Baoguo Temple, one of the earliest historical site under State protection, is the first scenic spot in Ningbo opened to the tourists. With the antique and simple constructions and lush greeneries, the temple features a rare and ultimate combination of cultural and ecological charms. It is located midway up Lingshan Mountain in Jiangbei District of Ningbo among the exuberance of mountain vegetations, fresh air and thriving and pine tress hidden among the misty and green mountain.

Baoguo Temple has a long history. Story has it that, during Jianwu Period of East Han Dynasty, General Zhan Yi and his son Zhang Qifang loved the nice mountains and clear water here so much that they retired to here and lived in this mountain in seclusion. As the Buddhism was introduced, their houses were built into temples. Because the temple stood on Lingshan Mountain, it acquired its original name--Lingshan Temple. However, an imperial edict was released in 845, the fifth year during Huichang Period of Tang Dynasty, to destroy all the temples in China, of which the Lingshan Temple was one. In 880, Lingshan Temple was restored and renamed Baoguo Temple. The temple is renowned not so much for the inherent religion as for the incredibly exquisite architecture our forefathers put up 1,000 years ago. As the essence of Baoguo Temple, the Precious Hall of the Great Hero, also named Beamless Hall, was reconstructed in 1013 and is one of the oldest and best-preserved wooden constructions south of Yangtze River. In the 23rd year in the Kangxi reign of Qing Dynasty, overlapped eaves were added to the hall on all sides, looking as if the eaves were resting on the mountain. Then why the name "Beamless Temple"? It is not because there are no beams in the hall (There are beams in the hall, although they are obscured by the sunk panels and ceilings.), but because in Chinese pronunciation "Beamless Palace" and "Measureless Longevity Buddha" ever worshipped are homonymic. The Grand Palace has its unique features in the architectural perspective: ¢ÙIn a plane view, the depth of the temple exceeds the width and the temple looks like a vertical oblong. ¢ÚThree hollowed-out sunk panels are installed on the roof of front dale.¢ÛThe complicated dougong structure is employed in the temple construction. Without using any nail, dougong and ang are elaborately joined together with tenons. The whole hall stands stable and elegant and is capable of resisting winds and shocks. ¢ÜThe pole is of distinctive style. It is composed of pieces of wood and looks like the melon-edge. The center of pole is made up of four mini-poles with four wooden bars around them. This makes it possible to save wood and keep the pole beautiful. ¢Ý Asymmetry. On the west pole of the Buddha seat is the square wood ludou, while on the east is the round stone ludou.

The Precious Hall of the Great Hero in Baoguo Temple has a very high historic and artistic value and is a typical building made according to The Art of Construction written in Song Dynasty, reflecting the unique architectural style of age and the high level of the mechanics research. Thus there are a preponderance of eulogies by Chinese ancient people in The Record of Baoguo Temple that speaks highly of the structure, such as "In the mountains lies the old hall ingeniously built, and it stands there with all majesty." and "Man should boast of its art and dogong deserves the awe forever"

The wonder of the Hall also lies in that no birds has ever perched inside, no rats ever entered the hall, no spiders ever spun and no dust ever covered the beam. What makes the miracle? Some people try to find the explanation from the scents produced by the building material of the palace---Chinese pistache. Some try to owe this to the air convection. However, no conclusion is reached so far.

Reputed for its architectural design, Baoguo Temple integrates the ancient architectural skills of all dynasties such as Han (Biaoqijing Building), Tang (Scripture pagoda), Song (Beamless Hall), Ming (Yingxun Mansion), Qing (Hall of Heavenly Kings, Guanyin Hall, Bell Tower and Drum Tower) and the Republic of China (Buddhist Classics Tower). The impressive temple covers an area of 20,000 m2 and holds a rich storage of historical relics. There are 17 exhibition halls altogether in the temple that are open to tourists all the year round, including the exhibition of outstanding inventions and discoveries of science & technology in the 20th century, art show of Guanyin Buddha statues of all dynasties, international exchange gifts show, Mingzhou wedding customs show, bronze works show, royal gifts show, inscriptions on bricked screens, Ningbo-style furniture shown and painting and calligraphy show of middle school students. Tourists may beat the drum, ring the bell and play games here.

