Travel Notes #蓟州
Dule Temple: The Liao-era Guanyin Pavilion Liang Sicheng Called a Priceless Treasure
Dule Temple, also the Great Buddha Temple, stands in Jizhou, Tianjin, among the oldest surviving wooden high-rise pavilions in China and one of its three great Liao-dynasty monasteries. Its heart, the Guanyin Pavilion, rises 23 metres and shelters a eleven-faced clay Guanyin 16 metres tall — the largest ancient clay Guanyin image extant. The architect Liang Sicheng called it a priceless treasure.
Huangyaguan Great Wall: The Bagua Fortress Rebuilt by Qi Jiguang
At the northern tip of Jizhou, Tianjin, Huangyaguan was first built in the Northern Qi and rebuilt by the Ming general Qi Jiguang. Its water gates, watchtowers and octagonal Bagua fortress make a complete defensive system; from the pass the hills roll like waves and the wall winds like a dragon.
Panshan: The First Mountain East of the Capital
Panshan lies in Jizhou, Tianjin, about 80 km from Beijing; its highest peak, Guayue, rises 864 metres and the mountain is famed for four wonders — strange pines, odd rocks, clear springs and old temples. The Qianlong emperor climbed it thirty-two times and sighed that had he known Panshan he need not have gone south of the river; his retreat villa Jingji Shan zhuang still stands in ruins among the slopes.