Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

How long does it take to get between point A and point B?
You would think that being locals we’d all know some sort of realistic time frame.

Once again I geared my MP3 and my peekers (eyes) for a two hour journey to ancient Shuangxi Town and just like yesterday I was stopped on my way to my bus (which was this time was only five meters away) by a group of young Chinese who wanted to help me get to my destination. This time they rang and gathered several English speaking locals to help me which was nice as I had only a five meter walk to my bus.

They told me that it would take around one to one and a half hours to get to Shuangxi Ancient Town and the hotel girls told me that it would take around two hours.

Being a lover of long distance bus travel through huge mountains I was so happy to board my bus, plug in the ear phones and watch the scenic beauty pass by but after a total of twenty minutes the bus stopped and after everyone had left, the chicken buses money collector told me that we had arrived at the ancient town of Shuangxi. Like yesterday I was so baffled that after leaving the bus I stopped and asked several locals if I was actually in the town of my destination. They of course looked at the lost foreigner with pity and comforted me with the fact that I was where I was supposed to be.

My first thoughts were that of, why did I rise and kind of shine so early in the morning to travel twenty minutes away when I could have slept until midday and have accomplished the same thing!

I spent the next few hours slowly meandering around the cobble stone alleyways that had been worn smooth by time and as with all ancient villages, each turn offered a more picturesque photo opportunity than the previous. For lunch I grabbed a few meat sticks and found an ancient peaceful doorway to rest that seconds prior was littered with chickens that were now angrily running away squawking their vengeance at the strange looking being that woke them from their peaceful bliss. After my meaty treats and a short rest I began walking, spied a small church steeple and after several dead ends I was shaking hands with the head minister.

A small gathering soon crowded around me and a lady who spoke a little English.

Several minutes after that we once again gathered but this time closer to god on the Church’s balcony that offered amazing three hundred and sixty degree views of the roof tops that have sheltered the villagers for the past many hundred years. Once we were back on ground as mere mortals we all shook hands and said our goodbye’s and after a small bowl of local noodles I grabbed a bus and headed ten minutes back towards Pingnan town to Tangkou Village to visit and another Ancient Covered Wooden Bridge known as Qiansheng Bridge which was built in the Daoguang Reign of the Qing Dynasty and is sixty three meters in length.

Qiancheng Bridge is famous for its elegant and unique pattern and its magnificent outer appearance and there is a local saying; mountain, water, bridge and pavilion constitute a harmonious picture!

Shuangxi Ancient Town

The small city of Pingnan was once based in the town of Shuangxi (meaning Twin Streams). The ancient town is full of ancient architecture in Ming and Qing style ancient wells, wood carvings and winding ancient lanes leading to many ancestral halls that enjoy their own distinct features. Shuangxi’s ancestors used their talents to fuse the farming culture into architecture to create their own special type of architecture.

The Confucian Temple was built in 1736 by the first country magistrate and is the only existing Confucian temple with clay and wood structure in Fujian Province. The centerpiece structure is Da Cheng Dian with rich ornamented carved beams and painted pillars. The Cheng Huang Temple as built in the same year as Confucian Temple and it is one thousand, six hundred and twenty square meters and boasts its own unique old stage.

The beautiful Ruiguang Pagoda is found outside west gate of Shuangxi town and was built in 1893. It is an octagonal seven-story solid pagoda and it measures eighteen meters wide and fourteen meters high.  

The Beiyan Temple is located a short one and a half kilometers from the main gate of Shuangxi town and was first built in 984 by a monk named Jueha. The almost eighteen meter long Nan An Bridge can be found surrounded by paddy fields just two kilometers from the towns south gate. The bridge is known by the locals as Ying En Bridge and was constructed during the Ming Dynasty and has been renovated several times since.

Beers N Noodles toya…..shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by Helmet
The album was 'Aftertaste’
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