Shapotou & Zhongwei Gaomiao

cctv.com 11-11-2003 16:04

Shapotou

Yellow River winds through Ningxia for about 400 kilometers and becomes the main source of irrigation here. It makes an abrupt turn at Zhongwei county upon entering Ningxia from the west, forming the spectacular Shapotou scenic zone.

There are many interesting ways to experience the yellow river at Shapotou such as taking a goatskin raft? The raft is floating upon 14 pieces of goat skin pumped with air. Can you imagine that it used to be the major vehicle to take people across the Yellow river 40, 50 years ago in this area?

Don鈥檛 shy away from the rafting just because it鈥檚 a tourist must-do here. Sitting on this simple goatskin dinghies and listening to the folk song 鈥渢he yellow river has 99 bends,鈥you may think there is a better way than this to connect with the River.

Tengger Desert from the north is stopped at Shapoutou by the Yellow river, resulting in a huge sand dune. Hence this famous travel item 鈥sand sliding. The slope is 300m long and rises to about 100 meters high. It makes you dizzy just looking down from the top of the sand dune. For those who are really afraid of height, take the cable cart down, drag the board up halfway, and slide down. At least it鈥檚 a good exercise.

Zhongwei Gaomiao

The nearby Zhongwei county town has one intriguing sight, Zhongwei Gao Miao, or high temple. Originally built in the early 15th century, and rebuilt many times, the temple is now a magnificent jumble of buildings and styles.

From the front entrance you can see dragon heads, columns, stairways and rooftops spiralling up in all directions.

The temple covers an area of over 4,000 square meters with a total of more than 250 temple rooms, towers and pavilions. Those rooms, towers and pavilions were built symmetrically and layers upon layers to 29 meters high.

This extraordinary temple used to cater to many different religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and even Christianity. But now, it鈥檚 mainly a Buddhist temple. Inside the temple, you still can find the traces of its unique history if you鈥檝e got an expert eye.

Editor:Han Ling  Source:CCTV.com