Pay a Visit to Chaozhou

Chaozhou is one of the historical and cultural cities of China. It is on the coast， in the eastern part of Guangdong Province that is in the southeast corner of China. It is now a medium sized city with a population of about 2.5 million people. The area under the Chaozhou governments administration is about 3，500 square kilometers. It is said that about 2 million people from Chaozhou live abroad in Taiwan and other countries， or are living in Hong Kong and Macau. It is a six hour bus journey（about 480 kilometers）from the capital city of Guangdong Province that is called Guangzhou. The area has some ancient buildings and scenic highlights.

Chaozhou City is surrounded by three mountains， and the Han River and Huanggang River flow through the city area. There are mountains in the northeast， caves in the southwest， and a plain in the southeast. In Chaozhou city， there are hundreds of scenic areas such as ancient walls， ancient temples， ancient bridges and ancient pagodas. This is why Chaozhou City is considered to be a historical city. The ethnic group came from central China more than a thousand years ago， and the area was sort of isolated and had contact with cultures off the mainland， so they developed a distinct language dialect and distinctive art forms. So this is why it is also considered to be a city of cultural origin in China. The area developed its own style of operatic theatre， its own tea ceremony and “Ganghu Tea”， and its own ceramic styles. There is an old saying： “If you havent come to Chaozhou， you havent really come to Guangdong”.

Kaiyuan Temple

The first Kaiyuan Temple was built in 738 AD in the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. So the site is about 1，200 years old. The complex has been redesigned or reconstructed ten times since then. The present building that is made of wood and stone is about 200 years old. The framework has tenons that lock into each other and brackets that help to support the weight of the building. The top of the temple is decorated with glazed tile. The building looks run-down. The temple is important for Buddhist scholarship in China because a complete set of Buddhist scriptures is housed there. After a thousand years of wars and natural calamities like typhoons， the Kaiyuan Temple has ancient Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty architectural styles， and artifacts from dynasties as far back as the Tang Dynasty are housed there.

According to archaeologists， the Song architectural style of this building is similar to that of the famous Todai- ji Temple in Japan. The buildings look somewhat similar， but the Kaiyuan building is much smaller and shorter. The second story of the Kaiyuan building is much lower than that of the Todai-ji. It Is interesting that both buildings were built a few hundred years ago the Todai-ji Temple was built about 300 years ago and the Kaiyuan Temple was built about 200 years ago.

The temple has a big bronze bell that is 1.7 meters high and 1.05 meters in circumference. It weighs more than 1，500 kilograms. This bell was made by the Chaozhou Diamond Sutra Agent in 1114 AD and is in good condition. It still rings.

At the front of the Great Hall， there are 78 stone enclosures with beautiful carvings. Among these carvings， some show scenes from Buddhist stories and some show natural scenes. In the middle of the Great Hall， there is a big stone enclosure with some Chinese characters carved on it. All the stone enclosures are cultural relics.

There is a red bronze censer in the temple. It is said that this censer was donated by a Korean monk in the Tang Dynasty. There are words on it that tell people the history of the censer.

In addition， there is a gold and lacquer wood pagoda from the Ming Dynasty period in the temple that is 6 feet tall and has a hexagonal outline. There are seven levels in it that each has a theme. Most of the carvings relate to Buddha. This pagoda has a complex and beautifully carved structure.

In the scripture storing tower， there is a set of scriptures called Stored Dragon or Dragon Hiding . It was published in the Qing Dynasty， and has been preserved since then. This is a complete set， and 7，240 volumes were put in 724 parcels. In the Qing Dynasty， there were only 100 Dragon Store books made. This set was preserved by the Monk Jinghui.

In 1987， the State Bureau of Cultural Relics and State Bureau of Publication granted approval to publish the Dragon Store. In order to find a complete version of the Dragon Store， people exerted a lot of effort and found a complete copy there. In the 1700s， Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty had ordered a part of the scriptures in the Dragon Store copies destroyed as well as other religious books.

Chaozhou Thai Buddhist Temple

Temples in Thailand are like museums of art. The Thai Buddhist Temple in Chaozhou is decorated like a Thai Buddhist Temple. The roof of the pavilion has multi-faceted angles and doubled eaves. There are beautiful yellow pictures drawn on the eaves and Thai decorations. This lets Chaozhou people see something foreign and exotic in their region without going abroad， and it is fun for people coming from abroad. An entrepreneur from Thailand built this building as part of a Buddhist park. He wanted people to see something of Thai culture. Maybe he wanted to teach religion as well. It is a recently built amusement park with a big Buddha.

In the middle of the pavilion in the park is a Buddha. The Buddha looks like a Thai Buddha and is 3 meters high and weighs 1.5 tons. It is covered with a thin layer of gold like Thai Buddhas so it is called the Gold Buddha. There are many paintings on the walls of the pavilion about the story of Buddha.

In the east hall of the pavilion， there is a statue with four faces. Statues like these are called “Maha Brahma Deva，” and this is an Indian Brahman god. They teach that the creator once had five heads but Siva destroyed one. The four heads that are left face in the four directions. The four faces represent mercy， compassion， luck and charity.

On the hillside of the Thai Buddha Pavilion， there are many buildings such as the “Wangjiang” Temple， the “Wangzhou” Temple and pagodas.

Phoenix Heaven Lake

The elevation of Phoenix Heaven Lake is about 1，325 meters. It is the second highest peak in the eastern part of Guangzhou. The tallest peak is Phoenix Wuji. The scenic area attracts many tourists. The pond has a unique location， and there is attractive natural scenery.

The area of Heaven Lake is about 76 mu （about half a hectare）. The lake is a natural crater lake. The weather is changeable. Sometimes， the lake is a perfect mirror for peaceful towers of cloud， and sometimes the lake is full of waves and is dark and grey. There was a myth that the goddess Queen Mother took a birth there. There are many scenic spots in the area such as the Prince Cave， the God Well and the Peace Temple. In addition， the sunrise scenery and the beautiful valley make Heaven Lake a tourist attraction.

In the lake， there is a strange fish. Its head looks like a frog， its body looks like a crocodile， its tail looks like tadpole， and its back is deep brown. The temperature at Heaven Lake is much lower than that at the foot of the mountain. If tourists have enough time， they can spend the night on the mountain resort area and wait to see the next mornings sunrise.