Dujiangyan

The dykes at Dujiangyan are over 1200 years old.China was made up of states prior to the rise of the first dynasty.The future emperor of China sent Libin as an administrator here.Dujiangyan ,located on the mid point of the fast flowing Min river became the focal point of Libin's plan to control the fast flowing waters of the Min river.He managed to convince the people to build up a series of dykes.with the waters under control,Chengdu became the staging post for the Qin emperor's plan to unite China

YuZhui or Fish Mouth is the first point where the waters of the Min river is tamed.The river is effectively cut into two.Excess water is diverted to the left of the photo.Water on the right continues its flow and will reach a second flood control measure

Water from the left of Yuzhui flows here.A modern dam has replaced the anicent dykes
Rocks in bamboo baskets are still used today


We visited Dufu's cottage beforemheading back to the hotel

Researchers think that this is the site of DuFu's cottage

Leshan Dafo and Qing Yang Gong

The construction of this Buddha was started in 713 by a Chinese monk named Haithong. He hoped that the Buddha situated at at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels travelling down the river. When funding for the project was threatened by a corrupt official, he is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity.The project was completed by Haitong's disciples in 803.It is believed that so much debris was thrown into the river that it altered the flow making it safe for ships

This word Fo means Buddha.It was written by the poet Su Tong Po who is a Sichuanese
You need to climb 333 steps to reach the top
Numerous carvings adorn the wall of the site.Most of them have eroded as sandstone is not a strong material

View of the Buddha from the river
After lunch we headed back to Chengdu to visit Qing Yang Gong.Qing Yang Gong Temple (Green Ram Temple) is the oldest and largest Taoist temple in the Southwest of China. Originally built in the early Tang Dynasty (618-907), this temple has been rebuilt and repaired many times. The existing buildings were mostly built during The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).


The original rams in the temple has been lost due to wars and upheavals.This bronze ram was moved from Beijing in Sept 1723 during the reign of Emperor Yong Zheng of the Qing dynasty.This ram has body parts from animals of the Chinese zodiac-the mouth of a horse,tail of a snake,dragon's horn,rat's ear,monkey's neck,cock's eye,dog's belly and pig' rump...
Tihis bronze ram was added later
We went back to Jinli Street for dinner

Wu Hou Temple

Every Chinese would be familiar with the Three Kingdoms.Wu Hou Ci or Marquis Wu temple honours some of the characters in this period.The statues of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang his brilliant advisor and some of his loyal Generals are found here



Statue of Liu Bei.His descendents eventually lost the war
The temple has a museum for visitors to learn more about the three kingdoms period

The entrance to Liu Bei's tomb is guarded by statues

There was debate as to weather it was really his tomb. He had died in Chongqing
This is how Jinli street looks like in the day

Jinli street was renovated with funds from Wu Hou Temple


We had the typical Sichuan meal for dinner-really hot and spicy!!

Mala chicken

Panda Base and Sanxingdui Museum

We left the hotel at 8am for the Chengdu Panda Base.
This fella was snacking on bamboo
There are also exhibits of Red Pandas

The base is planted with lots of Bamboo
Our next stop was the Sanxingdui Museum,located about 40 km north of Chengdu.In 1986, archeologists have unearthed two pits filled with elepahnt tusks,tiger teeth,sea shells and bronze relics with strange looking shapes.These objects were dated to 11th to 12th Century BC
The vessels used by this mysterious culture are mostly tripod like.It is thought that a fire was lighted underneath it to cook food
A ladle with a bird motif
Jade boulders found in the vicinity had been worked on by these people. Sadly the tools they used to make Jade objects were not found
Jade necklace
Jade discs resemble those unearthed in Chinese tombs.There might have been contacts with the Chinese
Jade ceremonial daggers
Bird motifs are popular subjects
Weird looking bronze face mask were unearth.The artistic style were completely unknown in the history of Chinese art
Some of the masks still had gold attached to them.Till this day no one really knows who these people are as no written records were left behind

Chengdu

Decided to accompany Jo on her site inspection trip to Chengdu.This would make it my third trip to China

Chengdu is located in Sichuan province in the western part of China. It is the Provincial capital.

Photo of Chendu Airport
View of the city from the 30th floor of the Shangrila Hotel. The city is located in a basin surrounded by mountains, giving it a misty look for most of the year. I wonder how much of it is due to industiral pollution.
For dinner,we were brought to a restaurant that serves herbal soup.There are herbs and mushrooms cooking in the hotpot

Pork meat balls
Lamb meat sliced thinly
You dip your meat or mushrooms in this hot as hell Sichuan spicy sauce

We visited Jinli street after dinner. Jinli Old Street was originally built as a commercial street during the Shu Kingdom (221 A.D.-263 A.D.).The Street was refurbished in 2004 and retains the architectural style of Sichuan Province during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).It is next to the Wuhou Memorial Temple.