wanghai Tower Park, I wasn't optimistic.

But the brilliance became even greater when unexpected!

Entering the park, the long corridor was lined with green bamboo. A gentle breeze blew, the bamboo leaves rustling, somewhat similar to the sound of reeds heard yesterday.

Taizhou, a land of outstanding talents, wouldn't let you 'walk' this bamboo path for nothing. Along the road, there were more than ten large stones with ancient poems carved on them. One of them made me stop and read carefully.

'Beyond the railings, red plum blossoms first burst their buds; thousands of branches and millions of blooms press down on the eaves. At dusk in the slanting sun south of the Huai, I ascend the high pavilion, gazing at the cold weeds and snow rising in the stream.'

A stone inscription explained that this is 'Climbing Deluxe Pavilion in Hailing in Winter' by Qing Dynasty poet Wang Shizhen. Deluxe Pavilion is today's Wanghai Tower.

Reading the poem, one can smell fragrance – the fragrance of culture and history. Smelling this poetic fragrance, my travel interest increased sharply. Before seeing Wanghai Tower, I toured Wanghai Tower Park first. Walking on the corridor, with green bamboo lining the path and bamboo leaves rustling, the massive stones engraved with ancient poems made me feel as if I were conversing with the ancients.

Among these ancients were locals like Shi Nai'an, Wang Gen, Zheng Banqiao, and Liu Jingting... as well as non-locals like Lu You, Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Yue Fei, and Kong Shangren...

Around a bend, I came to an open area where a large stone was inscribed with 'Ancient City Pool Ground Carving'.

This so-called ancient city ground carving can be found in Hangzhou Lakeside Park, but I had never seen it elsewhere, so it felt very fresh.

A female tour guide from a neighboring group was giving a talk. I had fallen behind while appreciating the ancient poem stone tablets, and I happened to catch up to hear her explanation. The guide spoke vividly and eloquently:

The guide said: 'If your home's area is, say, 100 square meters, it is the same size as this ground carving. But stepping on this 100 square meters, the entire ancient city of Taizhou is beneath your feet. Since it's rare for you to come to Taizhou, take a good step and a good look: where are the city gates, where is the moat, where is Deluxe Pavilion – today's Wanghai Tower...'

Just a few simple sentences made the tourists calm down, carefully examine the ground carving, and let their imaginations soar.