The Stunning Artistic Conception of Huancuilou in the Rain

🌟 Weihai Huancuilou: Encountering a Century of History in the Drizzle 📜 A City's Watcher In the long history of Weihai, Huancuilou has always been the most captivating shade of blue-green. This ancient tower, originally built in the second year of the Hongzhi reign in the Ming Dynasty, was initially the southeast corner tower of Weihaiwei City, witnessing 600 years of vicissitudes of this coastal fortress. It was later enclosed within the city walls during the Qing Dynasty's expansion and was renovated during the Guangxu period to become a gathering place for literati. The name "Huancui" is derived from the poetic imagery of "mountains surrounding, towers dripping with green." 🌧️ A Pleasant Surprise of Seeking Antiquity on a Rainy Day Huancuilou is especially charming on a rainy day, with blue bricks and dark tiles shrouded in misty vapor, and the flying eaves hanging crystal-clear rain curtains. This three-story Xieshan-style building appears even more solemn in the rain, with stone steps marked by the passage of time shining after being washed by rain. Every step feels like treading on echoes of history. Standing on the second-floor corridor and looking out, Liu Gong Island appears faintly through the rain, as if witnessing the fluttering flags of the Beiyang Fleet a century ago. 🖋️ Elegant Memories in the Patina 1️⃣ Inside the tower, a forest of steles preserves Weihai’s literary heritage. Among nearly a hundred Ming and Qing dynasty inscriptions, the "Record of the Renovation of Huancuilou" stele is the most precious, with the regular script carved in the tenth year of Guangxu still clearly legible. 2️⃣ In the second-floor exhibition hall, a bronze bell from the Guangxu period hangs quietly. It is said that its chimes once echoed throughout the city, serving not only as a timekeeper but also as the heartbeat of the city. 3️⃣ The third-floor Sea-Viewing Pavilion was a favorite spot for scholars and poets. On rainy days, sipping tea by the window allows one to appreciate the Qing dynasty poet’s imagery of "half the city covered by mountains, half by sea." 🌳 New Green Nourishing Old Times The park around Huancuilou boasts over 30 century-old trees that are especially stunning. The black pine needles glisten with rain, and the ancient locust tree crowns spread like ink clouds. Most special are the two Ming dynasty ginkgo trees in front of the tower. In golden autumn, their fallen yellow leaves create a magnificent scene known by Weihai locals as the "Golden Carpet." While strolling along the corridor bridge, wildflowers growing between the stone slabs sway in the rain, complementing the carved stone railings beautifully. Huancuilou is like an elder who has weathered the ages—on sunny days, it tells the heroic stories of Weihai’s military and civilians resisting Japanese invasions; on rainy days, it whispers the refined charm of literati and scholars. Remember to bring an umbrella when visiting on rainy days, but those puddles soaking your shoes and socks might just be the special marks history has left for us.