Plain Lake on the Old Yellow River Road

The annual labor day is coming again, and we still have five days' holiday. Three years have passed since the COVID-19 epidemic. I'm stuck at home and I can't go anywhere. Life is not interesting. Originally planned to go out for a holiday, but because of the spread of Omicron epidemic, the whole country entered a state of emergency, and cities around the country were closed or statically managed. No epidemic situation was found in Xinxiang city, but the epidemic prevention department also issued a notice: it is unnecessary not to go out of the city, and you must report it when you come back from other places.

My wife works in a hospital. She was busy with the unique physical examination all spring. She has been working continuously for more than a month without rest. The workload of hundreds and thousands of people every day makes her very tired physically and mentally. I really want to go out for a breath of fresh air and relax during the holiday, but I can't go out now. But I was really unwilling, so I asked around where I could go and finally found a newly developed Pingyuan Lake Park, which is more than 20 kilometers away from home and under the jurisdiction of Xinxiang City. We have never been there.

A little after 9: 00 am on May Day, the three of us and our mother-in-law drove out. The road is very flat. We drive eastward along the straight plain road, but it takes an hour to drive 20 kilometers. I thought there wouldn't be too many people going so far from the city, but I couldn't find a parking space. All the parking lots were full, so I wandered around the park. I finally found a parking place on the side of the road. The weather is fine. There are a few white clouds floating in the blue sky. The breeze is warm and sunny, but it is warm and comfortable to shine on.

It seems that the area of Pingyuan Lake is quite large. Our parking position is at the south gate of the park, which should be regarded as the main gate of the park. In the center of the square, there are five modern gates, until the observation deck by the lake. The cylinder on the side of the gate is engraved with the change map of the old course of the Yellow River, indicating that Pingyuan Lake is located on the old course of the Yellow River in Yanjin County.

Pingyuan Lake is divided into two lakes by Pingyuan Road. Now Pingyuan Lake Park is built in South Lake, covering an area of 1 185 mu. Lake is the Yellow River water drawn by Dasha River, surrounded by lush flowers and plants on the loess sand mountain, and all kinds of flowers and trees planted are shaded by trees. The lakeshore is shaded by weeping willows, and there are trails around the lake. There are many water observation platforms, small bridges and pavilions by the lake, and there is another one in the middle of the lake.

In May, there is only one tail left in spring, and many timely flowers have bloomed. In the forest of peach blossom, begonia and plum blossom beside the sand hill on the lake bank, the trees are full of small green fruits, while roses, roses, pyracantha, sorrel and brocade are full of flowers. All the irises in our yard failed, but the irises here are blooming brilliantly. Large irises, like flocks of flying birds, turned into a sea of blue flowers in the dazzling sunshine.

We walked along the path around the lake. The park area is quite large. Even if there are many tourists, they will be sparsely populated when they are scattered. The lake in the sun is like a huge jade-like glass, and the clear lake shines with colorful light and shadow. We walked slowly and stopped to have a look. I found that most of the tourists in the park were not from Xinxiang City. According to their accents, they should all be Yanjin natives. In the camping area specially opened in the park, they set up tents, tied hammocks, set up awnings, or spread sheets on tables and stools, and the food they brought was full.

Xinxiang is a small town in the north, located in the alluvial plain of the Yellow River, bordering Taihang Mountain in the north and the Yellow River in the south. It governs four districts and eight counties with a population of more than 6.2 million. There are four rivers in Xinxiang City, one is the Weihe River, and there is also a Meng Jiangnv in the city. There is a * * * production canal in the north of the city, which runs parallel to the Weihe River and is mainly used for flood control and waterlogging prevention in flood season. There is a People's Victory Canal in the south of the city, which is a gravity irrigation canal that draws water from the Yellow River to the Weihe River in Xinxiang for irrigation, flood control and drainage. These two artificial canals flow through Xinxiang and then flow into the Weihe River.

Xinxiang used to be a place with serious floods, and floods occurred every year. During the flood season, it was terrible that floods were rampant. Every year, our factory sends people to the riverbank for flood control and emergency rescue. In winter, we send people to the river to clear the river. When we were in middle school, the school also asked students to take part in river digging activities in winter. Yuanyang, Fengqiu and Yanjin counties under Xinxiang's jurisdiction are even more famous Yellow River flooded areas. Historically, the Yellow River burst twice in three years and changed its course once in a hundred years, leaving behind many old paths of the Yellow River. The famous film 1942 was adapted from Yanjin. In the past, the extension of the original three counties was notoriously poor. I remember that one of my neighbors is an educated youth who plays the role of jumping the queue in Jinxian County. At that time, a labor day in their village was only five cents, and the work score for a day was only enough to buy half a catty of corn, which was not enough to eat at all.

It is said that the wind and water turn, so will the rain in nature. Xinxiang used to be quite rich in water resources. In the early years, the Weihe River had a large flow and developed shipping, and there were small ships that could go directly to Tianjin. There are many large puddles outside the city, which are planted with lotus roots. Residents wash clothes and vegetables, and children swim and play in the water, just like a water town. At that time, the groundwater was also very shallow. The water in the well is hooked on the bucket with a pole, and a bucket of water can be filled in an instant. I don't know from which year, there was less and less water in Xinxiang, so that there was no flood season for many years later. The Weihe River is almost a stagnant pool, and the Mengjiangnv River has become a drainage ditch. Those big puddles have dried up and been buried to build houses, and the two artificial canals in the south and north of the city are almost abandoned.

Cities and rivers are always together. In ancient times, rivers solved the problems of draught and transportation, so rivers were like the mother of cities. In recent years, in order to rebuild the water system, elaborate design, long-term planning, unified layout, make good use of limited water resources, and build a livable Xinxiang through the ecological construction of water system. There was no lake in Xinxiang. Generally, places with water are called pits, and places with lakes are newly dug and built. It is said that Xinxiang water system planning will build eight lakes, which are connected by rivers and canals. Pingyuan Lake is just one of the eight great lakes in Xinxiang. Maybe in a few years, Xinxiang will be like Jiangnan. The whole city is connected by rivers and lakes, and the city is full of flowers and green waters.