The most striking part of all the historical relics is the Ningbo bridal sedan chair in the Mingzhou wedding customs hall. The bride would sit in the sedan chair in old times. The bridal sedan chair used in Ningbo was the best at the time and was carried by 16 persons by turns and was dazzlingly brilliant and gorgeous with delicate carvings of over 300 figures in the story of Jin Jiqing. The 11-layered chair is 2.9 meters in height. Carvings on each layer was made in a different and delicate style. The carved figures would wobble and clank when the chair was lifted. The married ladies would say proudly, "I came on Ningbo bridal sedan chair."

You can expect to see many a precious gift in the gift hall of international friendship. In the long and frequent intercourse with other nations in the world, China has been presented with a quantity of valuable gifts by alien state leaders, governmental and non-governmental organizations and celebrities. The gifts include the woodcarving of mother and child deer from Gambia, double-crane tray set from Japan. These gifts not only serve as the witness of the history and stand for the friendship between Chinese people and the people from all around the world, but also show the various traditional cultures and art styles of different nations. Here tourists are expected to have widen their vision on the world.

In the exhibition hall of bronze works are the bronze figures of buddha and the sacrificial bronze articles of Confucius Temple, made in the 12th year of Tongzhi Period. The sacrificial articles of Confucius Temple consist of 16 bronze bells, 14 inverted bells, 2 special bells, elephant cup, ox cup and so on. The bells seem to be of same size, but are actually of different thickness so as to produce various sound. The buddha figures also feature different sizes and shapes, which represent the characteristics and styles of different historical stages.

The 73-hectare Lingshan Scenic Area is scattered with more than 10 scenic spots such as Linglong Spring, Overlapped-scene Platform, Qingzhang Pavilion and God's Bridge. With a charming river and mysterious spring close by, visitors would find himself relishing the flourishing trees and fresh air in an environment-friendly tourist resort.

Baoguo Temple also boasts the convenient access and moderate charges on tourists. With all its natural vantages and cultural distinctions, it is of course your best choice for sight-seeing and all other leisure activities.

Come on, my dear friends. Let's explore the natural beauties and mysteries; let's stand in awe of the time-honored civilization here and return to nature for a while.

Address: Hongtang Town, Jiangbei District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
Postal code: 315033
Tel. no.: (0574) 87586317





Tianyi Library


As one of the historic sites under State protection, Tianyi Pavilion was built in Ming Dynasty. It has weathered a history of more than 400 years and become the oldest library existent in China. After the expansion in the 80's, Tianyi Pavilion has become a well-renowned scenic spot.

Dongming Cottage
The cottage used to be the library of Fan Qin before. Fan Qin, who called himself Yaoqing or Dongming, named his library "Dongming Cottage" and "One-self Cottage". The cottage was reconstructed in 1980.

Fan's Former Residence
It used to be the east hall of Fan's mansion and was later the residence of offspring. The Fan's Former Residence lay apart from Tianyi Pavilion, which was surrounded by the high walls on four sides. Thus, the library and residence are separated, a deliberate arrangement. The existing house dates back to the 9th year of Daoguang reign in Qing Dynasty.

Tianyi Library (see the picture on the right)
It is also called as the Precious-book House and was built between 1561 and 1566. The library served as the reading room of Fan Qin, a military officer of Ming Dynasty.

Fan Qin learned from the theory that "Tianyi produces water", so he used Tianyi as the name of his library to avoid fires. The whole library consists of one big room in the second floor and six rooms on the ground floor. Besides, a pond was dug in front of the library to extinguish fires.

