千年之約：嘆唯美惠州

A thousand years ago, the great writer Su Dongpo was banished to the south and lost his heart to Huizhou. Expressions like “Eating lychees everyday, I wouldn't mind staying in Lingnan forever” were then composed.

Located on the Tropic of Cancer, Huizhou has a history of 1,400 years. During the 1,000 years from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, 430 Chinese celebrities stayed or visited Huizhou and left nearly a hundred historical relics and more than 2,000 cultural relics. To fully understand Huizhou, people must know its history as well as its landscape.

West Lake: Naturally charming like light makeup

West Lake was built in the Northern Song Dynasty. Magistrate Chen Cheng fi rst introduced water from West Lake to irrigate fi elds and grow fi sh, lotuses, cattails, and reeds, bringing fertility to the prefecture. At that time West Lake was called Feng Lake (Feng means fertility in Mandarin). Embankments, bridges, and pavilions were built around or on the lake. In the fi rst-year reign of Emperor Shao Sheng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1094), Su Dongpo was banished to Huizhou and renamed Feng Lake West Lake because the lake was located on the west of Huizhou and it was as beautiful as the one in Hangzhou which he was familiar with. From then on, the lake was named West Lake. The magistrate of Huizhou in the Qing Dynasty Wu Qian compared Hangzhou West Lake with Huizhou West Lake inHuiyang Shan Shui Ji Sheng: “Hangzhou West Lake is exquisite, beautiful, and artif i cially decorated like heavy makeup, while Huizhou West Lake is extensive, secluded, and naturally charming like light makeup.”

Funded by Su Dongpo, Su Causeway is a precious historical and cultural heritage. Today, “Enjoy the Moonlight on Su Causeway” has become the top of the eight scenes at Huizhou West Lake, where visitors wander through the causeway and enjoy the lake and breeze in the moonlight.

Luofu Mountain: Herbs grow everywhere

Luofu Mountain is 60 km from Huizhou downtown. According to legend, Fu Mountain was one of the Penglai islands from the East Sea and joined with Luo Mountain. Hot and rainy, Luofu Mountain is rich in herbs due to the adequate moisture, including 1,200 or more varieties, winning the reputation for being a huge green treasure. Around 1700 years ago, Ge Hong, the Taoist, chemist, and pharmacologist in the Jin Dynasty (284～364), built the temple for Taoism practice, alchemy, and lectures and left descendants masterpieces likeBao Pu Zi, Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang, and Jin Gui Yao Fang. He wrote inBao Pu Zi, “Along the path (in Luofu Mountain), herbs grow everywhere.”Inspired by the description and use of the sweet wormwood herb inZhou Hou Bei Ji Fang, a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou discovered artemisinin - used to treat malaria - and received the 2015 Nobel Prize. As a must-visit spot, the herbal medicine washing pool is 1,200 steps from the entrance of Luofu Mountain Scenic Area. Visitors may see the monument, which states: “Qing Hao Kang Nue Zhi Yuan (which means Source of Artemisinin in Mandarin)” next to it.

Xunliao Bay: Fresh seawater, peculiar rocks, and white sand

Enjoying the reputation for being “China's Maldives”and “the Hawaii of the East”, Xunliao Bay features the magnif i cent sandy beaches and towering, jagged rocks of grotesque shapes. According to legend, the name Xunliao has connections with Su Dongpo too. When Su was banished to the south, he liked to visit Xunliao on vacation in summer. In fact, Xunliao was originally called Yaliao. Finding out that the bay resembled the shape of the eight trigrams and was located on the Xun trigram, Su then wrote “Xunliao” on the rock at the seaside. Although the legend can not be proved to be true and the inscription was never found, the landscape remains amazing: blue sky, fresh seawater, peculiar rocks, and white sand.

Fishermen in Xunliao believe in Mazu, a Chinese goddess who is said to protect seafarers. Many believers visit Mazu Temple to worship each year. Fishermen also worship Mazu before each sailing. At Xunliao, visitors may go fi shing by boat, which travels through many islands for sightseeing.

1000年前，大文豪蘇東坡被貶南下，對(duì)惠州一見傾心，“日啖荔枝三百顆，不辭長(zhǎng)作嶺南人”的佳句由此誕生。擇一良辰，循西湖賞月、羅浮山尋道、巽寮灣觀?！c惠州古城赴一場(chǎng)千年之約。

惠州坐落在北回歸線上，至今已有1400多年歷史。從唐到清末的1000多年間，有430多位中國(guó)名人客寓或履臨惠州，留下了近百處遺址和兩千多件文物。要讀懂惠州，不僅要看山看海，更少不了談古論今。

惠州西湖：天然風(fēng)韻，娥眉淡掃

惠州西湖始建于北宋。清代惠州知府吳騫的《惠陽(yáng)紀(jì)勝》將杭州西湖與惠州西湖作了一次對(duì)比：“杭之佳以玲瓏而惠則曠邈；杭之佳以韶麗而惠則幽森；杭之佳以人事點(diǎn)綴，如華飾靚妝，而惠則天然風(fēng)韻，如娥眉淡掃?！庇商K東坡出資修建的“蘇堤”，是寶貴的歷史文化遺產(chǎn)，如今“蘇堤玩月”已經(jīng)成為惠州西湖八景之首，月明星稀之夜，水波搖曳，漫步堤上，清風(fēng)拂面，心曠神怡。

羅浮山：籬陌之間，顧盼皆藥

羅浮山距離惠州城區(qū)60公里，相傳浮山是蓬萊一島，自東泛海而來，與羅山合而為一。羅浮山高溫多雨，“山山瀑布，處處流泉”，百草叢生，名貴藥材1200多種，堪稱巨大的綠色寶藏。1700多年前，晉代道教理論家、化學(xué)家、藥物學(xué)家葛洪至此建庵修煉、筑灶煉丹，著書講學(xué)，他在《抱樸子》中寫道：“（羅浮山）籬陌之間，顧盼皆藥”。中國(guó)藥學(xué)家屠呦呦從葛洪《肘后備急方》對(duì)青蒿的描述和使用方法中獲得靈感，從而發(fā)現(xiàn)抗瘧藥物青蒿素，并榮獲2015年諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)。

巽寮灣：水清石奇，天賜白沙

巽寮灣，水清沙幼，海面壯闊，奇石聳立如天成，被譽(yù)為“中國(guó)的馬爾代夫”“東方夏威夷”。當(dāng)年蘇公被貶，初下南方，天氣悶熱，喜歡到此地度假消暑，他發(fā)現(xiàn)整個(gè)大灣像個(gè)八卦形狀，而此地處在“巽”卦上，見此地常年微風(fēng)拂面，海不揚(yáng)波，順手在海邊巖石揮就墨寶：巽寮。傳說未經(jīng)考證，當(dāng)年的題字亦不可見，不過藍(lán)天、海水、奇石、白沙都還是令人驚嘆的模樣。

巽寮的漁民無(wú)不信奉媽祖，這位傳說中羽化成仙的美麗女子，據(jù)說可以保護(hù)出海的人平安而歸。每年，巽寮灣的媽祖廟前香火旺盛，漁民出海前，都會(huì)在媽祖面前拜一拜。游客來到巽寮，可乘坐漁船出海捕魚，做一回漁夫漁女，船只經(jīng)過許多座小島，盡覽巽寮灣旖旎風(fēng)光。

A THOUSAND-YEAR APPOINTMENT HUIZHOU

Text by Violet Photos by CFP, Zeng jian & Huizhou Tourism Board