Summer trip——Putian

I left Fuzhou City on August 2 and headed to Putian along the coast. I passed through Changle City and took a look at the Zhenghe Park and Xianying Palace Clay Sculptures in Changle. Then I turned back to Fuqing and took a look at the Ruiyan Maitreya Statue. After that, go directly to Putian. There are many attractions in Putian. We plan three days. There are many things to see. Let’s pick out the key points: Putian Sanqing Hall, Guanghua Temple, Mulan Pi, Meizhou Island, Cai Xiang’s Tomb, Kaiyuan Temple, and Wanshou Pagoda. .

Fuzhou-Putian route

Zhenghe Park is located in the urban area. It was first built in 1088 in the Northern Song Dynasty. In 1412, Zheng He built the Sanfeng Pagoda as a reward for Mazu's blessing. It was also a navigational beacon for Zheng He on his voyages to the West. The Zheng He Memorial Hall was built in modern times. Unfortunately, we walked around the park for two weeks and couldn't find it. Due to time constraints, we had to visit it next time.

Sanfeng Pagoda

To go to Xianying Palace, take the inter-rural bus directly to the last stop. The transportation here is very developed, so you don’t have to worry about the lack of buses or suspension of services. Xianying Palace is mainly famous for the clay sculptures of precious cultural relics excavated. The palaces were built later. After buying the ticket, you can go directly to the underground palace to see the clay sculptures. The underground is spacious and enshrines "Mrs. Chen Jinggu" who protects women and children. There is also the Poseidon. The statue of Mazu, the Heavenly Concubine, has a "Sea Patrol Minister" on the west side of the front hall. According to research, the prototype of the chief god who was served by the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty was Zheng He. These are the relics of Fujian's livelihood on the sea and the worship of the sea god, so they are very precious. As for the legend that colorful butterflies gathered on the day they were unearthed, I don't know how credible it is.

Xianying Palace

Xianying Palace Clay Sculpture

It was getting late when we left Xianying Palace, so we picked up a passing car and asked him to take us to Haikou Town, which is closest to Longjiang Bridge and Ruiyan Maitreya Statue, and we stayed overnight in Haikou Town. I stayed in the best hotel in town, but the service was extremely poor. This was one of the few bugs in this trip.
Longjiang Bridge is a very distinctive local ancient stone bridge. Together with Longhai Jiangdong Bridge, Quanzhou Luoyang Bridge, and Jinjiang Anping Bridge, it is known as the four ancient bridges in Fujian Province (the journey behind the other three bridges has been passed (and introduction)), the first time I saw the Longjiang Bridge in the morning, I felt like I was blowing through the cool sea breeze in the heat and boredom. It is open, beautiful, and the vision is suddenly bright. The sculpture of the strongman on the bridge is solemn and charitable. Thanks to the monks of the Song Dynasty who spent more than ten years of experience to raise funds to build the bridge, and later to renovate it, leaving a valuable asset to future generations. The contribution will benefit the future. We stayed along the bridge, and motorcycles passed by from time to time. The lower reaches of the Longjiang River are here. Flowing into the sea, there are many naughty jumping fish and crabs on the beach, which makes Xiao Nuan go "crazy".

Longjiang Bridge

After leaving Longjiang Bridge, we walked to the Ruiyan Maitreya Statue. It was built in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. Although I saw photos many times in the collected information, I was still surprised when I saw the real thing. The whole body is huge, the body is majestic, and the lines are smooth. The expressions are vivid, and it’s really amazing that such craftsmanship can be achieved across thousands of years!

I found a huge snail in front of Maitreya. This thing is huge and slow. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to come here to worship it, hoping to achieve enlightenment and become an immortal?