In 1665, the 4th year of Kangxi reign in Qing Dynasty, Fan Guangwen, one of Fan Qin's offspring, added rockeries and ponds to the library and turned the library into a garden. The garden features happiness, richness and longevity, and is spotted by beautiful scenes like nine stone-me lions and one elephant. With its grace, elegance and pureness, the garden is typical of its kind then south of Yangtze river.

Fan Qin had a collection of some 70,000 books, 17,000 of which have remained till today and most of them belong to block-printed and hand-copied editions of Ming Dynasty. Some are the exclusive copies in the country, particularly those on the local history and examination systems in Ming dynasty. After the Liberation, the number of the ancient books collected in the library has reached 300,000 thanks to the continuous efforts of cultural relic workers and local book-collectors. Of these books, around 80,000 are rare books, an impressive number.

Respect-scripture Mansion
Chinese scholars of all dynasties showed great respect to classic scriptures, so a number of respect-scripture mansions were built in different provinces, cities and counties for the purpose of safe keeping. This mansion was once constructed on top of Chongyanxie Hill during Guangxu reign of Qing Dynasty and it moved to the place where it is now in 1935 when local people raised funds to repair Tianyi Pavilion.

Mingzhou Steles
There are 173 steles in total, 90 of which were moved here from Ningbo Municipal School and County School in 1935. The steles have kept records of the historical facts that the schools had been renovated 16 times from the 29th year of Emperor Shizu reign in Yuan Dynasty to the 24th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty. In addition, steles with mottoes, proverbs and inscriptions on them reflected the education system of that time.


Qianjin House
At the time of the Republic of China, a scholar of Ningbo named Ma Lian gathered about 1,000 bricks of Jin Dynasty and kept them in a room, which he called "Qianjin Study". Later on he donated all his stuff to Tianyi Pavilion where one special room was spared for his donation and named after him.

White-goose Pavilion
As a relic of Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty, it once served as a sacrifice pavilion in front of a tomb. Originally it was located in Zuguang Hill and moved here in 1959. The pavilion is well-known for its exquisiteness and magnificence, and a couple of pictures were carved on it, such as " fish jumping over a dragon gate", "two lions playing with a ball", "sea horse leaping over waves" and " kylin bringing treasure."

Ninghui Hall
It is a construction of Qing Dynasty made of bricks and wood and features a stone-pillar structure. The Hall holds such famous relics as The Prose of Orchid Pavilion in Ming Dynasty and The Epitaph of Xue Wenming by Wen Zhengming.

Exhibition Hall of Ningbo Arts & Crafts
The Exhibition Hall of Ningbo Arts & Crafts in Furongzhou reflects the marvelous achievements in arts & crafts of Ningbo by displaying such works as the red wood carving, inlaid bones and wood and colorful paintings.

Exhibition Hall of Ningbo Historical Relics
The exhibits at the Exhibition Hall of Ningbo Historical Relics in the Qin ancestral temple are divided into five sections. Each section is of a separate theme but closely related with others, and thus shows the profile of the 7,000-year-long culture and history of Ningbo in all perspectives. These five parts are as follows: "Splendid culture in Hemudu", "Economic and Cultural Evolvement in Sanjiang District", "The Boom of Mingzhou port", "The Brave Deeds of Revolutionary Struggle " and "The Cradle of Human Civilization in Southeast China".

Address: 10# Tianyi Street, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
Postal code: 315010
Telephone: 0574-87293526






Hemudu Cultural Relics

As one of the key historical sites under State protection and the national base of patriotism education, Hemudu Cultural Relics is the ancient remains of the Neolithic Age over 7,000 years ago currently located at Langshuqiao Village of Hemudu Town.

Hemudu Cultural Relics was uncovered in 1973 and a total of 2,800 m2 has been unearthed through two phases of excavation efforts. With a history of more than 6900 years, Hemudu Cultural Relics has unveiled a well of unique and time-honored culture, and was hence called the "Hemudu Culture" in the academic circles.

