This last week of our stay in China is packed full. We got home late from Liuyang on Sunday night. Before we left on that trip we had pre-packed for Xi'an as we left the house early on Monday morning heading to Pudong airport to fly to Xi'an. We were picked up by our guide, Jack, and driven to our first destination - Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
Alas, there is a problem almost immediately. You have to show your passport for everything - even purchasing tickets for tourist attractions. Then you can go through the entrance by scanning your passport - no need for a paper ticket. However Michael's passport number had been entered incorrectly so he could not get in. I had already gone through - thankfully Jack was behind Michael so he could go back to the ticket counter and get it fixed. This took about twenty minutes. So I am standing on one side of the turn-style and Michael is shunted off to the side of the line - so other people can go through.
We all did make it into the Big Wild Goose Pagoda grounds. There is a story of how this Pagoda got its name. It seems there were some Buddhist monks traveling together. One day they had no meat to eat. There lots of complaints and someone said, "I hope the Bodhisattva will give us some meat. At that moment a flock of geese flew overhead. The lead goose somehow broke his wings and fell to the ground in front of them. The monks now felt guilty for their complaints causing the goose to die and have never eaten meat again.
The Wild Goose Pagoda is a Buddhist site. The statue in front is of the Mage - Master Xuanzang. It was originally built around 648 BC during the Tang Dynasty.
There were lots of dragons - this is a relief on a wall.
As everywhere we have gone - people like to dress up in the old costumes.
They were very amenable to pose for us.
One of the outer buildings had beautiful pictures all around the room showing the complete life of the Buddha.
The pagoda has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. These are from a long time ago.
Another interesting cultural fact of China is that they rate everything! Everywhere we went we were informed of the status of the attraction. The Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relic Preserved and a AAAA Tourist attraction - that means it has a very high ranking.
That definitely looks worth the visit.
ReplyDeleteWe were reading about UNESCO World Heritage sites (cultural, natural, etc.) and I was trying to figure out why we have to few in the US compared to most of the rest of the world. Do we not value the designation, so we don´t apply for it?
Maybe because we are too new of a country. China's history is way longer!
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