2010-06-21 China - Shibaozhai Temple in Zhongxian

Today was our arrival in Zhongxian for a visit to the Shibaozhai Temple built around 1650. We walked through the new relocated city, across a swaying suspension bridge and through a yellow glazed entrance gate. I could not see the 9-story pagoda plus 3-story temple on top as we approached, but as we walked around a high wall, the pagoda came into view. It was built into the cliff rather than on top, so was not visible from the city. We decided to climb the spiral staircase with 99 steps (9 is a lucky number), and our guide explained the history and stories of each level. The temple at the top had several alcoves with statues of deities, including the female goddess beloved by women. There was an arched stone bridge across a small pond, and according to legend, if you can cross it in three steps, you are assured of going to Heaven. A lot of our group did it, but we figured it couldn't be that easy to attain Heaven, and besides we were not sure which Heaven was meant. Our guide had said that for the Chinese, according to Taoism, Heaven is pretty much our environment, not a celestial paradise. There was a nice view of the countryside, which would have been better on a clear day.

After returning to the ship and enjoying another sumptuous dinner, we retired early to recover from the strenuous climb, and rest up for a busy day tomorrow.