Today our Selective Tours cruise moves onto the city of Fengdu, for our last full day on board the ship.
The original town, known as the “City of Ghosts” has been flooded due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam hydro-electric project, but temples high above the city are a popular tourist attraction.
Fengdu was for centuries a pilgrimage site where visitors could purchase a ‘Passport to Heaven’.
However these days visitors climb to the Taoist temple complex, dedicated to the God of the underworld, on a cable car.
Tonight we dock in Chongqing and after a last night on board head off on our separate ways.
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Will we be immortal?
After a night of frivolity – where some of the group learned to jump (dance) between moving sticks and others got to participate in musical chairs, and a good night’s sleep to the movement of the ship gliding thru the night – we docked at our next stop of Fengdu in the early hours of the morning.
We began our day with a shore excursion to the ‘Ghost City’. The temple here is dedicated to the God of the underworld. The Chinese believe that when they die they pass through the ghost city on their way to heaven or hell. Our first judgement call was to pass over the bridge and if you fell in you go to hell. On the way back we had to choose between the wealth bridge and the health bridge. All but one of our group chose the health potion - must be something to do with her age or lack of!!
Second judgement was to get to the top of the steps in one breath to become immortal.
The third judgement was to balance on a round stone on one foot for 3 seconds.
Women had to use their right foot to cross the threshold and men the left - otherwise they would change to the opposite sex.
Only the perfect husband could lift the steel ball onto the point; it weighed 200kg and took our demonstrator 6 years to learn the technique.
After the visit we returned to the ship for an afternoon at leisure, making preparations for the lavish Emperor’s Banquet which finished off our fantastic voyage.
Diary entry contributions from the Selective Tours group.