See You in Mengcheng

See You in Mengcheng

There are a lot of cities all over the world. One of them, Bozhou City, is very special to me, because I lived in a county of the city, Mengcheng County, for ten years. It is in Anhui Province in China. I would like to introduce Mengcheng County to you in three aspects: historical buildings, personages, and food.

First, every visitor to Mengcheng County should visit a very special tower, Ten-Thousand-Buddha Tower. It was built around one thousand years ago. There are about ten thousand Buddhas on the inside and outside walls of the tower. There are stairs inside the tower and windows on several floors. When I was a kid, my friends and I went to the tower and we climbed to the top of it to have a sky view of the county from the windows. The government realized that the tower was important. So, the tower is protected now and no one can climb to the top of it anymore. But a park was built around the tower, so you can look at the tower and take a photo with it in the park when you have a chance to visit Mengcheng County.

Second, the city is the hometown of Zhuang Zi, a famous ideologist, philosopher, and litterateur who lived there more than two thousand years ago. A well-known story about him is the following: One day he was dreaming about himself turning into a butterfly. He, as a butterfly, flew a long way and got tired, so he took a rest on a flower and fell asleep. Then the butterfly dreamed that he became Zhuang Zi. When he woke up, he realized that he was still Zhuang Zi. Then he did not know whether he was the butterfly that turned into Zhuang Zi in the dream, or the Zhuang Zi that turned into the butterfly in the dream. In this story, Zhuang Zi brought up a philosophical question: How did a person know about the reality? If the dream was real enough, a person would not be able to know that he or she was in a dream. He also developed the thought of “oneness of human and nature”. You may visit Zhuang Zi Temple in the county if you have a chance in the future.

Third, you will definitely love a special type of food, Chinese style baked roll, in the county. It is baked in a traditional oven. It is very delicious with shish kebab or by itself. It is good for a quick meal in a busy day or sharing with friends. I remember that when I was in high school, I would treat myself with the warm, savory and crisp baked roll if I did well at school. I cannot stop running at the mouth now while writing this paragraph. This is something that you do not want to miss if you go to the county.

In conclusion, the Ten-Thousand-Buddha Tower, Zhuang Zi, and baked roll are very famous in Mengcheng County. If you have a chance to visit the beautiful place, I suggest that you bring a Chinese friend with you. Your friend can be your guide and translator so that you do not get lost. If you cannot find one, call me or send me a message. I will be glad to go with you if we have enough time, or I will find a good friend, who is familiar with Mengcheng County or lives there, for you. (Yu Hua)