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Published: November 29th 2023
Once up and sorted I made my way along the road to the Thousand Buddha Tower Temple. I headed through the gates and along the road to the temple. It was really quiet and there were only a few other people about outside the temple. There were some pools of water and a nice seating area, so I stopped there for a while to read and watch a grandmother and her grandson looking at the fish and turtles in the water. I made my way inside the temple complex. I never tired of taking pictures of the different statues that guard the entrances of temples. I headed up the first set of stairs and had a wander around up there. There were a few temple buildings and painted corridors to walk along. Also there were some beautiful lotus flowers growing in pots dotted around the temple. I loved the cutesy Buddha statue that looked like a small child. It was great to photograph. There were more people up here, but it was still pretty quiet and like pretty much all temples in China, it was immaculate. I wandered around looking at the murals and Buddha statue. There were some good views
of the city of Meizhou from here as well. I think some of the staff were a little surprised to see a foreigner and some women working in one of the temple's buildings were friendly. There were a few signs up gently telling people to observe good behaviour.
I headed up to the next level, the top level of the temple complex, to see the Thousand Buddha Tower. I liked this level the best. While the lower level was immaculate and everything was spread out nicely, it just lacked a little bit of soul. It had a slightly sterile feeling to it. Up here, the buildings were a bit older, packed more tightly together, and were more vivid as they were painted red. There were also a lot of trees and greenery, making it feel more lush. There was a terrace/corridor with an altar in the middle and collections of candles at the ends. I headed to the other end of the corridor and took a seat in the shade. I watched a few monks walking around, just going about their daily business. There were large gates that were closed at either side of the temple up here and
I felt like this was the original entrance before the expansion and addition of the buildings on the lower level. There was also an information board (in English) up here so I was able to find out a bit more about the temple. When travelling away from the mainstream Western orientated destinations in China, a lot of time I struggle to information in English and come away not knowing much about these beautiful places I visit. The temple is really, really old. It was originally established in 956 AD, during the reign of the South Han Dynasty. It is amazing to think it has been here for over 1,000 years. The tower is 36 metres high and has nine floors. The ground floor is open for people to go in and worship. I took a walk around some of the buildings and saw what I think were Tibetan style prayer wheels in one hall. Before heading to the tower, I wandered the grounds. I met some friendly kids and we exchanged hellos. There were a few fountains and it was nice to see and hear the water, very peaceful and calming. There was a female monk doing circuits around the
tower. I had a look around the ground floor of the tower. I really wish you could climb to the top. I bet the views would be amazing from up there. However the views from here were really nice too. I met a cute kitty and there were lots of Buddha statues for me to photograph. It was a beautiful temple and I enjoyed my walk around it despite the fierce sun and oppressive heat.
When I left the temple, the weather was still okay, so I headed down to the river for a walk along it. It took me about 15 minutes or so to reach the riverside. There are a few parks (well more like green spaces) running alongside the banks of the Meijiang river. Since it was around lunchtime, I pretty much had the place to myself as most people would be eating and resting. The walk was nice and the riverside was clean and well cared for. I loved looking up and down the river taking in the views. In one direction I could see a large cluster of high rise apartment buildings with the mountains behind them. It looked like a nice modern place
to live. In the other direction, it wasn't as built up. There were only a few high rise buildings and they were more scattered about. The river bank stretched on and on, but after a while I was too hot and thirsty to continue so made my way back to my hotel via the convenience store for drinks and snacks. It hadn't started to rain yet, but the sky was starting to look a bit ominous.
I made it in before the rain started. I got cosy in my room and watched outside as the sky started to darken rapidly. It was funny looking out as I could see the dark storm cloud above, but also where it finished and the pale sky beyond it. The heavens opened and it poured and poured and poured. I am glad that I decided not to venture out too far as getting caught in all that rain would have been unpleasant especially when waiting for the bus. The rain never let up all afternoon. It didn't stop raining until about 8 pm. I felt a bit guilty ordering some take away as the weather was bad, but I needed to eat. Being
a creature of habit, I ordered from the same place that specialises in Hakka cuisine. Gotta get my fill while I can. I was in a bit of a quandary when ordering as I really wanted order Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens (梅菜扣肉 mei cai kou rou) as it is one of my favourite dishes and a Hakka staple, but there was a dish on the menu that I hadn't had before and hadn't seen in other places so wanted to try that. The other dish was steamed meat patties with pickle (咸菜蒸肉饼 xian cai zheng rou bing) and I ended up ordering that. It was the second most popular dish that the store sold, so must be good. I also ordered my staples of stir fried green veggies and braised eggplant. The food was good as always. I enjoyed the eggplant and veggies. The meat patties with pickle was nice. It was lightly flavoured steamed pork mixed with pickled vegetables. I'm glad I tried it. The rest of the evening was spent preparing for the off tomorrow and to my final destination in Guangdong.
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Pattie?
That's not what I was expecting from the description... :)