Aksu, W language, means Baishui City. It is named after a white river that runs through the city. Its history can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, and it is called "Gu Mo (Uighur language)"; Monk Xuanzang also recorded in "Records of the Western Regions of Datang": "Baishui City is six or seven miles long, with a suitable climate ..." This ancient city, which has experienced thousands of years of wind and rain, has rarely been mentioned, but its tranquility and beauty have not been dimmed by the passage of time.
Although it is located at the edge of Taklimakan Desert and in the hinterland of Xinjiang, Aksu is hot in summer and mild in winter (the trunk is still tinged with cyan) because the Tianshan Mountains block the cold and humid airflow from Abel to the south. Strong sunshine and abundant water resources make this cold frontier rich in rice and sericulture. The local Redmi is Gong Mi, the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty. Sweet white water not only moistens the earth, but also makes the W girls who have lived here for generations have fair skin, fine eyes and relatively gentle faces. The ethnic customs reveal how many beauties in Jiangnan have become the hometown of beauties. After his release, the first foreigner allowed to enter the forbidden area in Xinjiang, the British writer Han (mixed-race Belgian China), traveled here during the Cultural Revolution. Finally, he burst into tears and said from his heart: "This is a Eurasian mixed-race child like me ... they are so beautiful!"
However, there are no fond memories of childhood, only rows of poplars beside the roadside canal go straight into the blue sky, and flocks of pigeons pass by; A little donkey grazed in front of a small earthen house that was washed pink and blue; Women wearing colorful headscarves carry beheading trowels (a unique agricultural tool in Xinjiang) and walk home at sunset, with a few pieces of mud stuck to their strong calves; Girls who wear traditional costumes all year round and some women who never show their faces and are covered with black veil from head to toe (mostly old people and widows, they always make me curious and scared); There is also a kind of prostrate (M *S *L clergy), who wear robes, have long beards and look solemn. No matter where riding a donkey, people will take a step back, put their hands on their chests and bow to the end. Of course, there are also energetic young men who make trouble everywhere, and there is a beautiful and clever little Balang (W language: little boy) who is as dirty as his eyes. ...
Early in the morning, from Q * Z Temple, morning prayers with long voices spread all over the city with the first ray of morning light. At noon, an all-wood chariot with a diameter of about 1.5 meters (the country with high horsepower, hence its name) sprinkled a "creak" sound all the way in the listless hoofbeat of the old cow; In the evening, Yang Gangzi (W language: a woman in her thirties and forties) greets her children for dinner, with a sharp coloratura soprano; In the middle of the night, his man was drunk, and the out-of-tune "Ayiguli" caused bursts of barking. ...
Poplar peeled off the bark, spun beautiful patterns, made a shaker and put it into a newborn baby; Eisleigh grass squeezes out a bowl of green thick juice, and draws Xiao Guli's eyebrows (W language: flowers, mostly female names), which flows the mother's wishes (the eyebrows will be darker and closer, and the daughter will marry closer to home); The red scarf with gold thread reflects the shy face of the girl; A wooden box inlaid with bronze, brass and seven-color glass contained a wedding dress, which spilled the bride's tears; The white wild rose is a garland made of rough hands and worn on the head of another ancient force; Green eyes have long been cloudy and hidden behind heavy towels (the elderly women in southern Xinjiang have retained more traditions); A crow was startled by the crowd attending the funeral. Outside Mazha (W's graveyard) is a black desert without borders. ...
Women who drink white water are in a hurry all their lives, and livestock who drink a river is no exception: camels with double peaks and single mountains lean against the foot of the earth wall, waiting for their owners to unload the salt from the back of a sack (earth salt, which does not contain iodine, but is the only condiment for local people), so elderly people with swollen necks are common in poor rural areas; The old cow of Haloxylon ammodendron in Gobi was beaten by hail as big as soybeans and had nowhere to hide; The donkey pulling the cart thought that he could eat the straw hanging on his chest by going forward desperately; The sheep crossing the road were frightened by the sudden noise of cars, so they pushed a cyclist out of the roadbed and fell into a ditch by the side of the road. In the roar of a group of red-eyed men, the ugly little cockfighting (as most native chickens do) pounced on another cockfighting with a sharp blade tied to its claws. The most hateful thing is the big white goose, which jumped ashore after playing enough in the river, suddenly spread its wings and attacked me as tall as it. ...
Everything in Aksu has been transformed into light, shadow and color, which is clear and vague in my memory. In the era of material scarcity, all the hardships and frustrations of life are left to parents to work hard. I, on the other hand, grew up stubbornly in a foreign land.
Postscript: I wanted to write a travel note about Aksu, but I unconsciously wrote down my own thoughts. People's innate nostalgia for their hometown is so deep-rooted that it is difficult to look at her from a single angle.