penglai pavilion

the song dynasty (960-1127ad) penglai pavilion is listed among the chinese "four famous ancient pavilions". (the other three are the yellow crane pavilion in wuhan, hubeiprovince, the yueyang pavilion in yueyang, hunan province and the tengwang pavilion in nanchang, jiangxi province). 70 kilometres away from the city, the sea-overlooking pavilion is seated mysteriously on the cliff at the northern seashore. the complex consists of the main hall of penglai pavilion (penglai ge), which contains the statue to the goddess of the sea, the east section of the palace of lucidity (qinggong), the luzu hall, the tower of universal enlightenment (puzhao lou) and the wave watching pavilion (guanlan ting) and the west section of the wind sheltering pavilion (bifeng ting), the palace to the dragon king (longwang gong) and the palace to the goddess of the sea (tianhou gong). beneath the pavilion is the bridge said to be the place where the eight immortals crossed the sea.

people come to the pavilion not only for the artistic architecture but for the spectacle of mirages which are said to occur every few decades. accounts vary but locals claim the optical illusion usually happens under the sunny and misty weather condition and lasts for about half an hour. the last one happened in the afternoon of july 10, 1981 when - it is said - two islands appeared one of them complete with a city with roads, buildings, people and vehicles. the phenomenon lasts about forty minutes, and if you're not lucky enough to witness it you can watch it on tv in a room set aside for the purpose inside the temple.