At 4 pm last night (Saturday) the students commenced their one (1) day in fourteen (14) off. They returned to school at 6:45 pm this evening (Sunday)
I had three (3) students stay the night with me, and another rocked up at 5am. This late intrusion, in addition to my late night, resulted in a delay in commencing our days journey.
Leaving the 'night owl' to sleep, the four of us set off for Chibi. This involved taking a 30 yuan (AUD $5) taxi ride to the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) river crossing, where we paid another 10 yuan ($1.5) to catch the barge across to Chibi, which is located about one kilometer east of the crossing.
Completing the short walk along the goat track to the 'park' entrance, I immediately proceeded to the little shop where last time I purchased a brochure for 2 yuan (after refusing to pay five). What a disappointment to find that the shopkeeper didn't remember me. This time his price was 10 yuan, so I turned on my heels and proceeded toward the ticket booth. There was however, located opposite the booth, a little stall where we purchased four (4) brochures for 12 yuan.(Mind you Xiao Yan lost his and later I was forced to purchase another).
This is the site you see as you come off the goat track into the village. The ticket office to the Museum Part is immediately to the left.
The entrance price was 25 yuan per person (although Zhan Yan was admitted free, being small and young). So off we headed, with me feeling full of pride, for here I was, the foreigner, leading the way and telling the boys what we might expect to see.
A short way up the path, one can see to the right a watchtower. While Xie Qin Chao and Zhan Yan went down the path to have a look, Zhang Mingxing and I went up to investigate an interesting area.
I had seen this place on the last visit but it was not open. Today I found out that it is a maze constructed of Bamboo. Mingxing raced off to enter and I informed him that there would be a fee. He had a few brief words with the old lady in charge of it, and informed me that it was free. Of course as we exited, we got hit with a three yuan fee. Naturally!
The maze looked easy enough, but to my chagrin I got totally lost. Even when Qin Chao and Xiao Yan arrived to join us and Xiao Yan climbed a tree to guide us, we remained totally lost. It was Mingxing who finally found the way out. It was very interesting.
From here we ascended the hill to the tourist stalls by the HUGE statue of ZHOU YU, and after buying a few trinkets, including some badges (flags of China), we took the left fork down the steps to the platform from whence one can view the rock carving commemorating the battle of the three kingdoms. From a postcard I have seen, the river will rise in flood to just below the carving, even though on this and the previous occasion, it sat well above the water line. At its highest point above normal water level it sits at 38.4 metres.
Souvenir Stalls at Chibi Village Museum
There we encountered a tour group of university students, and had the good fortune of seeing two passenger liners pass by. From here we ascended the VERY STEEP steps and proceeded to a lookout over the river, and from there we headed back down the hill to the fort.
I'm none the wiser about the fort but we had a marvelous time wandering the various exhibits including the terra cotta warriors, and wax figures depicting ancient identities. Unfortunately one is not able to use a flash in that room so most of the photos I took are unusable. Zhang Mingxing did however take the opportunity to dress up as an ancient warrior and I have some very interesting photos of him which I will soon make available online.
Upon leaving the fort we proceeded back to the entrance of the park, and from there, followed the roadway with the intention of completing the tour of the various sites on offer, one of which was to be a temple. By this time however, it was nearing lunchtime, so we called in at a local restaurant.
Now in the west, ordering lunch is such a easy thing. You look at the menu, look at the price, and say yes or no. Not so with my boys. They argued with the restaurant owner over prices, even haggling down the price of the pork dish from 18 yuan to 15 yuan. They objected to the 'high' prices and said we should look elsewhere. It took a full thirty minutes of arguing to convince them that I should be the judge of what is too expensive. As it turned out, the four of us ate and drank for just 52 yuan. We had a pork dish, some rice of course, lotus root, something green, and a plate of fish. Now I don't eat fish at all, but these little dried and fried 'bait fish' (well that is all they were good for) were overwhelmingly and totally resistable. The cost for these alone was 20 yuan.
When it came time to leave, the owner could not change the 100 yuan note and had to run to another store. Upon her return she gave me a 50 yuan note instead of my 48 yuan change, and I pulled out another two yuan to make up the bill. Now this point is noteworthy, as will be revealed later on.
Leaving the restaurant, we headed off down the road to tour the rest of the sites that were included in our admission price. Our next stop was to have been a temple, but before we reached it, the boys announced that we had arrived, for they saw a sign and a 'cross' announcing the presence of a temple. I knew that not only was this not what we were looking for, but that it was a significant discovery. We followed the path down to a nondescript building, and upon entering realised that this was not only a Christian (Catholic) church, but that in fact it contained a dozen worshipers at prayer.
