Summer trip - Quanzhou (2)

In the next two days, there were many tourist attractions in Quanzhou and they were fragmented, so I will record the key points.

Quanzhou trip "footprints"

In the evening, we arrived at Chongwu Ancient City. Its name comes from the idea of ​​advocating military armament. It was a stone city built for coastal defense during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The city wall has been repaired through the ages. Today, when you climb the city wall and look south, it is still full of pride. The fort stands facing the sea to protect the safety of the ancient city. There are many architectural monuments scattered within the city wall, most of which are ancestral halls, temples and red brick houses from the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. Along the ancient street, Guandi Temple, Tianfei Palace, Side Temple and Sanguan Temple are scattered. Hui'an women pass by in the ancient street from time to time, most of them are elderly women. Many people are busy repairing houses and temples, and there are many red paper notices for donations posted at the door. Everyone helps themselves spontaneously, is hardworking and simple.

Inside the ancient city

Inside the ancient city

Inside the ancient city

City wall

Guandi Temple

The entrance to the ancient city is the Chongwu Ancient City Scenic Area, which is a separately charged project. It turns out that the ancient city itself does not charge any fees! Since we bought the tickets online, we simply visited the seaside outside the ancient city. The sea and sky are vast, the sea reefs are rugged, and the waves are magnificent. The beach is coarser than the gravel on Meizhou Island, but the scenic spot is overall cleaner. We stayed at the seaside for half an hour to play in the water. Go east along the coastline. After passing the boundary monument between the East China Sea and the South China Sea, there are sculptures of characters with themes from Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Hui'an stone carvings are representatives of the southern style of stone carvings. They truly deserve their reputation, with each character's movements expressive and their expressions vivid. There are also carvings of characters from Dream of Red Mansions and Water Margin to the west. There is no need to go back in time. After exiting the scenic area, take a bus to leave Chongwu.

Seaside Reef

Chongwu Ancient City Scenic Area

Three Kingdoms Figure Sculptures

It was noon, so I had lunch in the car. On the way back, we passed through Hui'an County. Along the way, we saw many sculptures "done" by large stone carving factories on the roadside, from Jesus on the cross to the giant Oriental Bodhisattva, and Mazu with a kind-faced face. Gathering on one street, it turns out that their products are also carved and sold here.

Sculptures along the street

We got off the car near Zheng Chenggong Park in Lingshan. According to the instructions on the Gaode map, we followed the path through a section of woods and actually walked to the cemetery of the Ding family in Lingshan. The cemetery is large and Islamic style. Walk further in and you will find your destination - the Islamic Holy Tomb of Lingshan! Quanzhou is the starting point of the Silk Road and the largest trading port in ancient times. The legend of Lingshan Holy Tomb is that three and four of the four disciples of Islam came to Quanzhou to preach and were buried in Lingshan after their death. Lingshan emits strange light at night. Before the construction of Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou, Muslims came here to worship. We saw two stone tomb covers, with a pavilion in the middle, a half-moon-shaped corridor surrounding the tomb at the back, several ancient steles at the back, and a "wind-moving stone" in front, with "jasper ball" engraved in Zhou Daoguang's handwriting, which became A small scene, a beautiful place!

Ding Tombs

Lingshan Holy Tomb

Lingshan Holy Tomb

Fengdong Stone

After leaving the Holy Tomb, we took a bus to Southern Shaolin, which is a free scenic spot. Its scale and cultural heritage are incomparable with Songshan Shaolin. After the tour was completed in about half an hour, we left by bus.

Southern Shaolin

Early the next day, we went to see the Ding Ancestral Hall in Andou Village, Chendai Town, then transferred to Shishi. We wanted to see Linluan Ferry and Liusheng Pagoda. They are both in Shihu Village, Hajiang River, Shishi City. The two attractions are not far apart. It can be reached on foot, because it is close to the sea, and the cool sea breeze blows away the heat gathered by the hot sun. Linluan Ferry is an ancient ferry where Zheng He made many voyages to the west. Liusheng Pagoda is located in Liusheng Pagoda Park. It is an exquisite Yuan Dynasty building and a lighthouse for ancient maritime navigation. The inside of the tower is very cool. When the sea breeze blows, it is really a good place to cool down and take a rest! We had a simple meal here and filled up a large bottle of drinking water in turn. During this trip, we really experienced the power of the southern sunshine!

Ding's Ancestral Hall

Ding's Ancestral Hall

Linluan Ferry Ancient Ferry Crossing

Linluan Ferry Ancient Ferry Crossing

Reborrow Pavilion

Six Victory Tower

Six Victories Pagoda

Have a rest under the Six Victories Pagoda

After leaving Kaijiang, we continued to see the Gusao Pagoda. When we arrived at the terminal, we were still several kilometers away from the scenic spot. The tower facing the top of the mountain was right in front of us, but we had to take a detour to the entrance to climb the mountain. After walking for a while, the rental car was not stopped. I proposed to climb the mountain on our own. We walked through the thorns and thorns along an untraveled mountain road, and soon arrived at the scenic area. When we looked again, we were already ash-headed and dusty. Nuannuan had also exercised, and she still couldn’t help but ask my aunt about the tower. That sad story. The Gusao Tower is actually a navigation beacon. When viewed from a close distance, it looks like an octagonal five-story granite hollow stone tower. Its legend is a testimony of the blood and tears of the Fujian people who went to Nanyang to make a living. We only see the red-brick houses built by the overseas Chinese in Nanyang who returned to their hometowns with millions of dollars. Little do we know that they left their hometowns, struggled to survive in a foreign land, and returned after a narrow escape. The Gusao Pagoda is a symbol of the overseas Chinese, Nostalgia testimonies of overseas Chinese.