Hemudu Cultural Relics have the rolling Siming Mountain on its South and eastward-running Yao River on its Southwest. Go 25 km eastward along Yaojiang River, and you will arrive at downtown Ningbo and 25 km further westward you will arrive at Yuyao City. Our forefathers lived in such a picturesque scenery and created a brilliant Hemudu culture.

Hemudu Cultural Relics cover an area of 40,000 m2 and is made up of four cultural strata that are inherently correlated and lay one upon another. It spans a history of some 2000 years between the formation of the first stratum 7,000 years ago and that of the fourth stratum 5000 years ago. About 7,000 cultural relics have been unearthed after two explorations.

The fourth stratum of Hemudu Relics is most important. A large pile of rice has been discovered, averaging over 20 cm in height, with the highest one being 80 cm. The rice grains, leaves and chaffs are well preserved. We could see very clearly the fibrous roots, veins and ears when they were unearthed (See the picture). According to the studies of agronomists, the Hemudu people are believed to have planted the rice. Apart from the rice, around 270 bone-hoes, which were made out of bladebones of cloven-hoofed animals, were discovered at the same time. All these reveal vividly that the forefathers sowed seeds on this land and then dug the earth with the bone-hoes. What's more, other tools like bone-reaphooks, mattocks and wooden pestles have been found on this land, which reflects that our ancestors came to use advanced tools in agriculture and promote the planting of rice while discarding the backward method of agricultural production. Agriculture played the key role then and the Hemudu people had a long history of the rice planting. The discovery of Hemudu Cultural Relics provides the crucial first-hand evidence for the controversies over the origin of Asian rice and the time and route that the rice was introduced to Japan. It repudiates the theory that India is the origin of Asian rice and that rice in China came from India, and holds that the lower reaches of Yangtze River is the origin of Asian rice or that both China and India are the centers of Asian rice. The lower reaches of Yangtze River is therefore proved to be one of the places to plant the earliest rice in the world.

The remnants of at least 61 animals have also been unearthed in Hemudu, most of which are wild animals in addition to the tamed ones such as pigs, dogs and water buffaloes. The major part of animals comprise: the Asian elephants and rhinoceros, which love mild temperature and moisture, ferocious tigers, wolves and bears, lovely and tame sambars and spotted deer, nimble macaques and red-faced monkeys, and all kinds of fish, river clams, Yangtze crocodiles and birds. Moreover, the historical remains of 24 species of plants in Hemudu have been unearthed, for instance, piles of acorns, water caltrop and sour date. All these show the natural scene of ancient time: a humid and hot area spotted by large lakes; wild animals ran in the primitive forest teeming with fruits and lotus seeds were floating over the lake. The Ning-Shao plain of 6,000-7,000 years ago looked much like the Yunnan Province's Xishuangbanna of today.

More astonishingly, a huge store of wooden architecture relics was discovered in the third and fourth stratum of Hemudu Cultural Relics. They lay one upon another to offer a spectacle. One of the architecture rows extended as long as over 25 m. These houses are the oldest fence-style architecture ever found (see picture on the right). Hemudu used to be limnic area in ancient times, so our ancestors drove piles in the earth first of all and then put up a wooden board on them to fend off the rain and wind or attacks from wild life, our ancestors erected thickly packed wooden piles around as the fence wall. Wooden tenons and mortises were used to fix the house frame, because no metal tools were available then. Our forefathers made the wooden tenons and mortises using such rough tools as stone chisels and bone chisels. This kind of architecture was unique for its mature design and impressive size. It is not only a rare masterpiece in China, but also a classic in the long history of human culture. What's more, the archeologists also unearthed the wooden well, which was made of more than 200 bottom-tapered wooden piles and a rig of logs with tenons and mortises. Because the well looks like the Chinese character "¾®" in shape, we may infer that the character "¾®" derives from it.

