A62-021. Family Trip with Wife and Daughter: 2017 Summer Hunan Tour (Day 8)

Day 8 (August 23, 2017)

A. Visit Du Fu River Pavilion (Dacheng International Hotel to Du Fu River Pavilion private car fare 32 yuan).

B. Visit Tianxin Pavilion (Du Fu River Pavilion to Tianxin Pavilion private car fare 29 yuan).

C. Visit Yuelu Academy, Aiwan Pavilion, Hunan University (Tianxin Pavilion to Yuelu Academy private car fare 32 yuan).

D. Lunch at Sister Han's Restaurant.

E. Changsha South to Guangzhou South (take G6117 high-speed train from 17:54 to 20:39).

Du Fu River Pavilion is located on the Xiangjiang River at the intersection of Xihu Road and Xiangjiang Avenue in Changsha. It was built in 2005 to commemorate Du Fu, the saint of poetry of the late Tang Dynasty. The ticket price for Du Fu River Pavilion is 11 yuan.

In the summer of the third year of the Dali era of Tang (768 AD), Du Fu arrived in Changsha after failing to visit a friend. He fell into financial hardship and lived on a boat on the Xiangjiang River, then moved to the riverside, calling his dwelling the River Pavilion. Du Fu lived in Changsha for over two years.

Tianxin Pavilion is located on the ancient city wall at the intersection of Chengnan Road and Tianxin Road. The original construction date of Tianxin Pavilion is unknown. It was rebuilt during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, burned down during the Wenxi Fire in the War of Resistance period, and rebuilt on the original site in 1983. Tianxin Pavilion has three stories, with architectural styles of the Ming and Qing city towers, covering an area of about 846 square meters.

Due to its high terrain, Tianxin Pavilion was a strategic military point. In 1938, the "Wenxi Fire" reduced Changsha to ashes, and Tianxin Pavilion was completely destroyed, leaving only the solid Ming and Qing ancient city walls.

The ticket price for Tianxin Pavilion is 32 yuan.

After the 2014 summer trip, we revisited Yuelu Academy, the top of the four great academies of the Song Dynasty. Yuelu Academy is located within Hunan University at the foot of Yuelu Mountain. The ticket price is 50 yuan.

Yuelu Academy is the foremost among the four great academies of the Song Dynasty and the best-preserved ancient academy in China. In the ninth year of the Kaibao era of Northern Song (976 AD), Zhu Dong, the prefect of Tanzhou, formally established Yuelu Academy based on a school run by monks. It went through the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and in the 29th year of the Guangxu reign of Qing (1903) was converted into Hunan Higher School, then successively into Hunan Higher Normal School, Hunan Industrial College, and in 1926 was officially named Hunan University. Spanning a thousand years, the academy has never ceased teaching, hence called the "Millennium Academy."

Yuelu Academy covers an area of 21,000 square meters. Most of the existing buildings are from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The main structures include the Great Gate, Second Gate, Lecture Hall, Banxue Studio, Teaching Studio, Baiquan Pavilion, Imperial Book Tower, Xiangshui Scripture Hall, Confucian Temple, etc., all interconnected, fully displaying the magnificent grandeur of ancient Chinese architecture. Besides architectural relics, Yuelu Academy is also famous for its large collection of inscribed tablets and plaques, such as the Tang-dynasty "Lushan Temple Stele," the Ming-dynasty "Yuelu Academy" stele with calligraphy by Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the "Cheng's Four Admonitions Stele," Qing imperial plaques like "Acquiring Virtue from Heaven" and "Southern Orthodox Lineage," and Qing-dynasty inscribed steles of Zhu Xi's "Loyalty, Filial Piety, Integrity, and Honesty," Ouyang Zhenghuan's "Orderliness and Solemnity," and Wang Wenqing's "Yuelu Academy Study Regulations," etc.

Aiwan Pavilion is connected to Yuelu Academy, located in Qingfeng Gorge on Yuelu Mountain. Yuelu Mountain is open for free, so Aiwan Pavilion also requires no ticket.

Aiwan Pavilion is situated in Qingfeng Gorge at the foot of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha. It faces east, with mountains on three sides. Aiwan Pavilion was originally built in the 57th year of the Qianlong reign of Qing (1792) by Luo Dian, the head of Yuelu Academy. It was originally named Red Leaf Pavilion, but later renamed Aiwan (meaning "love the evening") Pavilion by Bi Yuan, the Governor-General of Huguang, inspired by Du Mu's poem "Mountain Trip" from the Tang Dynasty: "Far up the cold mountain, the stone path slants; in the deep white clouds, there are homes. I stop the carriage to sit and admire the evening maple grove; the frost-covered leaves are redder than the February flowers." It is known as one of the four famous pavilions in China, together with the Drunken Old Man Pavilion in Chuzhou, Anhui (built 1046), the Mid-Lake Pavilion in West Lake, Hangzhou (built 1552), and the Taoran Pavilion in Taoran Pavilion Park, Beijing (built 1695).

Yuelu Mountain is located on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River in Changsha, Hunan. It is one of the seventy-two peaks of Mount Heng in Nanyue. According to the "Records of Nanyue" from the Liu Song period of the Southern Dynasties: "Nanyue spans eight hundred li, with Huiyan (Returning Geese) as its head and Yuelu as its foot."

The Yuelu Mountain Scenic Area, built along the Xiangjiang River, covers an area of 35.20 square kilometers, including eight major scenic areas: Lushan, Tianma Mountain, Orange Isle, Taohua Ridge, Shijialing, Zhaiziling, Houhu, and Xianjiahu.

Yuelu Mountain is open for free.

Hunan University, located at the foot of Yuelu Mountain, is a famous university in China without walls. Li Da, a representative of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, was the first president of Hunan University after liberation. The name "Hunan University" was inscribed by Chairman Mao Zedong.

The Chairman Statue at Dongfanghong Square

At Hunan University, the Chairman Statue at Dongfanghong Square began construction in mid-May 1967 and was officially unveiled on May 16, 1968. Dongfanghong Square was built simultaneously with the statue of Chairman Mao standing in its center. It was designed by professors from the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of Hunan University, with a reasonable layout and wide view.

The total height of the Chairman Mao statue is 12.26 meters, with the statue body 7.1 meters and the base 5.16 meters, symbolizing Chairman Mao's birthday and the birthday of the Communist Party of China. The statue adopts a "hands-behind-back" pose, referencing a photo of Chairman Mao at Beidaihe. Chairman Mao is wearing a trench coat, with the breeze gently lifting the hem. His hands are behind his back, gazing fondly at this land he knew well in his youth, evoking the artistic conception of "Alone in the cold autumn" and "Remembering the eventful years of the past."

Dongfanghong Square Chairman Statue

We specially took a taxi to Sister Han's Restaurant on Jiucaiyuan Road and enjoyed a delicious meal of spicy crab and crayfish, ending our family trip to Hunan in the summer of 2017.

Traveling with wife and daughter is always joyful and unforgettable. Recording every journey with them is also full of fun!