Giant snail

Ruiyan Maitreya Statue

Ruiyan Maitreya Statue

Putian Tour Map

After leaving the Maitreya Statue, we took the bus directly to Putian. It took more than an hour to drive to the city. We first "swept" a few small attractions in the city, including Yuanmiao Temple Sanqing Hall, Xinghua Prefecture City God Temple, and Ancient Qiao Tower along the street. , Putian people are lively and leisurely. Although the market is lively, most shopkeepers have a unified pool at the door. Some also have a tea table with clean tea sets. They can sit down and have tea and gossip while they are busy. This is the rough northerner. No habit.

We walked through the streets and then took a bus to see the Sakyamuni Pagoda and Mulan Pi.

Methodist Church and Yuanmiao Temple Sanqing Hall

Xinghua Prefecture City God Temple and Ancient Qiao Tower

Wenfo Pagoda is located on the north side of Guanghua Temple in Xiangcheng District. It is an octagonal building built in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is exquisitely carved, sturdy and beautiful. Each floor is carved with Buddha statues, birds and beasts. As the sun sets in the west, monks are circling the pagoda. Chanting sutras, there are temples and countryside around, it is peaceful and leisurely, it can cool down the hot mood and make you stay for half an hour and forget to leave.

Monk chants around the pagoda

The perfect combination of simplicity and modernity

Mulan Pi is an ancient water conservancy project located at the intersection of Mulan Creek and Xinghua Bay. It is a world irrigation engineering heritage. It is very majestic. Legend has it that it was built by Qian Siniang in the Northern Song Dynasty. It still irrigates hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland in downstream villages. When we arrived, it was already the time when the lanterns came on. The surrounding river was wide open, surrounded by mountains in the distance, the water was thundering nearby, and across the river was a magnificent embankment with ingenious shapes. Facing Qian Siniang and many other legends were mind-blowing and spectacular!

Mulanpi

Qian Siniang

We took a taxi back to Putian from Mulanpi. The driver happened to be from Zhoukou, Henan. Speaking of which, there are a lot of Henanese here. Most of them drive taxis, motorcycles, and buses. I noticed a lot of them later on when I observed them on the street. A fellow tourist who speaks Henan dialect. This has been upgraded a lot compared to when I went to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan in 2007 and was told that most people in Henan were picking up rags there. Our fellow villagers are also advancing with the times! For dinner, we ordered Nuannuan’s favorite seafood and other local snacks, and drank four-fruit soup to satisfy our appetite after running around for days!

The next day, I took a bus and transferred to a tricycle. I visited Ninghai Bridge, Pukou Palace, and Zhenhai Dike, all of which are relatively distinctive buildings or temples. Zhenhai Dike is also a water conservancy project on Mulan River. The weather is hot and the sun is scorching. There were very few people on the road and I was soon covered in sweat. Traveling is not all about comfort and leisure. Many times it requires physical endurance and persistence!

Scenery along Ninghai Bridge

Zhenhai Dike

On August 4th, I went to Meizhou Island. It was not difficult to buy a ferry ticket. The speedboat departed every half an hour and the cruise ship departed once an hour. We took a speedboat and landed on the island in 20 minutes. As the information introduces, the air on the island is clear and the scenery is beautiful. Meizhou Island is the hometown of Mazu. According to legend, Mazu, also known as Lin Moniang, was born on Meizhou Island. Here is the most authoritative and largest Mazu temple in the world. Mazu is the sea god worshiped by coastal people and has a profound influence on the entire East and Southeast Asia. It is said that In the first month of every year, overseas Chinese and pilgrims from Southeast Asia and Japan who worship Mazu from all over the world gather here to drop incense and make wishes. We focused on the Mazu Temple and the Jiubaolan Golden Beach at the southwest end. The Mazu Temple is majestic and has the appearance of a world-wide religious organization. The sacrificial specifications are also the highest in the country, including the Zhongjun Hall, the Shengtian Tower, the Saint The cultural atmosphere and architectural style of temples such as the Parent Shrine, Dressing Building, and Main Hall (Thean Hou Temple) are obviously different from the many Buddhist temples in the mainland.