Hemudu Cultural Relics also contains a large quantity of ware made of bone, wood, earth and stone. The simple stone ware consists of the axe and chisel only. The earthen ware includes jars, kettles and trays. The predominant part of the ware is the bone ware, most of which were made in a refined way and used widely. The bone-hoe was employed for farming and the bone-whistle for imitating the sound of animals in hunting or as a music instrument. There was also plenty of bone arrow-heads for use in hunting. Moreover, the Hemudu people came to possess and use various utensils in life & production, such as daggers, needles, chisels and spoons, and they also took pride in the hundreds of wooden ware like knives, spears, sticks, shovels, oars, bowls and hammers. The oar they used at that time resembles the modern one, indicating the inhabitants had already conquered the rivers. Also, the discovery of various earthen spinning wheels, bone needles and shuttles reflect that the ancient Hemudu people had learned to weave cloth in a primitive way.

The Hemudu people lived a rich intellectual life as seen from the unearthed arts and crafts like color paintings, carvings and knitted articles. The Hemudu people made the earthen ware in a realistic and exaggerated way. For instance, a little dog curled there to guard the gate and fish held its head high or jumped forward. Symmetrical rice ears was carved on the external side of the earthen basin, which showed the wish of Hemudu habitants for harvest. The earliest lacquer ware found in China is the soft-colored water bucket and wooden bowl of Hemudu. The bone dagger has two symmetrical birds engraved on it and the whole picture is vivid and impressive. A total of 20 ivory carvings unearthed vary from one to another, indicating their plain way of thinking and rich artistic imagination.

The recent discovery of Liangzhu Cultural Relics in Ningbo, Yuyao, Cixi, Fenghua, Xiangshan, Yin County and Zhoushan, which was rooted in the late phase of Hemudu culture, has greatly enriched the Hemudu culture. All these facts have proved that the ancient habitants, who lived in the low reaches of Yangtze River 7000 years ago, waged a hard struggle against tough nature to exploit the areas along the Yangzi River before they entered the civilized society. With mutual efforts of the people along the Yellow River, they created the splendid Chinese culture on this vast land.

Address: Langshuqiao Village, Hemudu Town, Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province
Postal code: 315400
Telephone number: 0574-62960731








Yue Kiln Relics by Shanglin Lake


As one of the historical sites under State protection, Yue Kiln relics lies 9 km southeast of Cixi's Qiaotou Town, with Guyinding Lake Kiln Relics 3 km away on its southwest, Baiyang Lake Kiln Relic and Shang'ao Lake Kiln Relic 2.5 km away on its east. These relics, located around the Shanglin Lake and surrounded by mountains on the east, south and west. The lake looks like a peach leaf with a perimeter of 20 km, and it enjoys very convenient waterway transport as it is connected with Dongheng River and les eastward to Ningbo port and westward to Jing-Hang Canal. Moreover, there are abundant natural resources on this land (such as porcelain), fertile soil, flourishing grass and trees, and rich fuels. All these advantages make possible the development of porcelain industry.

Shanglin Lake is the central production base of Yue porcelain and there were about 120 kilns distributed around the lake, which seemed like twinkling stars spotted along the 20-km-long lakeside. The lake is surrounded by the thick mist and situated in high mountains, where there are green trees and roaring waterfalls. In spring, the lake presents a more beautiful scene as thriving fragrant flowers cover these mountains. Clear springs run along the stream and exotic rocks present an impressive image; legendary gods and ghosts are said to have lived here. Shanglin Lake is not only a natural Yue-kiln museum, but a scenic spot combining natural and human beauty.

