ZHANGJIAJIE N YANGTSE CRUISE D7 (Afternoon) APRIL 2009

DAY 7

9 April 2009 Afternoon

River Cruise cum Baidicheng shore excursions

                                       

The ship Yangtze 1 set sail and cruise through the calm river to Baidi City. It was a very pleasant cruise just staring at the river and mountains. The ship sailed through Qutang Gorge, the most majestic of the three gorges. There were commercial activities on the river but the traffic was not heavy.

White Emperor City (BaidiCheng) also known as “City of Poems”

The ship docked at Fengjie Port in Baidicheng

BaidiCheng 

Inside the temple

Suspended coffin display

View from the top

Back to the ship

From Travel Website.  Baidicheng (or Baidi Cheng or just Baidi), meaning White Emperor City in English is an ancient temple currently located on an island along the Yangtze River in China 8 km from the Fengjie County, in the Chongqing municipality. The city used to be part of the North bank mainland, but following raised water levels of the Yangtze river after construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the entire hill temple complex is now on an island connected to the north bank via a solid concrete linkway bridge. Many of the old low-lying structures linking the city to the hill are now completely submerged underwater. With newer buildings now all built higher up above the Yangtze water line.

The city is built on the top and along the slopes of the hill island itself. Many legends were spoken of this mystical place. It was once said that the area was surrounded with a blanketing white mist, shrouding the entire hill and giving it rather mysterious, yet serene look, reminiscent of an emperor should be like. It has also been said someone saw a white dragon (an Emperor symbol), warlord Gongsun Shu declared himself Emperor of Chengja following this fortuitous sign, founded the city with the title “The White Emperor” as thus the name of the city.

In 2006, the Chinese government established Baidi city as a national heritage site, and I can see why they did so. The views up on the hill are magnificent, offering unobstructed views of the Qutang Gorge, one of the three gorges along the Yangtze River. The island continues to be a prominent tourist attraction, with it being popular with cruise ships which spend half a day berthed by the Yangzte for tours of the little city at Fengjie. If old traditional Chinese architecture and palaces are your thing, will definitely be worth a visit.