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| Entrance to the Confucius Temple |
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| One of the bronze lions |
After leaving the Xin Qao Jie shopping centre, it should have been only a few steps to the Confucius Temple.
And true, there was a huge building, set back from the road, with enormous bronze lions on either side of the entrance. Must be it, but didn’t look like a temple. Well it wasn’t. It was of course the Quzhou Museum.
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| Some of the interior displays |
I had no choice but to go inside. I walked up to the entrance, free entry and cloaking, and then through a doorway into the most amazing atrium. Designed to impress, and it certainly does. A Brontosaurus skeleton dominates the space, but even that is dominated by a floor-to-ceiling panel evocative of Chinese culture and heritage, particularly the Yue people of this region.
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| The museum atrium |
The Museum itself consists of two levels that circle the central atrium. The museum contains information about the history and pre-history of the region. It’s well presented, and many of the panels are in both Chinese and English – very helpful for foreigners like myself.
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| Detail of a rock on a timber mount |
The main patrons seemed to be family groups with (noisy) children, much the same as in Australian museums.
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| A room displaying rock 'sculptures' |
There was also an entire room dedicated to displays of rocks similar to those I saw earlier at Xin Qao Jie shopping centre. Apparently there are fakes around, so buyer beware.
It was interesting that there was no printed material available – brochures or maps. What was also interesting was that there was no museum shop that people were herded through on exit to relieve visitors of their money. It was enough to just enjoy the experience and gain some knowledge.
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| Model of the temple layout |
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| Entrance to the Confucius Temple |
Well. next door to the museum was the Confucius Temple, finally. By now I had been walking and sightseeing for a couple of hours so was ready for some quiet contemplation.
At the entrance were two fruit stalls, selling the two things endemic to this region – Chinese gooseberries (now renamed as Kiwi Fruit) and green mandarins. This time I had to pay to enter (about $1.50), and within the ticket was a very small bound copy of Confucius’ writing in traditional style (starting at the back and reading up & down).
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| The pond and pergola at the rear |
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A beautiful ceramic urn -
not for sale |
The temple (in name only as it did not have any areas for praying) was huge and comprised many rooms and courtyards flowing from one to the next. It is mainly a dedication to Confucius and his teachings, but an excellent example of this type of traditional architecture.
At the very rear was a large pond surrounded by small pagodas, originally designed for study and contemplation, but now used for refreshments. The temple structure and grounds stand in stark contract to the massive, modern museum next door.
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| Self serve and pay ice creams freezers |
There was a couple of self-serve freezers with ice-creams that visitors could buy, with a dual purpose a donation box and rubbish bin next to them. Can’t see that working in Australia. Littering in China is a big problem, but there seemed to be surprisingly little within the temple.
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The entry ticket and miniature booklet
of Confucius' sayings |
Two things I found interesting about both complexes: the first was the complete lack of security staff in either complex and the second was the complete absence of parking areas. People use public transport or taxis to get here,
After being here for just over a month and visiting places like these, I have no doubt that Chinese people are very proud of their history and heritage, and I can understand why they may want to argue with Japan over some inconsequential islands between the two countries. Probably no different to Britain and Argentina fighting over some windswept rocks near Antarctica.
No city is perfect ( look at Sydney) but Quzhou and Zhejiang province has a lot going for it and I’m quite glad to have ended up here.