Products in the Three-Kingdom Dynasty here include jars, kettles and bowls, which were made of hard and rough material with green, green-yellow and brown glaze. In the early period of Tang Dynasty, there were no large-scale kilns, and the porcelain was processed in a rough way and was of very limited variety. In the middle period, the processing method of porcelain was largely improved and people at that time could manufacture relatively high-quality porcelains. The late period of Tang Dynasty witnessed the unprecedented development of porcelain processing when a record high quantity of porcelains was produced. The outstanding achievement of that time is that the people managed to make the "Mise Porcelain". The products of this period, such as pots, jars, bowls, plates, boxes, cups and censers, featured a wide variety, refined processing and charming shape, and they were made of even and semi-transparent glazes of green-yellow, green-grey and green-blue. Most of the porcelains h plain paintings on them, such as the water lily, fish, little birds and even the brown colored drawings. In the Five-dynasty Period, there were far more kinds of porcelains with impressive variations and they became more graceful than ever before. However, the glaze color of the porcelain ware of this time had the same characteristics as before. For instance, the porcelain born plain pictures like the lotus petals, water lilies, dragons and phoenix. In the early period of Northern Song Dynasty, the glaze color of porcelains was transparent and tended to be dark grey. It was fashionable to paint thin-wattle flowers then, which presented free and untrammeled image. In addition to the pictures like the lotus, water weed and peony, the people of that period liked to paint the bird, mandarin duck, parrot, butterfly, dragon, phoenix and human beings on the porcelain. In the late period, the porcelain industry began to decline owing to the deterioration of drawings and glazes, and lack of varieties.

According to Products Record of Yuyao County, "Mise porcelain" originated at Shanglin Lake. A special official was appointed for monitoring the kiln operation in Tang and Song Dynasties. In 1977, a sepulchral pot dating back to the 3rd year of Guangqi Period of Tang Dynasty was unearthed in Wujiaxi of Shanglin Lake. The epigraph on the pot reads "in the 5th year of Zhonghe Period, at the Shanglin Lake of Cixi in Ningbo¡­ in the 3rd year of Guangqi Period, the dead body was buried on the north of Imperial Kiln." This indicates that the Royal Kiln was built near the Shanglin Lake in the late Tang Dynasty to produce Mise porcelains in order to meet the needs of the royal family.

During the Five-dynasty period, Wu Kingdom and Yue Kingdom presented Mise porcelain as tributes to the emperor of ancient China. In The Record of Tributes in Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, Emperor Zhongyi was reported to offer 140,000 porcelains as tributes to Song Dynasty. As time went on, the kilns of Shanglin Lake, Baiyang Lake and Guyinding Lake could no longer satisfy the increasing demand for Mise porcelains. Therefore new kilns were built along Dongqian Lake in Yin County and in front of the Shangyu Temple near Shanglin Lake so that the production was greatly expanded. After the unification of Northern Song Dynasty, as the royal demand for Mise porcelains rose abruptly, the porcelain industry witnessed a prosperous development and there evolved the Yue Kiln group, which centered around the Shanglin Lake. The Yue Kiln Group was representative of the celadon porcelain industry of Zhejiang Province.


Address: Qiaotou Town, Cixi, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
Postal code: 315300
Telephone: 0574-63104102











Tashan Weir


As one of the historical sites under State protection, Tashan Weir is situated in the west of Yinjiang Town of Yin County and it is a masterpiece of water conservancy project of ancient China. The weir features an impressive size and refined structure, and ranks among ancient China's top four water conservancy projects together with the Zhengguo Weir, Ling Weir and Dujaing Weir.

Siming Mountain stands high in the west of Yin County, winding its way like a snake, and covers rainy areas of over 350 km2. Every Spring and Autumn, heavy rain would bring disastrous floods and numerous people, animals and plants in nearby areas have suffered hard from it for hundreds of years. During Taihe Period of Tang Dynasty, that is, 883 , Wang Yuanwei, who came from Langya of Shandong Province and held office of Magistrate of Yin County, was determined to build the Tashan Weir so as to eradicate the threat of floods.

