Follow UK immigration and listen to British stories: Some time ago, a video became popular online. In 1953, the British BBC produced a documentary about a train journey from London to Brighton. Thirty years later in 1983, and sixty years later in 2013, they filmed the same documentary, recording the scenery along the route from London Victoria Station to Brighton. Surprisingly, when the three documentaries were played side-by-side, the scenery along the way was remarkably consistent! Whether it was the buildings, bridges, tunnels, or even the forests, almost nothing had changed in these 60 years. It makes one exclaim: this is truly a "divine synchronization"!
In fact, this is not limited to just this one journey. In the UK, it is not uncommon for a house, a block, or even an entire city to retain the appearance it had decades ago. Almost every city has an old town area where the houses have histories spanning decades or even centuries. The most typical example is Shakespeare's hometown: Stratford-upon-Avon. This small town, nestled on the River Avon, still maintains its classical medieval appearance. People live peacefully in those century-old houses, neither abandoning them for being outdated nor feeling intimidated by their long history. In such old towns, it feels as if time has never disturbed life, and one can touch history with their own hands.
In large cities like Manchester, remnants of the ancient city are also preserved. In an area called Castlefield, dilapidated elevated railways, rusty iron bridges, and abandoned giant warehouses from the past still remain, and even a section of the original ancient railway has been preserved. To this day, people can still use old steam trains to experience the city as it was in its early days. Walking on the road, you step on brick paths laid centuries ago, surrounded by old neighborhoods that appear slightly weathered due to their age, yet looking up, you can see skyscrapers representing modern civilization not far away. This feeling of traveling through time is somewhat surreal. Chinese people often use the phrase "the sea changes into mulberry fields" to describe the impermanence of time, but walking through these streets and alleys, one only feels that time itself can lose its power.
There are many similar examples. Even in a metropolis like London, you can still find traces of the 17th century in the prime city center. Walking on the streets of London, you can see a century-old house every few meters, and even after a hundred years, these houses still shine as if they were new. Walking through such neighborhoods where the new and the old blend, watching buildings representing different eras quietly displaying their beauty without being rudely ended by human intervention, I think this is perhaps the ultimate "harmony" a city can achieve.