Jan 3, 2006: Note: This entry has lots of photos from our visit to Long Hu village – an old, square, walled village near Chaozhou. Long Hu is large, one square kilometer in size, and is what I like to call authentic: no admission fee, no touts, no “guides”, no souvenir stands. It is a combination of old China, Communist China, and new China. Thanks for reading these 4 entries on our trip to Chaozhou. -john
Another busy day in Chaozhou. Up at 8:30. Walked back to Tong Yi Life House restaurant where I anticipated having a freshly brewed coffee with some American-styled breakfast items on the menu. However, they did not actually have any of the breakfast items on the menu, so we went out and bought some bing and whole wheat mantou from a stand just down the street, brought them back to the restaurant. Then after much discussion, we ordered a cappuccino and a hazelnut coffee which arrived at our table 15 minutes later. Oh well; it was a so-so breakfast, not the treat that I had anticipated.
The outside of the Tong Yi Lifehouse Restaurant. Cool logo. "Yi" is "one" in Chinese. Also note the Pete Townshend connection.
Next, we walked down to the Confucian school that we had not been able to find 2 days before. Very nice. The wings are a museum with some interesting photos.
The Haiyang County Confucius School Palace - last rebuilt in 1369.
A painting of “Masters” inside the Confucian Temple.
The City Gate near the Confucian school - The Archway of Ordinal Administration of Changli.
Bananas with a mysterious red mark. We saw them all over Chaozhou. Turns out to be the mark of the banana tree owner. Kind of like the tag on a cow’s ear. You can also see starfruit at lower left, apricots (?) at upper right and a Chinese scale at lower right: weighing pan, counter weight, and balance stick with markings.
And then back to the hotel. Called the driver and asked him to pick us up at 3PM for a stop at Long Hu village and then on to the airport to catch our 7:30 flight back to Shanghai. City Wall So at about noon, we walked over to the City Wall, and walked north on the wall on a brilliant sunny day with a slight breeze and temps in the low 70’s. Then back to the temple by the main gate. The opera company was finally gone. Took some photos of the temple. Headed back to temple square. On the way, Sun-Ling bought 8 60ml glass jars with stoppers for 30 Y. She will use them as spice jars.
This old building near the bike shop is the Waijiang Li Yuan Guild Hall for theatrical troupes and musicians to assemble.
View of City Wall and new bridge.
Temple by Main Gate.
Bottle shop . Sun-Ling bought some small bottles to use as spice jars.
Can you guess what type of business this is?
Had Lunch at Lian Hua restaurant for 33 RMB. Walked back to the hotel and bought an electric H2O bottle for 18 Y. Checked out of the hotel. Total bill was 380 Y which included an additional 30 Y discount for the Hot Water Incident.
Long Hu Village: Set out driving to Long Hu village, a walled village that is one square kilometer in size. We entered the north gate (no admission fee), walked south along the main drag taking photos of the doorways, some of which still have faint traces of revolutionary slogans and images of Mao. We passed several family chapels (for ancestor worship) including the Lin and Chen family chapels. On the way back north, I stepped through a thin stone block covered the sewer ditch and was in deep shit up to my calf. Luckily we were next to the Lin Family Chapel which had a tub, bucker and running water, and I was able to clean up a bit while Sun-Ling hurried back to car for a change of dirty but dry socks, rain pants, and Teva sandals which I would wear all the way back to Shanghai. Took more photos of the town, left about 5:15 PM and made it to the airport about 5:45 PM. Had a quick bowl of noodle soup at the airport coffee shop for 30Y, boarded the airplane at 7PM and reached Shanghai on time.
Interestingly, on the fronts of the some of the buildings in Long Hu village, you could still see the faint outlines of revolutionary paintings and slogans. Here’s one where you can clearly see a bust of Chairman Mao on the front wall of this school.
Here’s a close-up of the lanterns by the door.
More Chairman Mao – double!
This slogan says "Long Live Chairman Mao"
This doorway has a ying-yang design on the privacy screen.
One of the many interesting doorways in Long Hu village.
A close up of one of the lanterns.
Another doorway of a public temple. Notice the modern cans of peanut milk attached as a decoration.
Close-up of same doorway and peanut milk cans.
Woman carrying a baby.
Doorway of the new renovated Lin Family Chapel. Sun-Ling’s father is a Lin.
The Chen Family Temple has not been renovated. Note the revolutionary slogans to the right and left of the doorway. The one on the right says
“The driving force of our legacy is the Chinese Communist Party”.
A doorway painted to ward off evil.
A back street in Long Hu town. Notice the lantern in most doorways – they are not just for tourists. Also note that I am wearing rain pants and Tevas after accidentally stepping into a sewage ditch. I’m carrying my dirty clothes in that plastic bag.
Finally, an incense maker lines his wares outside to dry.
Sun-Ling and John have been traveling the earth since 2008 while blogging, eating vegetarian and vegan, and riding public transportation. We love uphill day hikes, 20th-century architecture, Roman ruins, all bodies of water, local markets, shopping for groceries, aqueducts, miradors, trip planning, blablacar, and more.
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2 comments:
Do you have a picture of the gateway of Longhu town? Thanks.
@KC - Thanks for the comment, but sorry, no pic of the Longhu Town gate. -john
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