Ningxia Three-Day Tour (4) - 108 Towers, Shapotou, Gaomiao
The three-day visit to Ningxia is the main attraction. If you want to have fun, maybe you can add another day or two. For the main attractions, Zhongwei is farther away. If you take a detour to Qingtongxia to see Tower 108, the journey will be even further.
Starting from Yinchuan, it takes about an hour to drive to the 108 Tower Scenic Spot on the west bank of Qingtongxia Reservoir. The car walked through a steep slope, and from a distance, there was a huge group of towers on the steep cliff, with a total of 108 towers, commonly known as the Hundred and Eight Towers. This group of pagodas sits west and faces east, with mountains behind and water in front. It can really be said to be a treasure land of geomantic omen. The 108 towers follow the mountain from bottom to top, arranged in an orderly manner, from top to bottom 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 9...19, arranged in odd numbers, forming a large equilateral triangle tower group.
I have never seen towers of this size. Such ingenuity and unique pattern are rare. Go to the bottom of the mountain and look up. The white towers can be captured in your lens, but the bottom one is too wide and the distance is not far enough, so it is not easy to capture all the bottom 19 towers in the lens.
When we arrived at Tower 108, the weather was particularly fine. Against the backdrop of the blue sky and white clouds, the 108 towers were very dazzling, elegant and bright. Climbing up the steps, you can go around the tower group for a week. These 108 towers are not the spiritual bone towers of eminent monks, but Buddhist memorial buildings. Buddhism believes that there are 108 kinds of troubles in life. In order to eliminate these troubles, the number of Guanzhu is 108. You have to recite 108 times to recite the Buddha, and you have to ring the bell and the wooden fish 108 times. Therefore, later generations estimate that the 108 pagodas may be built to clear away the troubles of life. The tour guide will tell you, from the left to the right, and go around the group of pagodas for a week can eliminate troubles. In fact, no one can escape the troubles in life, but you can make yourself less troubled by adjusting your mentality.
At first glance, these towers seem to have the same shape. They are all 2.5 meters high, with a single-story octagonal Xumizuo and a pearl-shaped tower top; The octagonal belly is pointed and cone-shaped, with 5-6 floors, and the tower body is in the shape of a gourd, and the tower body is in the shape of a vase with 7-12 floors. The top tower is different, 3.5 meters high, the base of the tower is square, it is an octagonal girdle Xumizuo, the body of the tower is in the shape of a covered bowl, the top of the tower is also in the shape of a pearl, and there is a large door on the front, which can be drilled into go alone. According to reports, these pagodas are all solid lama pagodas, with a vertical log standing in the middle of the pagoda, filled with adobe inside, bricks on the outside, and white ash on the outside of the pagoda. If you remove the white ash painted by later generations, you can see that there are painted paintings on the white ash inside. It is not known when the 108 pagodas were first built, but there were records of the pagodas in the Ming Dynasty, and silk scripts with Xixia characters were unearthed from the base of the pagodas, so it is estimated that they were probably built in the Xixia period, about 1,000 years ago.
Standing at the top of the tower group, the Yellow River rushes through the canyon where the two mountains face each other. The water is yellow, but not too thick. After all, it is still in the upper reaches. It seems that the barren mountains and ridges on both sides of the strait are very eye-catching. Condescending, you can have a panoramic view of the Yellow River, the ferry on the bank, and the mountains in the distance, which is very spectacular.
Leave here and head towards Zhongwei, about 1 hour, you will arrive at Zhongwei City. Now Zhongwei has been promoted from a county to a city, and it does have the scale of a small city. There is also a branch of "Lao Mao Shou Zhuo" here. Baitiao Shou Zhuo is really delicious. After lunch, we went straight to Shapotou. This is an early tourist spot developed in Ningxia. It is said that it is several years earlier than Shahu Lake. However, after the development of Shahu Lake in recent years, people can also see the desert there, and there is also beautiful lake water. It is close to Yinchuan, so many people don’t like it. Come to Shapotou. But the desert here is worth seeing. If you just want to play some sand games, such as sandboarding, of course you don't have to come here, but the scenery here is really magnificent. The endless desert that undulates like waves, the Yellow River that rushes forward with nine bends and eighteen bends, and the man-made desert oasis will move you.
This is the southeastern edge of the "Tengger" desert. Tengger is Mongolian, meaning it fell from the sky. In other words, this vast sea of sand fell from the sky. People who have never seen a desert will probably never be able to imagine what a desert is and what is desolation. The endless desert, the vast sea that only camels can cross, what does it bring to human beings?
I heard from the locals that the weather in the desert is changing rapidly. Just now, the sky was clear and the wind and sand were calm. Those golden sand dunes were like frozen waves, but a storm turned the sky and the earth into a gray one. It was chaotic and chaotic, the five fingers could not tell, the sand rubbed against each other, and the sound was like beating a drum. When the terrible sandstorm hits, even the most advanced car on the road five miles away cannot recognize the direction.
It is an ironclad proof of history that sand advances and people retreat. In the past 300 years, Zhongwei Oasis was forced to retreat 7.5 kilometers, and nearly 50,000 mu of fertile land was swallowed up. So when you see this boundless desert, when you appreciate the beautiful scenery of "the desert is solitary, the long river sets the sun", you will also be moved by the long-term struggle of human beings against the desert.
