Sketch of the village

这是一篇关于一座中国小镇的详细描述和介绍。

The village is not large. There’s only one street. I’m reluctant to use “street”, given that it’s just a road between two rows of houses. It inclines towards the right, so the houses seem to be well-proportioned, delivering a sense of layering and beauty. Most houses are tile-roofed. The black brown roof winds down, as if it were a swimming fish. The dirt road is muddy in rainy days and dusty in fine days. If it rains two to three days, the muddy road is scattered with footprints. Whenever a car passes by, the mud would splash to pedestrians, who would get bedraggled if they couldn’t avoid timely. They would rub off the mud while yelling, “Damn it, are you blind?” So villagers are quite fond of making sarcastic remarks. If it doesn’t rain, the road is covered with so much dirt that it would be lifted after cars and people pass by and then falls on the roof. Viewed from a distance, the roof is blanketed with a maroon overcoat. The village is too small, which is a pity. If one chick wanders there, everybody knows whose chick it is. If a dog barks, those in the other side would follow. And everything about each family would spread all over the village quickly. Small though it is, the family names contain Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, and Wang, making it hard to find two families with the same family name. 
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There is no fair there. Shops are scarce. A smithy stands at one end of the bridge.  The Supply and Marketing Cooperative and a restaurant stand diagonally across the street and a teashop equipped with mahjong sets is at the turning of the slope. The house of Li Yuanlong, the richest of the village is on the opposite. His house is the landmark there: three gorgeous two-storey buildings with a downstairs restaurant. Yet few people go there to eat. Most are guests and friends of Li Yuanlong. On every festival or holiday, various cars park in front of his house. They belong to those powerful people who work in places like Public Security Bureau, Revenue Department or Industrial and Commercial Bureau. The villagers do farming in limited lands, so they have to do other businesses, like driving unlicensed cabs, retailing in town, making crafts, or becoming migrant workers. But more people prefer to sell candles, paper gifts, porridge and bean jelly in the temple nearby. They can make a living by accepting those pilgrims on the 1st and 15th days of lunar calendar. 

Located in the southeast of the village, the temple has a history of over a millennium. With aged green trees around, its shrine is solemn. Although the village is only 200 to 300 meters away, people can still hear its drums and bells as well as chanting of Buddhists.  Those Buddhists isolate themselves from the secular world with red walls. Just like people, the temple also went through calamities and wars, ups and downs to grow into what it is today. It is thriving. As the saying goes, people use local resources to make a living. So incenses and candles are not only to worship Bodhisattva, but also to support families there. That’s why villagers often go to the temple to pray for a booming business and wealth even if they don’t believe in Karma and reincarnation. 

A river winds along the village from the direction of northeast. Few can tell where it comes from and where it is going. Neither have they had interest in this. However, villagers actually enjoy the benefits it offers, such as washing clothes and vegetables, swimming and fishing, which are convenient and relaxing. The bridge above the river is the same as the famous Zhaozhou Bridge in shape. The single-arch bridge, which is made of stones, extends over the water.  There are two small arches at each end for flood discharge. During every full-moon night, the river has no ripples and the water reflects the moon, which presents beautiful scenery of the village to some extent. If interested, you can sit on one stone used for barrage. With the bright moon shining in the sky and the bridge reflected in the river, as well as a fresh breeze blowing gently, you may feel tipsy and forget everything as if you were walking upon air.

It’s time to tell the village name: Banqiao Village. It has nothing to do with Zheng Banqiao, who said “where ignorance is bliss, it’s folly to be wise”. It has nothing to with the lines of Wen Feiqing: Cocks crow, small inn and the moon. Footprints, Banqiao and the frost.  In short, it has nothing to do with cultured and refined stuff. In contrast, it has a vulgar origin. It was built with precast slabs. After its construction, it was as flat as a board (the Chinese meaning is Ban), so it was named “Banqiao Village”. Just like villagers call their kids “Gou Wa Zi” (doggie), the naming is very arbitrary. There is no culture in it; yet, it has its own wilderness, making people feel amiable and pleasant. 

I don’t have much intersection with the village. Seriously speaking, I’m an outsider. However, I would always remember everything about the village, whether I witnessed or heard. Today, the government is planning to build a tourist attraction based on the temple and the village has turned into a square. So I wrote this prose to memorize it upon its disappearance.