Saturday, November 21, 2015

Ancient City Wall Dating Back to the Song Dynasty @ Zhaoqing (Previously Duanzhou)

When the coach navigated a right turn to our second hotel for the trip, the tour guide excitedly asked us to look ahead of us where an ancient looking wall stood.

Although this wall stopped short of having an imposing presence that has the ability to take one's breath away (as in the case of the Great Wall of China), it was said to be one of the best-preserved city wall in China with a history dating back to the Song Dynasty!

This implied a lot on the historical significance of the city which honestly didn't quite a ring a bell among foreigners like myself. There's a reason for that; Zhaoqing was previously known as Duanzhou and those familiar with the story of Justice Bao might just remember where the city fits in. 

Anyway, the tour guide suggested us to visit the wall after our dinner as the hotel we were staying in that day was only a few hundred meters away. 

Obviously my dad and i couldn't resist paying it a customary visit; both dad and son have the mentality that since we are overseas, we might as well make full use of our time to walk around. The only problem is that he can wake up much earlier than me! 

The information panel highlighted the contributions of Justice Bao when he was prefect of Duanzhou for about three years before leaving to take up the important role of investigating censor in the capital. 

Starting our stroll and on the lookout for an entry point to climb up the ancient city wall. As we have gathered from the coach ride earlier, the wall stretched for quite a distance but we didn't complain as we had a rather filling dinner! 

According to the tour guide, Shen Fei - this city wall was so well preserved because apartments were built on both sides of the wall, effectively fortifying it from external elements.

Let's continued our walk; i remember a pagoda somewhere in the middle but it wasn't even lighted up at night. At that time, i knew i had to prepare for the worst; which was i couldn't get to the top of the wall.

Saw a samoyed on the pavement with no leash on it! It usually ran ahead of its owner and would look back every now and then to ensure she was following! So cute! 

Aside from the spotlights hitting on the wall, the other illumination came from the LED lights as seen above. This was about 8 minutes into the stroll and i guess there must be an entry point somewhere. 

I did notice there was literally no one on top of the city wall. 

And i was right; operation hours were from 9am till 5pm! However, i noticed something; the notice was for 披云楼, and not specifically for the wall. Damn, i should have been more careful!

Notwithstanding the mistake, i frankly didn't know and together with my dad, made a u-turn back to our hotel where i can take a good bath! 

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Location
Zhaoqing City, 
Guangzhou Province,
China

For the summarised itinerary of my tour package (guaranteed no shopping stops) to Guilin via Chan Brothers, please check out the link here.

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