top temple

on the top appears a stone terrace of 1200 square meter (1440 square yard). visitors can gain a panoramic view of the winding river, the village and the countryside and feel immersed in a sea of clouds. a serial of halls stand in the middle with a well in front of it. the well is called duck hole. it was said that during in the later spring, if you dropped a duck through the hole, it would quickly reappear swimming in the yangtze. another gossip said that in the past the monks apparently drew their drinking water from this hole by using a pipe made of bamboo.

the spirit wall in the temple's main hall is constructed of excavated han dynasty (206 bc-ad 220) bricks. the hall behind is dedicated on the right to generals zhang fei and yan yan (see zhongxian) of the three kingdoms, and on the left to general qin liangyu (1576-1648) who fought bravely against the manchu forces. a mural shows the goddess nuwo repairing the sky. fossils of fish and a tail section of a dinosaur found by the river's edge are exhibited in the hall.

in the rear hall are the remains of the rice flowing hole. legend has it that long ago just enough husked rice would flow up from the small hole each day for the needs of the monks. one day a greedy monk attempted to get more and chiseled a bigger hole and the rice flow ceased forever.

many of the tourist cruise ships dock at shibaozhai for a few hours' visit.