Notes on Cycling (8) The Past of Lujiang Ring Road
In recent years, the construction of our hometown has undergone rapid changes, and the development of the county town has shown an explosive leap, with the area almost tripling compared to 30 years ago.
In the 1986’s, I ran down the road with my girlfriend and took a detour around the city.
We started from Da Ximen, followed by Jun Er Road to Dongmen Heng Street, crossed Dongmen Xiaoqiao to Fucheng Road, and then traveled westward from Qianchuan Road to the Material Company.
We parted ways by passing through the upper end of the city and arriving at Ximen Suspension Bridge.
The whole journey was less than four kilometers, and we spent over an hour together.
This route actually revolves around the old city walls of the Lujiang River during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is considered the earliest ring road.
At that time, there were almost no streetlights on the Huancheng Road.
The sections from Xiaoximen to the distillery and Fucheng Road near Chengdong Primary School were both paved with gravel.
One should be extra careful when walking at night, especially when encountering cloudy and rainy days, where the road was filled with potholes and water, and it was common to get your shoes dirty.
Only Hengjie is very lively because there are households on both sides of the street, and the road surface is only over two meters wide.
In summer, there are many people sitting on bamboo beds to cool off.
My girlfriend and I squeezed out from the crowd, afraid that acquaintances would see us and make us feel embarrassed.
Over a decade later, in 2004, I met my former girlfriend and took another trip around the city.
At that time, there was already a saying about the Second Ring Road in the county town, which was actually very funny.
The so-called Second Ring Road refers to the most part of the Ring Road that lacks the South Ring Road.
The Xiuxi River and Xinhe River in the west of the city converge at Ximen Bay.
After passing through the Nanmen Bridge, they are called the County River, which then flows into the Wenchang River from the north and then flows to Huangpi Lake in the southeast.
There used to be only one Qianchuan Road in the south of the city, starting from Pailou Road in the east and ending at Ximen Bay Bridge in the west, which is only four to five hundred meters long.
To the east of Qianchuan Road is Chawei, which is located between the Wenchang River and the East moat.
It is surrounded by water on three sides and is not connected from north to south, but is separated from east to west.
The area from Nanmen Bridge to Ximengang Bridge used to be Luangfengang.
There was an old Chen Production team in the middle, and the old winery was on the other side of the river.
The round-the-city dating started from Ximen Bay, turned from Ximen Suspension Bridge to Old Yuecheng Road, walked to the water plant, or followed Jun’er Road to the east of the city.
However, this time, instead of taking the cross street next to Lion Bridge, we continued to move on to Dongmen Bridge (the nearby Baoxi Bridge had no railings), walked from Dongdajie Street to Dongmen Xiaoqiao, and then circled from Huancheng East Road to Qianchuan Road in the south of the city.
We walked all the way to the end and happened to turn a circle.
Another decade has passed, and in a few more years, it will be the year of 60.
In the past 5 years, my exercise style has replaced heavy hiking with cycling.
I have no idea where to throw my hiking bag, and I have been cycling to and from work, occasionally going for a ride on my bike.
The total mileage has reached nearly 10000 kilometers.
Since March of this year, the plan for cycling around the city has been initiated, with the county town as the center and a major loop around the towns in the southeast, northwest, and northwest.
On the 4th, for the first time riding the small outer ring.
Heading north from Hetong Highway to Baida Zhougudui, then passing through Yuyuehu along the North Outer Ring Road to the East Outer Ring Road, passing through Country Garden Diamond Bay, Chengdong Hospital, Jiangshan Yufu to the South Ring Road, then heading west to the South Outer Ring Interchange, and then heading north from Hetong Highway.
The whole journey is about 24 kilometers.
It is 20 kilometers longer than the Ring Road 30 years ago.
This closed loop is similar to a pentagon.
The east side has been bounded by Donggu Mountain, and there is no room for expansion.
There is a lot of room for development in the north and south.
In particular, Huizhou Avenue in the north has been opened to the Lujiang section, and the Hetong Highway in the west is integrated with the urban area, and continues to develop westward.
In view of this, a month later, I rode the Great Outer Ring Road for the second time.
This time, the route on the three sides of the southeast and north remained unchanged, while the west side was extended to Chengxi Avenue.
The entire journey is 8 kilometers longer than the Little Outer Ring Road, and the route map is clearly irregular.
There are two Chengdong Avenues on Chengxi Avenue, with the North Ring Road running northwest southeast and the South Ring Road running northeast southwest.
If it continues to extend eastward, it will meet at Jiashanhong.
Chengxi Avenue is the main road of Lujiang High tech Industrial Zone, where there are large new energy enterprises such as Guoxuan High tech, Xingyuan New Energy, Lixiang Battery, Yaohua Green Energy, Jixinzhao Optoelectronics, Hengtai Power, etc.
Wenchang Road and Mohu Road pass through from east to west, and are very close to the West High Speed Railway Station.
The future development of Lujiang actually follows the western route.
During this time, I once rode the Jiashan Potherb Valley, which is located in a narrow valley between Donggu Mountain, Fahong Mountain, and Dushan Mountain.
It is nearly 10 kilometers long, and the Dushan Scenic Area and Liugang Ecological Tourism Area have been integrated.
To the north, there are the ruins of the original 327 Geological Team and the Yefu Mountain Qifeng Valley Scenic Area.
March is the season for flower appreciation, and Jiashan Potherb Valley is bustling with cars and horses, making it a popular online check-in destination.
Turn the direction to the southeast of the county seat, walk eastward from the Nanhuan County River embankment, pass through Diaoyutai to Dingshanzui, pass north from Huanhu Avenue through Xinjun Second Road, and return to the city on Laojun Second Road at Lujiang Normal University.
This ring road is also 25 kilometers away.
So, simply ride along the South Ring Road to the end, take the Lujiang River to the Kongcheng Highway in Tongcheng, pass through the Yinjiang Jihuai Canal, He’an Railway, and Jingtai Expressway, reach Leqiao directly, then turn back from Dahua, and return to the city through Yagang, Quanxi, and Chengnan Village.
This ring road has a total length of 55 kilometers and is suitable for people with average physical strength to ride.
Every city has its own ring road, and first tier cities in China often have the fifth and sixth ring roads.
Generally, small county towns are not willing to be outdone in creating their own inner and outer rings.
With the expansion of the ring road, cities become larger and more villages in the city become more and more.
The treatment enjoyed by urban and suburban residents in certain aspects is vastly different, but at least they have all entered the city, they are all urban residents, but farmers are becoming fewer and fewer.
What will we eat in the future, Who will rely on farming to produce food to feed an urban population that is already larger than the rural population? More than forty years ago, my family still lived on Ximen Gang, and at that time, as long as we crossed the Ximen Suspension Bridge, we arrived in the city.
At that time, we could take a walk around the city road with our girlfriend and enjoy the rural scenery with our backs facing the city lights.
Nowadays, the outer ring of a city is over thirty kilometers long.
During cycling, sometimes you feel like you are in the city, sometimes in the countryside, and sometimes at the outskirts of the city.
The city is already large, but it is no longer a small county in childhood.
If it is the Great Lujiang River, those from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen may laugh their teeth out.
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