CHINA 12: YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE-WU AND QUTANG GORGES


May 29

Soon after our return from the Shennong Stream cruise, MS Blue left Ba Dong for our next destination, Baidi Cheng.

We went through the 20-mile long Wu Gorge, the second of the three gorges included in our Yangtze River Cruise. From our cabin-balcony we enjoyed the scenery, and saw hydrofoils,





freight and cruise ships pass by.

and cruise ships pass by.

Later in the afternoon, we reached the mouth of the last, 5-mile long, and believed to be the most spectacular Qutang Gorge.

We docked at Baidi Cheng. Some of us disembarked here for the optional shore excursion to the third century a Shu kingdom temple where, the kings and ministers began to be worshipped in the 16^th century.

Kundan and I stayed behind, to enjoy the setting sun.

Later we watched on the TV a story about musicians from India, who gave a joint performance with their Chinese counterparts, in Shanghai. The Indian musicians had been invited for the India Pavilion Day at the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

Incidentally, on June 26, Pratibha Patil, President of India had started a six-day official visit of China, along with a delegation of more than 60 diplomats and representatives of various industries.

The visit was also meant to emphasize the cultural connections between India and China, as the President inaugurated an Indian-style garden and hall, at the Baima Si (White Horse) Buddhist Temple located at Luoyang, in Henan Province (pictures from http://www.toocle.com/travel-in-china/detail--574-White-Horse-Temple.html).

The garden and a Sanchi (India) style hall has been built by India at the cost of $4 million, on 3200 square yards of land provided by China (Picture from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-09/17/content_11319403.htm).

According to a May 27, China Daily (“Indian president’s visit as welcome relief”, by Swaran Singh, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-05/27/content_9898965.htm ) the temple had been built by the Eastern Han Emperor Ming Di in the 64 AD, to honor Shi Moteng (Kasyapa-Matanga) and Zhu Falan (Dharma-Vanya), two monks from India (Tian Zhu). The monks had come with a white horse laden with Buddhist relics and scriptures, accompanied by the emperor’s delegates, sent by him to India, three years earlier, to learn about Buddhism.

It was at Baima Si, where Buddhist scriptures were first translated into Chinese, which helped Buddhism to spread across China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.