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| Penglai Pavilion |
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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. |
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