"Maritime Silk Road, Maritime Poetry Road", Panyu Yangcheng, re-encountered Sha Mian

"Haisi Documentary 006" Panyu Yangcheng, encounters sand noodles again

In the winter of 2012, about November, that was the first time I came to Guangzhou. At that time, I had just finished a music tour, from Beijing, through Shanghai, and all the way to Hong Kong.

Maybe it was because of the exhaustion from the tour, when I arrived in Hong Kong, I seemed to have lost most of my psychological energy. I felt a little hesitant and fearful about how to continue my creative career after returning to Taiwan. Temporarily decided to go to Guangzhou to relax.

That year, I found an international youth hostel, which was located next to Fangcun Pier on the banks of the Pearl River. It took less than ten minutes by ferry to reach Shamian Island on the other side. That was the place I was most looking forward to visiting at that time.

Shamian Island is an artificial island located on the Pearl River. It was reclaimed from the sea to make land. It was a concession established by Britain and France in Guangzhou before and after the Second Opium War in 1860. Shamian Island is full of different styles and types of British and French buildings: banks, foreign houses, consulates, churches or garden houses...etc.

I used to love going to church, no matter what trip or city, I always look for the oldest cathedral in that city, even if I don't have a specific religion, I can stay there for a long time, Experience a moment of solemnity and tranquility.

On Shamian Island, there is also an ancient church, Shamian Hall.

Five years later, I came to Guangzhou again. With a different mood and state, I searched for the route to Fangcun Pier based on the impressions in my memory. It took about ten minutes to walk from Fangcun subway station to Guangzhou Jiangpan International Youth Hostel. I walked along Luju Road next to the subway station, but the scenery along the road was very different. It was like traveling through time and space, and I came to Guangzhou, which was familiar but also unfamiliar to me.

And it was not until the fourth day in Guangzhou that I felt ready, ready to set foot on the nearby Shamian Island.

When I came to Shamian Hall that year, I quietly prayed a long prayer outside the door. Even though she was always closed, I was tired and confused all the way through the tour, but because of that prayer, I seemed to get some answers. Everything that happened on the journey in the past seems to be connected in that moment.

I stood in front of the Shamian Hall nervously. Seeing that the door was still locked, I thought that this time I would miss the opportunity to enter the church. Just when I felt regretful, an aunt unlocked the door.

My dear friend and aunt saw me staring outside the door for a long time. Maybe she could see through the earnestness in my heart? When it was not open to tourists, my aunt invited me into the Shamian Hall, turned on the air conditioner for me, and let me sit down in the seating area in front of Christ. Just as I was sitting down, the uncle, the administrator of Shamiantang, also came in, and my aunt gestured to me with her eyes, and then when the uncle asked, she casually said that I was her relative, and the uncle didn't ask anything. , also politely nodded and said hello to me.

Then, I listened to my aunt and other church members who came later to practice singing and praying together.

If there were angels in this world, I would probably really believe that my aunt was an angel sent by Christ, and after five years, I finally got my wish and entered the Shamian Hall at a very quiet moment.

I stayed on Shamian Island for a whole morning, and I also recalled this small artificial island. I remembered 2012, and the day I met my true self in Guangzhou that year.

＊This travel plan is the 2017 "Maritime Silk Road, Maritime Poetry Road" plan, funded by the Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association and co-organized by Travel China Magazine.