Fengdu, a county seat in Sichuan province, is on the northwest bank of the Yangzi (Yangtse, Chang Jiang) about 115 kilometers northeast of Chongqing. The town will be drowned when the reservoir created by the Three Gorges Dam fills.
From the top of the mountain Mingshan one can look down and see the old town
of Fengdu, slated soon to be destroyed. Beyond the town, cruise boats are moored
on the river. On the far side of the river is the new city being built to hold people displaced
by the submersion of their former homes.
Somewhat closer view of a section of the doomed old town.
The business district still seemed to be bustling, despite its oncoming demise.
A man carrying melons on a cart.
Somewhat closer view of the new city being built across the river.
Same, zoomed in for more detail.
Closer view of cruise boats. The one elaborately decorated as a dragon, with
head occupying the whole bow and scaly tail sticking up at the stern, is the one we
were on.
On Mingshan, above the old town, is what is called in English the "Ghost City"
(Gui Cheng in Chinese). This is a cross between a temple complex and a theme park. The
English word "ghost" is not a very good translation of the Chinese gui. Here is
a statue of one gui.
Here is another gui, the Temptress. She doesn't look very Chinese to me, and I
wonder whether the sculptor, wanting her to look both alluring and evil (note
her vampire-like fangs), deliberately chose to make her look rather western.
The large one, with fangs, is inscribing the character "gui" on the thigh
of the smaller one. I do not know the significance of this.
Copyright © 2002, Edwin E. Moïse. Revised October 9, 2002.