According to The Record of Siming Tashan Weir, on the south of a local stream lies a high mountain while on the north is a flat land where a hill sits. As there were no other hills around on the plain, it acquired the name "Tashan Hill"(Tashan is the Chinese Pinyin meaning "the solitary hill"). In the past, the salty waves of Fenghua River rushed up to Pingshui Pool and had such a terrible impact that "No lands were cultivable and no people had fresh water to drink however thirsty they were." In order to prevent the local agriculture from natural calamities, Wang Yuanwei ordered to set up the Tashan Weir.

Tashan Weir is a spectacular project, 113.73 m long and 4.8 m wide. It was made of rocks of 2.3 m long, 1 m wide and 0.3 m thick. In order to make the weir stronger, the builders poured the melted iron in it. Thanks to the weir, more than 200,000 mu lands of 7 towns in the west of Yin County got irrigated. "With the donation of the public and the allocation of governmental reserves, the weir enables the local people to drink fresh water and the businessmen to transport their goods. The local people depend largely on it and benefit a lot from it." When a heavy flood overflows the weir into the Fenghua River, it would flow along Yong River to Zhenhai and empty into the ocean. In this way, the impact of the flood was lessened to a large extent. Tashan Weir is a famous piece of works, boasting a scientific design and favorable geographical position. It can not only ease the flood and drought, but also adjust the volume of running water.

Tashan Weir is recorded to have 36 stone steps and hold a very high level of water. Every time rain poured down, the rageful flood would come down mountains from the upstream, presenting a spectacular scene. Ancient people thought highly of it. "The ear-deafening thunder-like sound can be heard even 10 miles away, and it is such a frightening scene that even the specters dare not approach."

After the completion of the weir, in consideration of the insufficient capacity of flood discharge, Wang Yuanwei went on to build the Wujin Floodgate, Jidu Floodgate and Xingchun Floodgate across the Nantang River to raise the discharging capacity. A complete water conservancy system was therefore developed. It is said that Wang Yuanwei set three wooden ducks drifting down the river and chose the place where they stopped to be locations for the floodgates. The interesting story was widely spread and recorded in The History of Yin County.

Tashan Weir became more and more complete through repairs, dredging and addition of auxiliary works of Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing Dynasties and at the time of the Republic of China. Some 50 miles northwest of Tashan Weir lies the Huisha Floodgate built by Magistrate Chen Kai in 1242(the 2nd year of Chunyou reign in Song Dynasty). The purpose of the floodgate was to prevent the river from being blocked by quicksand. As auxiliary projects, Hongshuiwan Dyke was built by Wu Qian, an official in 1255 (During Baoyou reign in South Dynasty) and Guanchi Dyke was, later on, constructed in 1524 (The 3rd Year of Jiajing Period in Ming Dynasty). These dykes could not only discharge flood, but stop sand from entering the river.

Wang Yuanwei made such a great contribution by establishing the weir that the people were heartily grateful to him. From Five-dynasty Period to the beginning of Song Dynasty, local people built a temple in memory of him. During Qiandao reign in South Dynasty, the Emperor conferred the title of "Long-lasting Virtue" on the temple and the folk liked to call it "Tashan Temple". The existent temple was built at the end of Qing Dynasty and the beginning of Minguo Regime, which expressed the sincere thanks and praises to Wang Yuanwei. On the eaves of the temple was written "Wang's virtue benefits millions of local residents and his name will be remembered as long as the mountains and rivers." Entering the newly-made gate and walking through the dooryard, you will see the frontal hall of the temple with a couple of stone lions on both sides of the steps. In front of the back hall stands a pavilion named " Stones carry fragrance far away". There is a stele made in the 11th Year of Jiaqing reign in Qing Dynasty in the pavilion and on the back of the stele was inscribed the immortal deeds of Wang Yuanwei.

