Today is our last full day, everyone is a little bit sad. But we have the whole day to enjoy and are excited to see the Shibaozhai temple this morning.
The town was strange because it originally was lower at the bank of the river before they flooded it with the dam. So they’ve built up higher to make up for the buildings they lost, but no one really moved into them. All of the young people are moving away and the older people are still running the stands for tourists. They don’t even rent out the lower floors of the buildings anymore because it is free to just set up in the street so you see a lot of empty buildings, kind of sad. Our guide told us that it is so inexpensive for him to live there I think he pays about $400 a year for his apartment. He has a job as a tour guide, that is why he is still there otherwise he would have left like most of the other young people do.
The attraction here is the Shibaozhai Temple, a dramatic 12-story, red temple that they describe as “the Pearl of the Yangtze.” It was built in 1650, and the legend is that the higher you ascend, the more your prayers will be answered. It’s pretty cool how it was built without using any nails at all, and it so well preserved. As you’re climbing you see different relics and there is history inscribed on the walls of the past dynasties. The stairs are wooden, steep and creaky but easy to climb, although the rooms get smaller as you get closer to the top.
Once you get to the top, the views are very pretty. There was also a Taoist temple to go through with a nice courtyard. To get down they have built stairs so you don’t have to go backwards down the ladder like steps of the temple. In ancient times in order to get to the top of the rock that the temple is built against, they pulled people up by chains.
Since we were so busy during the land portion of our trip, the Easter Bunny couldn’t find us! So we got back to the cabin today and he left some gifts for the boys!
We had another relaxing afternoon just like yesterday, we set sail right after we got back and spent a lot of time up on the top deck and on our balcony again. Scenery wasn’t as amazing as it was yesterday but still pretty and relaxing, I even took a nap.
Dinner was a formal event, everyone dressed up and was excited for the evening. The Captain came around to say goodbye to everyone and we were sad that the cruise was coming to an end.
After dinner Rowan wanted to dress up like a Chinese Emperor, they had traditional costumes and he looked adorable! Of course I had to dress up to be the Empress and felt silly, but he enjoyed it.