Meizhou Island Pier

Mazu Temple

Mazu Temple Architectural Style

Mazu Temple

After leaving Mazu Noodles, we took a bus directly to Jiubaolan Golden Beach. With the heat and fatigue from the past few days, we almost rushed to the beach.

The cool sea breeze blows in your face, the wide sea fills your field of vision, the golden and soft beach massages the soles of your feet, and the bright sunshine becomes soft and weak, becoming only a beautiful backlight under the lens.

When I am tired, I let the waves kiss my feet, and my soul wanders where the sea and the sky meet. The waves of sea breeze take away the tiredness accumulated in my body, cleanse the waste gas and heat all over my body, and clean up the spiritual garbage together. Leave no trace behind!

Let you become a "naked" child lying where the sea and the sky meet... and finally understand that nature can cure all physical and mental illnesses.

At this moment, you are like a tired, injured wanderer who has had enough fun and throws himself into the arms of his mother. She will not blame you, love you unconditionally, accept you, heal you, I am tired...

Suddenly I remembered my childhood in Taiwan, the treasure island across the Taiwan Strait. It has been more than thirty years since the boy left the mainland. I wonder where he is now? After sending a message on WeChat, the other party quickly responded with surprise, saying that she was taking her children to play in Tokyo, Japan! This is basically the closest place to Taiwan. Checking the map shows that it is only more than 200 kilometers away. It still looks like a vast area. I really hope that tourists can return to their hometown as soon as possible.

We stayed at Meizhou Island for the night and admired the bright moon rising on the island at night. The island was more refreshing and pleasant at night, and the wide roads were spotless. Most of the residents in the town were engaged in tourism, and the prices were not as expensive as rumored, maybe because it was not The real peak season!

We returned by boat the next day and took the bus directly to Fengting Town, Xianyou County. We wanted to see Cai Xiang’s tomb and Zhongtian Wanshou Pagoda there. The bus line was very long and it went very fast. The air conditioning here was not working. It’s very cool, and it’s the best choice for us tourists traveling in summer. It’s cheap and convenient, relieves fatigue, relieves the heat, and is on the go!
Cai Xiang was a Jinshi in the Northern Song Dynasty and a Xianyou native in Fujian. He once served as the magistrate of Quanzhou. Together with Su Shi, Mi Fu and Huang Tingjian of the Song Dynasty, he was one of the four great calligraphers. He built the Luoyang Bridge, a water conservancy project, and promoted the development of the Maritime Silk Road! Cai Xiang's tomb sits southeast facing northwest. There is an altar in front of the tomb. There is a Shinto in front of it, which is solemn and solemn. There is a circle of inscriptions next to it, all in Cai Xiang's handwriting, which is strong and powerful! A great man of a generation, with outstanding achievements and benefiting all generations!

Cai Xiang’s tomb

Cai Xiang’s calligraphy inscription

When we first arrived, the Cai Xiang Tomb Scenic Area was closed. We asked a small courtyard person next to us to find out that the administrator had a lunch break. Fortunately, he saw that we had come all the way to pay our respects and opened the door directly. I am really grateful! Under his introduction, I bought a comic book about Luoyang Bridge and gave it to Xiaonuan as a souvenir.

Cai Xiang's Tomb

banana tree

Local specialty longan

Wanshou Tower

Wanshou Tower

After having lunch in Fengting Town, we walked to Zhongtian Wanshou Pagoda according to Baidu map instructions. The Zhongtian Wanshou Pagoda is a rare Five Dynasties-style Ashoka Pagoda. The three-story Xumizuo are all exquisitely carved and have a unique style. It is the largest Ashoka-style solid pagoda in existence. The first impression when seeing this tower is that it is strange and exquisite. , seems to have magical power. This tower is on the top of Ta Dou Mountain. When you climb to the top, you can see the "mirage" in the distance, a geomantic treasure!

Scenery from the top of the tower

Leaving the Wanshou Tower, the next stop is Quanzhou!