Terra Cotta Warriors in the Chibi Museum
I doubt that 'god' herself could've had more impact had she entered. Prayers were forgotten and for the next hour I was scrutinized and questioned. The 60 year old 'person in charge' (not a priest) informed me that this particular church had been operational for only two years, but had a congregation of 300 persons. The main church in the centre of PuQi (of which Chibi is a suburb) has operated for 70 years*fnt* and has a congregation of 10,000 people. I have been invited to meet them at this church on either/or both December 24th and 25th and accompany them to the Christmas services in PuQi.
Not only were they quite wonderful people, but the old fellow was quite sharp. At one point I explained to Zhang Mingxing that as a westerner I have my preconceptions about China and the practice of religion, and that I wanted to know if they have real freedom to practice. The old man's reply was that he was not sure if the laws governing 'foreigners' permitted me to ask this questions. I roared laughing and informed him that this was a wonderful answer. He appreciated my response and also had a good laugh. Before leaving they asked if I would take some photos.
They were not sure if 'the God' (Ming Xing's translation) would be pleased or angry if I took a photo of the altar, so we sat in chairs off to the side and had a photo taken together, subsequent to which I took a photo of the others in attendance. We were invited to return in an hours time when 200 members would be there for afternoon service, but our schedule would not permit it, the boys needing to be home in time to eat and start school at 6:45pm.
Having bid them a fond farewell, we continued on our way, and lo and behold I saw another Christian church. Later, on our return along this road, we heard singing, and entering the building, discovered a 'Christian' (protestant) church in operation, with the members in the process of learning some new hymns. If I am not mistaken one of them was 'What a friend we have in Jesus'.
As we entered the back vestibule, the only person to have us in site was the lady leading the singing. Well of course, she just stopped dead, then muttered to a man sitting in the front row, and he the 'leader' arose from his chair, and turned to see what was going on. He looked like a 'stunned mullet', and whether as a result of his shock or not, I was left with the feeling that he was uncomfortable with our presence, so after a brief greeting, we left.
Tablets at the Temple Chibi
But back to my story. Between these two religious visits, we made two stops, the first of which was the temple on the side of a hill. To access it you must walk up some impressive steps. At the top thereof stands what looks like a reasonable western building, but inside, it is purely traditional China. I am no good at describing what lay therein but it is just what you might expect to find. A multi-coloured, richly adorned shrine area. Off the far right corner was an open door, and I could see a young lady eating her lunch. She was undoubtedly aware of our presence, but not of the 'wai guo'. Some minutes later I walked to the far end to have my picture taken in front of the statues, and from that vantage could see an old lady enjoying her repast. She casually looked up, and then nearly fell of her little stool. For my part, I kept my composure, clasped my hand together, bowed, and said 'Ni Hao' (hello). She nodded her head. I had my photo taken, and as soon as I was out of her direct line of sight, I could hear her fervent chant of 'Wai Guo! Wai Guo!'. Sometimes I think that Chinese people believe that foreigners can only hear them if they can also see them.
To the right of the front of the building, there is a wall with a circular hole in it, immediately behind which is something for which I can find no English word. I'd call it a statue or a monument but these words don't do justice to it. I have seen many like it in China. It's like a 3D scene.
This circular entrance leads down a corridor between two buildings, (the temple proper and an old unused room that may have been used for accommodation). At the far end, one turns left to find a prayer room with quite a few very large statues in a glass walled ceiling section.
In order to enter the next building one must return to the front of the building and go the other way. To the immediate left of the main temple is what was probably a watchtower. Down the path there is a large vacant room lined with huge 'slate' like panels upon which are inscribed ancient prayers (or maybe poetry).
Watch Tower at the Temple Chibi
On the far side one may enter an enclosed courtyard. There is an overall sense of serenity pervading this temple complex at Chibi.
As one leaves the premises you must descend the steps, from which vantage point you have a clear view of the levee road which commences at the bottom. It is a new levee with a new road built on top. The sides of the levee are cemented and all along it one can see rows and rows of fish drying in the sun, and the occasional cat feasting.
The Chang Jiang often floods, and a few years ago, several hundred soldiers and civilians died while trying to protect the townships around this area. The banks of the river bear testament to recent high rapid water movement, and the grasses present on my last trip have given way to bare land.
Upon leaving the complex, we continued on our way down the main street of the village past rows of delapidated buildings. The people were friendly but shocked. I doubt they had ever seen a white man before. One group of boys was walking toward us, and in their animated state of discussion were oblivious to my presence. I had just mentioned to my companions that these were the first people who were not going to point and stare at me, when one boy looked up and saw me. As his lips began to form the word, I raised my voice and said 'yes, a laowai is here!' (Said in Chinese of course). They all looked up, got a little frightened and began to run. (I have the same effect on women).
