The moment I first entered the ancient town, time seemed to be pulled and broken by an invisible lamp, and then it was pieced together again with great caution into a dazzling dream.
This is not a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, but a "city of light" in the south of the Yangtze River - Zhongshan Ancient Town.
The whole town is only 47.8 square kilometers, but it has enough lights to illuminate the whole world.
During the day, it is a quiet southern town. When night falls, it transforms into a grand and exquisitely crafted lantern festival, making people firmly believe that the title of "China's Lighting Capital" is definitely not an unfounded statement.
Everywhere you look, there are lights.
Across both sides of the street, in the shops with lights on, which are densely arranged and neatly arranged like comb teeth, the warm yellow light flows from the glass display windows and falls on the road paved with blue stone slabs, and also falls on the shoulders of the walking people.
Each light is like a story waiting to be heard.
When you walk into a small store, you may see a simple Nordic-style table lamp. It may be thinking about how to shine on a thoughtful night in your study. At the corner, there is also a complicated and gorgeous crystal chandelier. Its memory may hide the illusory image of a Vienna court ball.
Something exists at home, in the warmth of the kitchen, in the privacy of the bedroom; in the country, in the grandeur of the "Bird's Nest" of the stadium, in the solemnity of the museum, it may also appear; even in Dubai, there are traces of it in the Burj Al Arab Hotel and the Burj Khalifa, and the light that can illuminate your eyes is most likely to originate from here.
It is hard to imagine that this land soaked in light, forty years ago, presented a scene of "fragrant rice flowers, leaping fish and croaking frogs", and it was a mulberry fish pond.
The spring breeze of reform and opening up blew by, and the keen people of the ancient town started from a wire, then a light bulb, and then a simple light stand, igniting the spark of industry under the eaves of their own homes.
All kinds of family workshops have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. There are mom-and-pop shops running businesses, and brother factories that cooperate in setting up factories. In this way, they have firmly taken root in the vast land of Lingnan.
Ou Bingwen, the founder of Huayi Lighting, is a pioneer among these "lantern-carrying people".
In 1986, he withdrew from the flower and tree business, which was at its peak at that time, scraped together 50,000 yuan, and started Huayi Lighting Factory with four workers. Perhaps at that time, he had foreseen that this land would be defined by lighting again in the future.
The first China (Guzhen) International Lighting Expo held in 1999 effectively moved the ancient town from a "manufacturing" state to a "shine" state.
It was a grand event held at a place called "Ma Road". In just six days, more than 400,000 people entered the town.
People were very surprised to find that there was such a kingdom of lights hidden in the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta.
Since then, the industrial dream of Guzhen people has had a solid foundation, and it has officially begun its journey to conquer the world.
Now, walking in the ancient town, you can deeply feel the soul given to the word "lamp" and the word "decoration".
Here, for craftsmen, a good lamp is not just a tool used to illuminate the darkness, but also for entrepreneurs.
First of all, it must have high-quality ingredients from "global procurement", which is just like cooking a top-notch flavor dish; the key to it is the exquisite and ingenious conception derived from "original design".
In the exhibition hall of Huayi Plaza and the design interior of Yu Songwei Lighting, you can see how designers condense the landscape of Lingnan, the customs of the world, and even the imagination of the future into light and shadow.
Lamps are lighting fixtures that belong to the rational category, and decorations are art forms that belong to the perceptual realm. The two blend with each other, giving birth to the respected "Chinese Creation".
It is precisely for this reason that starting from the National Exhibition and Convention Center and going to Disney parks around the world, the light radiated by China begins to bloom in an elegant manner in iconic places around the world.
When dusk falls, climb up to the tall buildings in the town and look down. The entire ancient town seems to be a very huge, breathing light network, and it is a breathing light network.
Stores are large and small, light markets are also of different sizes, and buildings are scattered high and low. Among the lights that gradually light up one after another, the outline of a city called "Photoelectric City" is outlined.
Even in the brief gloom brought about by the global pandemic, the lights here have not been extinguished.
In the live broadcast room, the lights were bright and the sound of bringing goods was continuous, which made the people of the ancient town quickly find new light in the crisis.
It took nearly forty years for the ancient town to grow from a small agricultural town to the world's lightest capital.
Every bright light here illuminates a past of hard work and guidance, and guides a distant place full of hope.
Just as the people of the ancient town firmly believe: "As long as there is darkness, there must be light, and the lamp is the light." And this ancient town is the source of light that will never end.
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