Day 12 - More Buddhist tourism
Apr. 19th, 2008 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanithryudoThis morning we headed out for a little sight-seeing of Wuxi. We drove out along the banks of 太湖 (Lake Tai) into the 马山 (Horse Mountain) area.
According to historical records, the land used to belong to a retired general during the Tang Dynasty, who was a good friend of the monk Tripitaka. After Tripitaka returned from his trip to India, he was invited to visit his friend. There, Tripitaka noted that one of the hills there very much resembled the sacred mountain he visited in India (灵山) and expressed interest in buying the land to build a monastery there. His very generous friend instead gifted him with the land to build the monastery.
That monastery was later burned down either during WWII or the 50s (I couldn't hear the tour guide clearly). Then in more recent years, reconstruction was begun on the hill now called 小灵山. The last time I visited this area in Wuxi, only the front gate was done, and the huge statue of buddha was under construction. Now, the front gate had been taken down/changed, the huge statue is complete (along with a lot of other things), and the only part that's still under construction is a school (for studying buddhism) somewhere in the back.
The huge statue supposedly has an elevator inside that goes all the way up to the eye level of the buddha statue. But only VIP visitors are able to get in there and be able to "look out the eyes of Buddha". Most regular visitors can only get up to the level of the lotus flower that the statue is standing on.
The other point of interest there is the huge fountain presentation of the "太子" statue. We got there in time to see one of the presentations and I was able to capture it on video.
Pictures are of course forthcoming once I get access to imageshack.
We left the place early as it started to rain heavier and heavier. For lunch, we just went to a restaurant nearby my aunt/uncle's place. We ordered some pretty tasty stuff: white shrimp (said to be a specialty from 太湖, roast goose (now said to be healthier than duck for anti-cancer properties), sea snail (海螺), crayfish, a multi-fruit & 锅巴 dish... Mm... (Have I made anyone hungry yet? Be glad I didn't include pictures. :-P)
Addendum @ 20:24 - just came back from dinner. My uncle had reservations (through connections) at a local five star restaurant/hotel 太湖饭店. I liked the crab paste (made with real crab instead of the imitation crap we see so often in the US), the crispy fried honey eel, the cuttlefish, and the white...somekindoffish (白鱼), said to be one of the three specialties that 太湖 is known for (白鱼，白虾，银鱼). Also had sea cucumber, which was a first even though I didn't find the taste especially of note. Am stuffed though.
According to historical records, the land used to belong to a retired general during the Tang Dynasty, who was a good friend of the monk Tripitaka. After Tripitaka returned from his trip to India, he was invited to visit his friend. There, Tripitaka noted that one of the hills there very much resembled the sacred mountain he visited in India (灵山) and expressed interest in buying the land to build a monastery there. His very generous friend instead gifted him with the land to build the monastery.
That monastery was later burned down either during WWII or the 50s (I couldn't hear the tour guide clearly). Then in more recent years, reconstruction was begun on the hill now called 小灵山. The last time I visited this area in Wuxi, only the front gate was done, and the huge statue of buddha was under construction. Now, the front gate had been taken down/changed, the huge statue is complete (along with a lot of other things), and the only part that's still under construction is a school (for studying buddhism) somewhere in the back.
The huge statue supposedly has an elevator inside that goes all the way up to the eye level of the buddha statue. But only VIP visitors are able to get in there and be able to "look out the eyes of Buddha". Most regular visitors can only get up to the level of the lotus flower that the statue is standing on.
The other point of interest there is the huge fountain presentation of the "太子" statue. We got there in time to see one of the presentations and I was able to capture it on video.
Pictures are of course forthcoming once I get access to imageshack.
We left the place early as it started to rain heavier and heavier. For lunch, we just went to a restaurant nearby my aunt/uncle's place. We ordered some pretty tasty stuff: white shrimp (said to be a specialty from 太湖, roast goose (now said to be healthier than duck for anti-cancer properties), sea snail (海螺), crayfish, a multi-fruit & 锅巴 dish... Mm... (Have I made anyone hungry yet? Be glad I didn't include pictures. :-P)
Addendum @ 20:24 - just came back from dinner. My uncle had reservations (through connections) at a local five star restaurant/hotel 太湖饭店. I liked the crab paste (made with real crab instead of the imitation crap we see so often in the US), the crispy fried honey eel, the cuttlefish, and the white...somekindoffish (白鱼), said to be one of the three specialties that 太湖 is known for (白鱼，白虾，银鱼). Also had sea cucumber, which was a first even though I didn't find the taste especially of note. Am stuffed though.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-20 05:50 am (UTC)How's the passport thing coming along?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-20 04:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-21 03:04 am (UTC)Oh, and did you get the headless chicken icon? Or was the site blocked?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-21 05:19 am (UTC)Yeah I got the headless chicken icon.