Although Tashan Weir has weathered storms of hundreds of years and witnessed the vicissitudes of the world, it still stands firm and plays crucial roles to discharge floods and conserve water. In recent years, studies have been conducted on the weir during the repairs. These studies reveal that the middle part of weir is 3.85 m high and that both of its ends are about 2 m high. The bottom of the weir, 3.7 m--6.4 m thick, is made of gravel and clay, under which lie the bedrocks. According to the studies, there are four wonders about the weir. ¢Å The bottom of weir tends to lean upstream at 5 degrees. Compared with a flat-bottom weir, the weir of this design could be twice as steady. ¢Æ The gravel and clay are used as matting to lessen seepage through the gravel riverbed underneath the weir. ¢ÇThe weir across the riverbed, which was well designed, can le the water into the center of riverbed and reduce the erosion upon the banks of riverbed. ¢È The weir sank in the riverbed evenly and firmly. All four wonders above may be explained in terms of modern architectonics and mechanics. Tashan Weir conveys the wisdom and diligence of Chinese people, and adds a great luster to the Chinese culture. Nowadays, for the purpose of preserving the historical relics, the local government and people have made efforts to repair the Tashan Weir and Guanshan Temple, and engrave the colored effigy of Wang Yuanwei and ten representative weir builders. On every March 3rd and October 10th on Chinese lunar calendar, hundreds of local people from Bujiang Town come here voluntarily to offer their worship. Tashan Weir has turned into a water conservancy project exhibition hall to recount the ancient water conservancy endeavors of Ningbo and Zhejiang in all-round perspectives.

Tashan Weir and its Long-lasting-virtue Temple are situated in Yinjiang Town where there are clear water and green mountains. The Dragon Ponds lies by the Temple, and the Gangshan Hill and Turtle Rock under the Weir. Tashan Weir links the limpid Zhangxi River upstream and the open Yinjiang River downstream, along which a dense population lived. It is such a picturesque landscape that a folk intellectuals are heard saying "Tranquil and deep valleys lie in front of the memorial temple and all charms of the village is gathered here".

Address: Yinjiang Town, Yin County, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
Postal code: 315100







Chiang Kai-shek's Former Residence

As one of the historic sites under State protection, Chiang Kai-shek's Former Residence is located Zhongjie Street, Xikou, and consists of six rooms passed on from Chiang's ancestors. According to The Pedigree of the Chiangs in Wuling revised in 1948, "in the 14th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty when Chiang Kai-shek was two years old, Chiang An (Chiang Kai-shek's father) moved from Yutai to the West Wing of Baoben Hall." The reason for the move is that the Yutai Salt Shop, the business premises of Chiang An, was ruined by a fire. The West Wing of Baoben Hall is now the separate building to the west of Baoben Hall. In 1928, in order to expand his residence, Chiang Kai-shek had 25 families moved away to build his residence into a bigger one covering an area of 4,800 m2 with a floor space of 1850 m2. There are three rooms in the frontal hall of Chiang's residence, among which the room upstairs served as the poet-reading room for Mao, and the two rooms downstairs were used for the reception of guests and accounting respectively. In the back hall are three high-roofed plain rooms, the middle one being "Baoben Room" written by Wu Jingheng. Baoben Room used to be the place where the Chiang's family worshipped their ancestors (Baoben means "repayment of gratitude"). In front of the room hangs a plaque bearing the words "Rational Spirit" written by Chiang Kai-shek for his son at his 40-year-old birthday. The poles and beams in Chiang Kai-shek's Former Residence are elaborately carved and painted. In the center of the roof are colored paintings, such as "Three stars twinkling high" and "Two dragons competing for a be", in addition to the relief sculptures on the poles like "Emperor Wen searching for wise men" and " The dragon and phoenix bringing good fortune". All pieces of artistic works contain the essence of folk art.

There are three gardens in the front yard, connected by arches. Song Meiling once planted osmanthuses on each side of the dooryard, and she lived in the east room while Mao Fumei (Qiang's first wife) in the west room.

Address: Xikou Town, Fenghua, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
Postal code; 315500
Tel: 0574-88857997