For many years, people have been looking for ways to control sand. The Baolan Railway is going to cross the Tengger Desert. How can we prevent the railway from being covered by sand and ensure the safe passage of the train. In 1956, the desert control team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences rode camels to Shapotou, set up tents in the desert, and conducted field surveys. At that time, it was always windy here all year round, and the team members had sand in their quilts, clothes, shoes and socks, even their noses and ears, as well as the water they ate and drank. In those passionate years, young college students also participated in this struggle between man and sand. Once there was a female college student who was swept into the water under the sand slope by the strong wind when the sandstorm hit. Her companion jumped into the water to rescue them. Unfortunately, the two young people were both sucked into the vortex and swallowed by the ruthless wind and waves. them. They dedicated their youth and love to the desertification control cause of the motherland. When you stand in the desert and see the Baolan Railway stretching forward from this desert, you will think that if the quicksand rushes towards the railway when the wind blows suddenly, will the railway be blocked? But from August 1, 1958 to the present, the train here has always been unimpeded, all this should be attributed to those heroes of sand control. "Grass Grid Sand Barrier" is an invention of the Chinese. Using shovels, wheat straw is pressed into the sand to form grids of 1 meter square each, which are pulled into giant nets, and drought-resistant and wind-sand-resistant plants are planted in the meshes. Only when the sand does not flow can plants survive, and only when plants survive can the wind and sand be locked. It is these green Great Walls that enable the Baolan Railway to run smoothly. Those who control sand are competing with the desert for land inch by inch in an extremely harsh environment. So when they came to the Tengger Desert, foreigners were also amazed by the miracle of sand control. The deserts are still there, but they don't harm the railroads anymore.
Shapotou is actually a sand mountain in the south of the railway, and the real desert is in the north of the railway. At the foot of Shapotou is the rushing Yellow River. It is soft and comfortable to step on the sand with bare feet. However, it was cloudy when we went there, and the sand was not hot. In summer, the highest temperature on the sand surface can reach 74°C, so there is a warning sign "Be careful of burning your feet" . Slip and take away, from the sand hill to the Yellow River, a stone statue of a stiff white horse stands in the river.
There is also a beautiful legend here: there is an alluvial plain under Shapotou, which was originally very prosperous, but the Yellow River always fluctuates, and floods and droughts often threaten this place. People hope to dig canals to divert water, but they can't find a suitable canal mouth. After digging the canal, it was washed away by the water. The old mason was exhausted. His son continued to search. Later, he had a dream. A fairy came here on a tall horse, whipped the horse and galloped past, dragging a brocade belt. , leaving a white seal on the river beach, and leaving the words "the mouth of the canal passes through the seal, and the river flows continuously" on the cliff. The little mason led the villagers to build a "beautiful canal" to irrigate more than 100,000 mu of fertile land, and only then did the lush green under Shapotou come into being. This white horse was created for this legend. The horse dragged a belt and galloped with its hooves raised. It was even more majestic because it was in the middle of the Yellow River. If you are interested, you can go rafting on a sheepskin raft, or fly over the Yellow River on a sliding lock, which is quite exciting.
After Shapotou tour, return to Zhongwei to see Gaomiao. It's worth a look. It is located in Zhongwei County, and it is a temple integrating Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. This temple was built in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. It was originally called "Xinmiao". This is a complex of buildings with a unique shape. Generally, several halls are built on flat ground in temples. No matter how large the temple is, it is nothing more than a few more courtyards. However, the main hall of the Gaomiao is built on the ground layer by layer. From a distance, it looks like a phoenix spreading its wings. The high temple faces south, and the front yard is Baoan Temple, where Buddhism is enshrined. There is a small archway in the middle of the yard, and the Daxiong Hall is dedicated to Sakyamuni. . After passing through the main hall, climb up the Nantian Gate along the 24 steps at the back of the hall. On the front is the Zhuling Palace (commonly known as Zhuanlou). Then go up the stairs and enter the main temple. The main temple is divided into upper, middle and lower floors. On both sides, there are Wenchang elephants riding four elephants, bronze statues of Guan Gong riding red rabbits chasing wind horses, and the Dragon Palace with the dragon kings of the four seas. On the top of the three-story main temple, there is a six-story and three-roof mezzanine towering unusually uniquely. The shape is small and beautiful. It can be seen how complete and complex the gods enshrined are. The hell at the bottom is even more gloomy and terrifying. All kinds of lights and sounds make your hair stand on end. It warns people of loyalty, filial piety, integrity and integrity with various tortures in hell. Those who are unfilial will be sawed in hell, those who tell stories will have their tongues cut out, and those who have done a lot of evil will be thrown into the frying pan, etc. The Gaomiao complex is on a central axis, with auxiliary buildings located on both sides. There are flying bridges connected to the central building. It is balanced and symmetrical, rising step by step, overlapping floors, and the angled cornices are very detailed. Traditional paintings, ranging from flowers to rare birds and animals, are colorful. Make you marvel at this unique design and delicate style.
So far, the first line of Zhongwei has come to an end. The tour guide asked us if we would go to Tonghu Grassland, and we are also on the first line, but we don’t have time. Next time, it’s almost 7 o’clock when we return to Yinchuan.
There is also a Chengtian Temple Tower (West Tower) and a Haibao Tower (North Tower) in Yinchuan City. Nanguan Mosque, Yuhuang Pavilion and Bell Tower are all historic sites, and you can also visit them when you have time.
