There are so many interesting scenic spots and historical sites for you to visit when you study in China. This article will introduce the history of Wu Well which is the most famous well for the students who study abroad in China to know.
Firstly, it is good for the students who study abroad in China to know. During the end of Qing Dynasty and the early days of liberation, the domestic water of urban citizens in Kunming focused on wells. There used to be a public well in each street and lane and a well in every private yard. Citizens tied a bucket with coir rope to get water from well, which was usually called “打水” in Chinese. From morning to night, people who went to get water were in an endless stream. To live a daily life, people could not live without water and without wells. Well was quite important in Kunming people’s life.
In the past, the famous wells in Kunming are Dragon Well in Longjing Street, Twin Well in Shuangyanjing Lane, Big Well in Dajing Lane, Eight-Square Well and Square Well beside Green Lake. Among them, Wu Well near Wu Jing Bridge is the most famous one. It is an important one for the students who study abroad in China to visit.
If you study in China and you can go to Kunming to visit. Wu Well is near Wu Jing Bridge and on the crossing of South Huancheng Road and Wu Jing Road in East Kunming. The bridge was named after Wu Well. The water in Wu Well is clear, cool and sweet and the tea made of water from Wu Well is excellent and known everywhere. In Qing Dynasty and the early days of the Republic, Kunming gentries’ families would like to pay lots of money to hire people and horses to carry water from Wu Well for them to drink. There are also poor citizens would take water of Wu Well to sell along streets and lived from this.
In the past, the well-know big teahouse in Kunming City, such as Tai Hua Chun in San Shi Street, Hua Feng Teahouse in Zhengyi Road, they would hang the sign boards said “selling Wu Jing water specially” in front of their shops so that guests was full of their teahouse because of this. But now there are still some for the students who study abroad in China to visit.
The folk legend of Kunming is for the students who study abroad in China to know. It is said that a couple whose family name was Wu in Ming Dynasty ran a teahouse here and they took water from this well to make tea. Because their tea was fragrant and sweet, their business was very good. Later an unkempt Taoist priest came to their teahouse and asked them to give him some alcohol, before the hostess wanted to tell him there was no alcohol here and stopped him outside the door, the host took some alcohol and treated the Taoist priest as a guest. After the Taoist priest drank a little alcohol, he poured the rest of alcohol into the well and left. When the host took water from the well later, the water smelled like alcohol and proved to become rice wine. The hostess was extremely happy and changed the teahouse into tavern. They didn’t cost anything to do business, which brought them a large fortune. When the unkempt Taoist priest came here again and asked about the situation of their business. The host was so grateful to the priest, while the hostess said, “it is good to have wine in the well; but there is no distillers’ grains any more, pigs in our home have no food.” After hearing this, the Taoist priest raised the cup in his hand and poured the wine on the ground and left without words. He sang while he was leaving, “天高不算高，人心比天高。井水当酒卖，还嫌猪无糟。” whose meaning is that the hostess was not satisfied her good life at that time and didn’t know to cherish the good opportunity. From then on, the hostess took water from the well, water would always be well water only. What an interesting story to attract the students who study abroad in China to know and go to visit Wu Well.
Originally, the place that Wu Well located in has a Wu Jing Memorial Temple. On New Year’s Day or other festivals, Yunnan theatrical troupe of farmers who lived in the near Niu Jie Village would come here and sing Yunnan traditional opera without music, which would often attract tea drinkers in six districts of Southeast Kunming to walk tens of kilometers to taste fragrant tea made of water from Wu Well, while enjoyed the clear Yunnan traditional opera.
The Wu Jing Memorial Temple was destroyed later. A teahouse was built here in 1999 and Wu Well was in the yard of teahouse. The water in well is still cool, clear and sweet.