The gardens of Yangzhou in harmony with the waters

Yes, in my eyes, Yangzhou is a city built by water. The waters here are the waters of the Grand Canal, which is the world’s longest canal. The water in this canal has been flowing for 1400 years. In the span of 1400 years, the Grand Canal has made a great impact on various aspects of Yangzhou.

Yangzhou’s comfortable citizen life, wondrous gardens, busy trade and more all have roots in this thousand-year canal. Ultimately, Yangzhou also has a character that is like water.

Let’s start to understand this city that was built from water by looking at the lives of Yangzhou residents. Life in Yangzhou cannot be separated from water, as depicted by a saying “Skin wraps water in the morning, and water wraps skin in the evening.” This saying directly expresses the pace of life in Yangzhou.

In the first part - “Skin wraps water in the morning”, “skin wraps water” refers to the breakfast habits of Yangzhou residents, where they drink tea. “Skin wraps water” refers to the soupy bao, which is a delicacy in Yangzhou-style breakfast. No matter how busy they are, Yangzhou residents will eat breakfast when they wake up in the morning. The breakfast consists of not just a pot of tea, but also vermicelli, buns and other pastries. It is only after having breakfast that the residents start their day of work and learning.

After a day’s work, Yangzhou residents then start the “water wraps skin” activity. “Water wraps skin” refers to taking a bath, “wrapping” one’s skin in water. There are many local communal bathhouses in Yangzhou that specialize in bath services for locals. When walking into a Yangzhou bathhouse, I can hear the Yangzhou dialect resonating throughout.

What is interesting is, I can understand most of the dialect. What I hear is about various aspects of life in Yangzhou: the festivals, weddings, graduations and even contract negotiations. Of course, the “water wraps skin” activity is not just taking a bath, but includes scrubbing the back, massages and drinking tea so that one can fully wash away the grime on the body and remove the exhaustion.

At this point, you might feel that the pace of life in Yangzhou is very comfortable, intertwined with water. Actually, the whole picture of Yangzhou life is even more like a book, allowing outsiders to read and taste Yangzhou.

Flipping to the next page, we see “warm like jade”. For more than 600 years, Yangzhou has been a primary place for jade processing and is deemed as “the town of jade carvings”. The jade polished by Yangzhou’s craftsmen are mellow, elegant, exquisite and deeply loved by millions of people.

However, in truth, Yangzhou does not have any mountains and does not produce jade. How did Yangzhou become a popular jade ware producer? In the words of Chinese scholar Professor Li Tingxian, “It all starts with the Grand Canal”. The Grand Canal brought a never-ending stream of jade into Yangzhou, where its craftsmen craft into different wares and export them all over China.

Yangzhou people love jade. Many in Yangzhou would rather not wear gold jewelry but choose to accessorize with warm and fine jade, or to display exquisite jade ware in their homes. Of all the jade pieces used as home decoration, the most impressive is the king of jade sculptures, the “Sage King Yu Controlling the Flood” Jade Mountain.

A corner of “Sage King Yu Controlling the Flood” Jade Mountain

Using the most material from China’s jade reserves, transported over the longest distance with the most expenses, the imposing Jade Mountain is the world’s biggest jade carving. Yangzhou’s craftsmen spent 6 years to finish the carving. Today, the Jade Mountain is housed at The Palace Museum in Beijing, China.

Why do Yangzhou people love jade so much? I think it is because they have been nourished for more than a thousand years by the “Skin wraps water in the morning, and water wraps skin in the evening” way of life. The gentleness and comfort of water appropriately complements the characteristics of jade. Hence, in Yangzhou, men wearing jade are viewed as gentlemen; and women, gentle.

There is a classic Chinese saying “the world’s best kindness is like water: nourishing all things but never clamoring for fame. Water coexists in harmony and can embrace the whole world.

Yangzhou, which has been nourished by the waters of the Grand Canal for over 1000 years, has imbibed the characteristics of water into every aspect of its life. What I covered earlier in the forms of Yangzhou breakfast, baths and jade-wearing constitute just a small portion of the Yangzhou canal culture. More interesting and valuable culture awaits our discovery.

