Ghost City-Sunday 15-SEP

Random ferry with loaded trucks and cars.

 

Laundry on the Yangtze

In the morning we saw more people doing laundry in the river, as well as the “trash fisherman”.  The government pays some of the fishermen to skim trash and debris from the river.  So, they pull some of it from the surface.  It’s a glamorous job, I’m sure!  There was an optional morning tour of a temple with 365 steps to the top.  Theresa was nonplussed and I was ambivalent.  And as the morning fog hung low, I figured paying extra for a view that we could not see anyway was not better than a relaxing morning.

Close up of Laundry day.

The Temple I skipped (after the fog burned off).

While the tour was out, there was a “Speaking Chinese” lesson by our river guide.  Actually, he did a pretty decent job explaining the intonations.  Most Chinese “words” seem to be one syllable (like Shang and Hai, Bei and Jing), but can be inflected up, down, flat, or down then up within the syllable.  The meaning of the word is completely different depending on the inflection, and they even have different meanings for the same inflection, depending on how it is used (and in with what other words).  In English, we tend to inflect sentences and words to convey emphasis or intent, like up for a question, down for a statement, etc.  So inflecting each syllable is tricky, and sort of beyond the scope of a 45 minutes lecture, but it was enough to understand the idea.  He also taught us the Chinese numbers, and showed us how to do it with our fingers.  1-4 is basically like ours, but it gets funny after that.  6 looks like the “hang loose” sign.  The index, middle and thumb together is 7.  The index and thumb extended (like an L) is the way the Germans show 2, but the way the Chinese show 8.  So that can be interesting if a German is ordering beer, and intends on 2, but gets 8!

In the afternoon, we had another tour of the Ghost City.  It is a temple area dedicated to the dead.  It is on top of Ming Mountain, which is supposed to be scenic.  Afternoons were typically hot, so Theresa decided to take the afternoon to go through the readings and pray (since it was Sunday) and relax, and I headed along with the tour.  It was sweltering, muggy, and the sun was unrelenting.  By the time we got back, many people suspect Theresa made the better choice!  Regardless, along the way there was a spot with three bridges.  One was for health, one wealth, and one love.  The tradition is that couples walk across the love bridge taking 5, 7, or 9 steps.  I thought it might be odd going over it by myself, so I headed across one of the other bridges.  I wasn’t sure if it was health or wealth, so I walked back around and did the other bridge to be covered.

Guards for the temple.

Beyond the bridges was a temple with many statues of gods or other figures.  The path continued to a point known as “The Gate of Hell”.  Our guide told us as we stepped over the threshold, do not look back!  Evil ghosts lurked there and if you turned back, they might grab you and you will be stuck there for all eternity.  So, even if you hear your name called, or feel a touch on your shoulder, do not turn back because it might be one of the ghosts.

Before one of the temples, there was a pit, and a curved rock inside it.  You were supposed to stand on the rock on one foot, with the other foot lifted, and both arms up, and looking forward, and hold it for three seconds.  It was remarkably difficult, because the rock was hard enough to stand on, and then getting your other foot up and out of the way without shifting your balance too much was awkward.

It was interesting how the Chinese depictions of Hell are very much like the early Christian depictions with many people being thrown into miserable conditions with no escape.

Depiction of Chinese Hell

Diorama of Hell

Pontoon bridge between dock and boat.

After the tour, we headed back to the boat drenched in sweat, and most everyone took showers before dinner.  For the three full days on the boat, we could have 4 items laundered per person per day (for free), and we found it ironic that this last day they sent us off to soak ourselves in sweat then pack that up!  Fortunately, my shirt mostly dried on the balcony over night!