Passing on our way, we passed the little protestant church previously mentioned, and just beyond, we encountered a 'demolition site'. We were about to head back when I noticed an archway that I had seen in a brochure. We had finally found the last of the sites on our list. It was once a famous Buddhist monastery, but all that was left apart from the archway at the top of the steps, was a thousand year old tree, two back rooms, one of which contained a shrine, and the little bridge over the lotus pond.
The Nunnery Shrine The last small section of the monastery that sat on this site at Chibi for Centuries.
From the mountain at the back however, one could if positioned among the bushes, obtain a reasonable view of the surrounding district, which was once the site of the Battle of the Three Kingdoms.
Finally we had come to the end of our journey, and it was time to head home. But life in China is anything but simple. We had previously arranged to call the Taxi driver and have him pick us up at the barge crossing, but when we tried to use the public phone (the only public phone in the village) at the ticket office back at the park, it was non operational.
Do you remember that I gave the restaurant owner the extra 2 yuan that she had not charged me? Well, we went back that restaurant and asked if we could use the phone. The man there said we could not make 'long distance' calls on that phone. (It's less than 20 miles to HongHu). When his wife appeared, she recognised us (naturally) and said something to him. He then offered us his mobile phone. We did have to pay 2 yuan for the 2 minute call. So we were able to call the Taxi Driver. He however was out, and his wife said she would get someone else to meet us at the other side of the river.
And so we headed off down the goat track to await the barge. Naturally, it was already leaving and so we had to wait for it to cross the river and then return. That however proved more than simple. For some reason, the barge stopped in the river for a little time, and then sat on the other side for an hour, waiting for more passengers no doubt. By the time we finally got under way on our side, almost 2 hours had passed, and of course there was no taxi waiting for us on the other side. Some nice people we got talking to on the barge offered to drive us to HongHu if the taxi was not there, but seeing a rickshaw upon our arrival on the other side, I thanked them for their offer and took the rickshaw.
The rickshaw is a modified motor bike with trailer and easily fitted the four of us, and as we took off I told the boys that they had better grab on to something or they would be thrown out. Naturally one does not believe a foreigner, but when we hit the first bump, and one began flying through the air, they all grabbed something secure.
Eventually we arrived at the main road, where we began to search for a taxi. Upon seeing a bus approach, and (being a foreigner) realising that it could not be going anywhere other than through HongHu, I called the boys together and hailed it.(They of course had no idea where it was going until it was close enough for them to read the signs.) The Chinese are often astounded by the foreigners ability to 'know' things, but knowing the lay of the land, it was obvious that the bus would either end in this little village (highly unlikely) or go to or through HongHu. It was logical. But whether it just be country living or Chinese mindsets, no one around here seems to think logically. (I'll write about this another time).
So having found a bus, I paid the 6 yuan to take us back to HongHu, and discovered that we were able to alight just a few hundred metres up the road from the school. Being a Sunday afternoon, all the food vendors were lined up in the street, and we proceeded to buy some fruit, and some takeaway for dinner (Chinese of course).
AUTHENTIC !! CHINESE !! TAKEAWAY !!
These vendors are located only 100 metres from the school gate.
The whole day cost me 250 yuan for 4 people. We took a taxi to the river (30yuan), then the barge (10 yuan), then there was the entrance fee (75 yuan – no charge for Zhan Yan), 12 yuan for the bamboo maze, 15 yuan for brochures (Zhan Yan lost one), 5 yuan for hiring the warrior outfit, 52 yuan for lunch in a proper restaurant - plus snacks - a couple of badges – some postcards - some drinks, another barge ride - 10 yuan for the Rickshaw and 6 yuan for the bus - some fruit for home plus some (Chinese) takeaway dinners.
If you come to China and want to see Chibi, you must take the Express bus from Hankou bus station in Wuhan. The journey to HongHu will take 3 hours. From Hong Hu bus station you can take a bus to Chibi. There is a nice hotel in HongHu for foreigners to stay in.
Hope you enjoyed this story!
Footnote
During the period between 1966 and 1976 called the cultural revolution a lot of damage was done to churches. Apart from this the church has been able to operate.
Statue of Zhou Yu at Chibi. The Boys in front give you some perspective on his height.
From near the entrance to the Hong Hu bus station. Quite Common in Hong Hu.
R.P.BenDedek is from Brisbane Australia and is the author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' at http://www.kingscalendar.com His academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
He writes photographic 'Stories from China' and social editorial commentaries, both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing newspaper columnist. He currently teaches Conversational English in China and in addition to his English Lessons at KingsCalendar, he has created specific sites for Students of English.
Thank you again for sharing your travels with us armchair travellers. As a round eye with a soft spot for China and the Chinese I read your article with growing facination and a deep desire to visit it myself. You wrute well and can keep the reader captive and the photos at the end of the story give it life. excellent
Why thank you ma'am! While a little unusual for an academic site, it does give me an avenue for sharing my life, and of course, it keeps me off the street (just as well it is dangerous out there!)
