徒步寒山寺枫桥

张继《枫桥夜泊》

月落乌啼霜满天，江枫渔火对愁眠。

姑苏城外寒山寺，夜半钟声到客船。

【枫桥】在江苏苏州市西枫桥镇　　

【对愁眠】舟中旅人相对难寐　　

【姑苏】苏州的别称

Not very good in Chinese Poems - However, the above poem has been one of my mum's favorite. In a way, got to know it during my CL1 class too. 一直以为寒山寺在高山上... 原来寒山是个人名. Interesting discovery =P, was still worried that the climb to the temple would take much efforts for my family, and it ended up an easy walk.

Tour guide corrected a mis-conception many people have about 江枫. The 枫 is the name of a bridge there, not related to a tree or even "wind" due to the same pronounciation.

My friend's wife J mentioned seeing my collection of Jiang Nan photos reminded her of this poem, as well as JJ's song. Didnt rem clearly the lyrics of JJ's song, so flipped through the web sites to take a look at the lyrics. A few portions did have a stronger impact ~

"风到这里就是粘, 粘住过客的思念

雨到了这里缠成线, 缠着我们流连人世间

....

你走得有多痛痛有多浓, 当梦被埋在江南烟雨中, 心碎了才懂"

JJ walked through several cities/towns before writing his album and this song. I rem at the West Lake Museum, some students were talking about how JJ wrote this song. I cant recall what exactly said, but I can agree that a trip to 江南 will be rewarding for its culture, its history, its romance...... appreciate the beauty of 江南.

Lunar New Year in Jiang Nan, China

江南 - 就想起水乡, 美景. 这次没有背包, 陪同社团, 不用安排, 也可放轻松. 一向不听导游说话, 只顾看风景的我, 这次有点不同.

他讲的故事, 顺口溜非常丰富又有趣 . 一则是有关牵手:

牵到情人的手，一阵温暧在心头。
牵到小姨子的手，后悔当初娶错婆。
牵到老婆的手, 就像左手摸右手，
一点感觉也没有。


Initially, I thought he might "offend" tour group - especially the loving couple. There is actually some rationale or "deep thoughts" behind this saying. "Air" or "Water" that we need - normally is so common or nothing special. But they carry gr8 value in our lives. Married couples, no matter how young or old, may become "common" after some time. However, just like water and air, they are in a way become unseparable or forming a loving and unbreakable bond.

Extracted from a passage I read in a blog ~ 夫妻就像两只手，左手和右手，他们一生朝夕相伴，也许没有浪漫，正如人对空气感觉不到它的存在，可你却离不开它。那是一种亲情的相依，那是一种平凡的美，失去了其中任何一只手，都不会是和谐完整的美，只有相互牵手，才是最美。

夫妻之间手拉手，就像左手牵右手；没有激情有踏实，平平淡淡到永久。