jiujiang

jiujiang with a population of about 480,000 is the main port for distributing products in jiangxiprovince. it ears the reputation by the famous city of chinaware - jingdezhen and a famous scenic mountain - lushan. lushan lies only a short distance to the south, which attracts many tourists a year.

cruising ships often stop to offer shore excursion both to the city and mt.lushan.

gantanglake and yanshui pavilion

gantanglake known for its charming scenery is a must to each visitor to jiujiang. it is divided into two parts by a dike and bridge built in 821. the sixianbridge, now enlarged, still stands on the causeway which one crosses to reach yangyue pavilion on the low hill overlooking the lake. it is well stocked with silver and grass carp, and seagulls skim its surface.

linked to the shore by a zigzag bridge is a pretty complex named yanshui (misty water) pavilion. a pavilion was first built here in the tang dynasty (618-907) by the poet, bai juyi, during his unhappy posting in jiujiang. in the northern song period (960-1127) a highly regarded neo-confucian philosopher, zhou dun, taught in jiujiang and his son built a pavilion on the lake to his father's memory, calling it yanshui pavilion. the present island pavilion dates from the late qing period (1644-191 1). one small hall is dedicated to bai juyi, and other rooms display local archaeological discoveries. the complex is divided into three, of which each has distinct style. the drenched moon pavilion after a line from one of dufu's poems: 'bidding farewell i saw the moon drenched by the river,' is pleasing to the eye. the city's antiques store is located here.

nengrentemple

the qing halls here are the oldest buildings left in jiujiang, although the temple was established earlier, in the sixth century. three or four monks and several nuns tend the temple. the seven-storied great victory pagoda, beside the temple, dates from the song period (960-1279).

the history could be traced back to the southern dynasty over 503-528 b.c. and it renamed nengren in ming period. the most existing part was contributed to the qing dynasty with total coverage of 3000 square meters. the temple was thronged with tourists who come for the 'eight beautiful scenes" as dashengtemple, stone boat, iron buddha, twinsunbridge, hui'er spring and icy hill and snowcave.

dashengtemple:

built by a qing-dynasty official in 1870, it features a seven-storied hexagon structure with bricks-and-stone structure. on each floor, there are six doors and an interior staircase reaching the top of the temple where tourists often have a panoramic view of the city.

stone boat:

the legend has it that once in song dynasty, a monk dreamed about an iron buddha told him that he would come to the temple by a stone boat. the next day, the monks devoutly received the cast-iron buddha near the river and place it into the hall as deity. the original iron buddha has been destroyed during the culture revolution period and the existing one in a pool east to the heavenly hall is a barebacked concrete statue.

twinsunbridge

a three-arch bridge spans over a fangsheng pool (free life pool) features a traditional style of elegance and simplicity with enclosure. it connects the new heavenly king hall and the old one and has legend that one standing east to the pool could view a twin inverted reflection of the sun.

yuchuanshi

a 65cm-long and 50cm-wide rectangle engraved with clouds and flowers patterns. the inscriptions on the basement said it was built in northern song dynasty. an infundibular hollow on the top is due to the consistent dripping of water. the scene reminds tourists of the aphorism: "constant effort brings success."

icy hill and snowcave

two hills legends that one could spray icy rain and snowflake for the other. the original one has been destroyed during 1931 by the french invaders, and was replaced by two stones later.

buddhist activities such as buddhist music, script chanting attracts more and more devout prayers.

suojiangtower

suojiangtower with interior suojiang pagoda was firstly built wanli reign of ming dynasty by an official wuxiu. overlooking the yangtze embankment to the northeast of the city. the tower was considered as auspice to prevent people from bane and floods. with four case iron ox guardians, the tower has interior wooden staircase, which could reach the top of the pagoda where you can have a panoramic view of the yangtze river.

the hexagonal seven-storied pagoda was built in 1585. caused by shelling from japanese gunboats in world war ii, the tower was damaged to 35-metre (115-foot) high.