(The pictures from this article are retrieved from the internet. )

Chinese：

大家好，今天我想带你走进中国的扬州。我曾多次去过中国的扬州，真真切切地感受到京杭运河对扬州的巨大影响。有人问我，扬州给你留下最深刻的印象是什么？我的回答是：这是一座水做的城市。

是的，在我眼中，扬州就是一座水做的城市。这里的水，是世界最长运河——京杭大运河的水。这条运河的水已在扬州流淌了1400年。在这1400年里，京杭大运河对扬州的方方面面产生了巨大影响。

扬州舒适的市民生活、美妙的园林艺术、繁忙的贸易往来等等，都是因这千年运河水而兴起。最终，扬州这座城也拥有了水一般的性格。

我们就从扬州的市民生活说起，来认识这座水做的城市。扬州生活与水密不可分，当地流传着“早上皮包水，晚上水包皮”的谚语。这一句谚语直接表达了扬州生活的节奏。

先从“早上皮包水”来看，“皮包水”是指扬州人吃早茶的习惯，“皮包水”的意思其实是扬州人早餐吃的扬州汤包。扬州人早上起床，不管多忙，都要去吃早茶。这里的早茶不仅包括一壶茶水，还包括烫干丝、包子、酱菜等点心。吃完早茶后的扬州人，再开始一天的工作、学习。

忙完了一天的工作，扬州人便开始“水包皮”的活动。“水包皮”就是泡澡的意思，用水包着皮肤，就是水包皮。扬州当地有很多的公共浴室，专门为当地人提供泡澡服务。走进扬州的澡堂，我听到的尽是扬州方言。

有趣的是，我能听懂大部分的扬州方言。听进耳朵的是扬州生活的方方面面：过节、结婚、升学等等，甚至还包括合同谈判。当然，“水包皮”的活动不仅有泡澡，还包括擦背、敲背、喝茶，让人彻底得洗去一身污垢，褪去一身疲惫。

看到这里，你定感觉扬州生活与水相连，节奏舒适。其实完整的扬州生活更像一本书，可以让我们扬州以外的人阅读、品鉴。

翻开扬州这本书的下一页，上面写着四个字“温润如玉”。600多年来，扬州一直是玉器的重要加工地，被誉为“玉雕之乡”。扬州匠人打磨出来的玉，圆润、灵秀、精致，受到上亿百姓的喜爱。

然而，另外一个真相是：扬州城没有山，不产玉。那为什么扬州会产出这么受欢迎的玉器呢？借用中国学者李廷先教授的那句话：“一切源于大运河”。京杭大运河将玉材源源不断地运往扬州，再将扬州工匠做出的玉器运往中国各地。

扬州人更是偏爱玉。很多扬州人宁愿不带金银首饰，而佩戴温和、美好的玉器，或者在家里的家具上摆上精美的玉器。而作为家居装饰的玉器中，最让我惊叹的是被誉为“玉器之王”的《大禹治水图玉山》。

《大禹治水图》是世界上最大的玉雕作品。是中国玉器宝库中用料最多，运路最长，花时最久，费用最贵，气魄最大的玉雕工艺品。扬州的工匠花费了6年时间，才将它雕刻成功。如今，《大禹治水图》珍藏在中国北京故宫博物院。

那扬州人为何这么地喜欢玉呢？我觉得，是因为扬州人被“早上皮包水，晚上水包皮。”滋润了上千年，而水的温柔、舒适恰好与玉的特点相符。于是，在扬州，男人佩玉是绅士，女人佩玉是温柔。

中国有句很经典的话：世界上最好的善良，就像水一样：水，滋润万物，却不争名利。水，与他们温和相处，能有包容世界的胸怀。

而被京杭大运河的水滋养了1000多年的扬州，已把水的性格溶入扬州人生活的点点滴滴。我刚刚讲述的扬州早茶、泡澡、佩玉，仅是扬州运河文化中的一小部分。更多有趣、有价值的文化等待着我们去发现。

（文中图片源于互联网）