Climbing the mountain to open the way

Appearance of Sister-in-law Tower

Inside Sister-in-law Tower

In front of Sister-in-law Tower

I left Gusao Pagoda and lived in Jinjiang. The next day I saw the stone carvings in Cao'an. The stone carvings in Cao'an are the best-preserved Manichaean sites in the world. There is Cao'an's nunnery on the top of the mountain with a single eaves. Inside, there is a Mani Light Buddha with a solemn face, sitting in lotus position. On top of the lotus, the body is surrounded by Buddha light. It was found that there were black-glazed bowls marked "Ming Church" excavated nearby, but they could not be seen. There are stone carvings signed by the UNESCO "Maritime Silk Road" comprehensive inspection team in the courtyard, which shows that the cultural relics have precious research value.

Cao'an Stone Carvings

Manichean Light Buddha

Signature of the "Maritime Silk Road" comprehensive inspection team

Next, we continued to see Cai's residence. At ten o'clock in the morning, although it was windy and the Cao'an Stone Carvings Scenic Area was beautiful, it could not withstand the scorching sun. We were already sweating profusely. We walked for more than 20 minutes to the bus stop, and then transferred to a motorcycle to Guanqiao Town. Cai's residence in Zhangli Village. Cai's house was built by Cai Qichang and his son Cai Susenren in the Qing Dynasty. It is a typical representative of ancient houses in Fujian. It has been introduced in various professional magazines and periodicals. It is famous for its unique red brick and red tile swallow-tail ridge style. Large houses in southern Fujian are generally five-bay large houses with three entrances and a hard-mounted front, with rolling shutter-style wing rooms on the left and right. The color is the same as that of the highest-standard palace buildings, which shows the arrogance of the designers at that time. Among a group of green mountains and green waters, a bright red brick building is set in the mountains and rivers like a palace. It is indeed a gorgeous scenery. We left after swimming for almost an hour.

Cai's House

Cai's House

Swallow-tailed Roof Ridge

Partial Wood Sculpture

Dressing Building Balcony

After waiting for a bus for a long time on the road, we met a hitchhiker who took us to Zheng Chenggong's tomb. Zheng Chenggong's tomb was moved from Taiwan to his ancestral home in Nan'an County in 1699 during the Kangxi period. It was stolen twice and there are not many internal remains. It is collected by the memorial hall. There are also very few, mostly introductions to Zheng Chenggong’s life. The Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall was closed at noon, so I first looked at the tomb of the national hero. In front of the tomb were inscriptions of important events before and after the tomb was moved. Zheng Chenggong, a generation of national heroes, passed the imperial examination at the age of 21 and entered the Imperial Academy. Later, he was named the Governor of the Chinese Army. Baodao drove away the Dutch and regained Taiwan, made great contributions, and died young at the age of 39. Later generations moved the tomb back to their hometown, but the tomb was stolen twice! The tomb was looted, and now the cemetery is just a place to commemorate and pay homage. It must be extremely emotional to face the heroes!

Zheng Chenggong's Tomb

Zheng Chenggong's Tomb

Zheng Chenggong's Tomb

Inscription

Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall

After leaving the tomb of Zheng Chenggong, we took Didi Express to Anhai Town to see Longshan Temple, and then transferred to the last stop in Quanzhou - Anping Bridge!
Anping Bridge is the longest existing ancient stone bridge, with a total length of 2255 meters. It was built in the Song Dynasty. There are five stone bridges for tourists to rest in the middle. The overall structure of the bridge and the stone strips on the bridge deck are similar to those in Luoyang that we have seen before. The bridge is similar to the Ninghai Bridge, except that this bridge is longer. These are also the materials for Nuannuan to complete her summer vacation photography homework. She has seen a lot of bridges during this trip, and she can sort them out by herself. Along the bridge, I admired and rested all the way to the other side. On the other side, there is the Haichao Temple built later and some inscriptions from past dynasties. Looking back, the scenery of Wuli Bridge under the sunset is even more intoxicating.

Scenery by the bridge

Inscriptions from past dynasties

Small pavilion in the center of the bridge

Stone pagoda by the bridge

It was late in the evening. If we could get to Xiamen at night, the rest of the day would be a little more relaxed. Let me give it a try. Someone came to Haichao'an to pick us up soon after posting on my mobile phone. It was really convenient! The seven-seater business car was spacious and comfortable. It drove all the way and arrived at Xiamen Jimei Village in less than an hour. The owner of the car is from Nanyang, Henan. He is a young, white-collar worker who speaks little and is very sincere. When we arrived in Xiamen, the lights were dim. The tall coconut trees on both sides of the road, the modern blocks, and the clean streets showed the modernity and charm of the city. It made me appreciate Xiamen. The trip is longing for me.