Day Ten - Red Pagoda and Fengdu Ghost City

The Red Pagoda - built without nails

Misty morning on the Yangtze

When we awoke we were moored near the Red Pagoda. It was an atmospherically misty morning and as the sun came up we watched local people doing their washing in the river.

Doing the washing!

Low wooded hills border the river

The morning was spent watching the banks of upper Yangtze slip past. There are beautifully wooded hills in this area, quite different from the steep sided gorges.



In the afternoon we visited Fengdu Ghost City via a pontoon bridge and the ubiquitous market stalls selling not only souvenirs but also local snacks including - pig's noses. We passed them by! 

Modern Fengdu across the Yangtze

Fengdu Ghost City is actually a large complex of shrines and temples dedicated to the afterlife. The temples of the Ghost City are on the northern bank and are the only remaining parts of the original city of Fengdu, the rest was flooded when the dam was constructed and a new city has been built on the southern bank. 

The complex combines the beliefs of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism and reflects the belief that good people will be treated well in the afterlife and that bad people will be punished by demons. It is constructed to resemble Youdu the capital city of the underworld in Chinese mythology which was just like a Chinese city except that it was dark. 

Judges of souls

Judges of souls

Souls of the dead, deities and demons lived in Youdu and the records of peoples lives were also kept there so all souls went there to be judged when they died.

Bridge over troubled water

Ghost torturing demons

It was believed that there are various tests that the soul has to undergo, these are represented in the statues and buildings of Fengdu Ghost city.

 One of the tests is the 'Bridge of Troubled Water' that the soul cannot cross if it is bad. 

Another test is the  'Ghost-Torturing Pass' where the souls of the dead present themselves for judgement by the King of Hell. 

Three Buddahs

Female Buddah

As well as statues of demons and judges there were also many statues of Buddahs - some of them female.

Last glance pavillion

The oldest of the temples is more than 300 years old but the Last Glance to Home Tower which was built in 1985 is the most recent. It marks the place where, it's believed that, the dead could have a last look back home.

No wonder nobody stays there!

We not only saw the temples of the 'underworld' but also a huge golden head on the hillside which turned out to be an ill-fated hotel project - no windows and no guests - really it's almost as strange as a temple complex modelled on the capital of the underworld!

This was our last night on the Yangtze and we had the 'Captain's Farewell Dinner' which was similar to regular dinner except that the waitresses wore their red cheongsam and we had red napery on the tables and the Captain made a speech.

Leo translating the Captain's speech to English

The food seemed to include more fried things than usual and many of the dishes were sweet including the breaded garlic chicken - though the bread is sweet tasting anyway - and the lotus root stuffed with sticky rice. This must be to the Chinese taste as we noticed one man putting his dessert on the same plate as everything else - gravy and all!