Board the buses, damn chaotic cos we are not the only group going on this tour. Ended up we were all separated and board the bus with anonymous people. We reached our first stop, White Emperor City (白帝城). First, we visited the Guanyin Ge, where everyone, irregardless of religion, went in and a monk chanted to bless all of us. We were then told to pray the four-faced Buddha just located near the temple. After that, we walked on a very oriental-designed bridge where flags bearing the surname of heroes of the Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, flies. After the journey on the bridge, we saw several middle-aged men asking us if we wan to take the wooden sedan for RMB40, but it look a bit unstable so we decline the offer. THEN!!!! We realised y some of the tourists would spent the money to take the wooden sedan. Cos…. WE WILL BE CLIMBING SEVERAL HUNDRED STEPS UP!!!!!! Damn tiring can!!!! After much effort, we finally reached the doorstep of White Emperor City. Took several group pics and then proceed in where the guide led us through all the halls and explain the story behind it. The front hall contains large modern statues which depict Liu Bei on his deathbed entrusting his sons to the care of Zhuge Liang. The two Forest of Tablets halls contain several rare engraved tablets. The Phoenix Tablet is particularly finely engraved. The Bamboo Leaf Poem Tablet is one of only three in China and I was amazed when I realised it’s actually a poem !!! The Wuhou Hall is dedicated to Zhuge Liang, his son and grandson. Mingliang Hall is dedicated to Liu Bei, Who is shown surrounded by four attendants, as well as the black-faced Zhang Fei and the red faced Guan Yu on one side, and Zhuge Liang on the other. We also enter a hall where coffins and skeleton were display. On the wall, there are drawings on how coffins were placed on the cliff and not like wad we know, buried or cremate.
Return back to cruise around noon to have our lunch and we were on board for the next 2 plus hours before boarding another boat to visit the 3 gorges. After boarding the smaller boat, I started to have seasick and the seasick pill isn’t taking any effect so throughout the whole journey, I couldn’t really enjoy the scenery due to the discomfort. On board the boat, there is a tour guide explaining to us each different cliff and what does is resemble. After 20 mins, we arrive at a small pier and alight from the boat to board a sampan for further exploring into the 3 gorges. On the sampan, there is another tour guide guiding us through. During the journey, she even sang songs to entertain us and also let us know about their tu jia zhu (土家族)culture. Other than the tour guide herself, on the return journey, the sampan "captain" also dedicated songs to us and his already 74 YEARS OLD!!!!
Back to our own cruise around evening time and its ready for dinner time!!! Did some packing as we'll be going off the cruise at 7am the next day. When the night fall, we were told to assemble at the deck if we want to witness the ships moving into the DAM!!! SO y do we have to go through this "DAM THING"? As mentioned by the tour guide, we are moving from a place with higher water level to a place with lower water level, so we will be passing through 5 gates with each gates decreasing the water level slowly till we reach the point where the water level is equal to the water level on the other side. The whole process will take us 5 hours or so, thus, we will only be witnessing the first process.
Reflection
Today is a long day for all of us. Tired, sleepy but yet look forward to visit all the sites. First stop, White Emperor City, story of it doesnt seems too stranger to me as i've read story about it before and also seen dramas protraying the story of the three kingdom. Enjoying myself exploring the different halls and get to links all these with wad i've read and seen before. Although its a bit too crowded to really enjoy all these but still i think, if i have the chance to come again, i would visit the place again with much lesser crowds. Couldnt really remember wad i've see during the touring of 3 gorges as im having seasick :( So, through photos, there's actually real coffins placed on the cliff. We were also told that because of the "dam" thing, it had flooded a village/streets which was located at the foot of those mountains. And this is when i realised what is give and take. If u wan to gain something from here, u gonna lose something over there. The "dam" thing really took a very long time just to pass the 5 gates, we ran up and down alot of times cos it was cold on the deck and the process was actually quite slow. It's amazing how this design/structure was created to decrease the probability for flooding to occur. There's actually alot of professional from all over the country to built up and construct this dam and now it had been made well-known throughout the world. Impressed :D
No comments:
Post a Comment