Journey to Jiangxi

For May Day holiday (International Labor Day), we took a very relaxed trip to Jiangxi province.  This province is located directly north of Guangdong and is a quick 70 minute flight away.  We picked this location for two reasons: 1) it's really difficult to enjoy traveling at the same time as millions of other Chinese holiday travelers in a popular spot like Beijing or Shanghai, and 2) this is an area that we had yet to visit on our adventures of China.

Time in Nanchang
Our trip began in Nanchang, the capital city, where we planned to spend one night before moving onward to eastern tourists sites.  Unfortunately, Pazi was in the middle of completing a final report for a Master's class.  She had hoped to finish all of her work before leaving Dongguan, however it did not work out due to conflicts with work at school.  So, we made adjustments and stayed one extra day in Nanchang.  Adan left Pazi at the hotel to finish her paper and spent an afternoon exploring the city.

Nanchang is a typical Chinese city.  It has a population of nearly 5 million and it dates back to the Han dynasty in the year 201 BC.  The city has just a few cultural sites of interest according to guidebooks.  Adan decided to take a look at a few of them to pass the time.  The first one was the Tengwang Pavilion.  An impressive structure first built in 653, it has been reconstructed 26 times since then.  Most recently this pavilion was redone in 1989.  It stands 60 meters tall and is in a southern Song style.  Due to major construction taking place around the structure, visiting it was a big hassle and Adan decided to take photos and enjoy the pavilion from a distance.

Next, Adan went to the Youmin  Si, a Buddhist temple, founded in the 6th century.  It is considered one of Jiangxi's principal religious shrines.  The temple consists of three main halls and one has a 10 meter high Buddha statue standing on a lotus.  This location was very laid-back.  There was small groups of visitors, but overall it was very calm considering it was a holiday.

Lastly, a quick visit to the former residence of Zhu De.  This site commemorates influential figures' presence in Nanchang that lead to the birth of China's Red Army.  The house has a brick exterior and is made mainly of wood inside.  It is free to visit for the public so two or three other groups were viewing it at the same time as Adan.  However, it is rather small and took only 15 minutes to walk through.

By the time Adan finished seeing these three places, Pazi was done with her final and the vacation could really begin.

Detour to Jingdezhen
The next morning we got up bright and early to catch a long distance bus to the village area called WuYuan.  The problem was that this particular bus was sold out for three straight departure times and would require a six hour wait until available seats came up.  Luckily we knew of a city on the way to WuYuan, Jingdezhen, that could take us about three hours in the vicinity of our original destination.  After buying our tickets, we decided that we would stay one day in Jingdezhen due to conflicts in getting us to WuYuan at a decent time of day.

In all honesty, people only go to Jingdezhen for one reason--porcelain.  Porcelain can be traced back to the Five Dynasties era around 907-79 AD.  For centuries this city has been known as the ceramic capital of China and to this day it remains one of the top producers in country.

During our time in Jingdezhen we did what every other tourist was doing-- we shopped.  We spent our afternoon here browsing ceramic shops.  It may sound boring, however it was rather interesting.  We were able to see several different porcelain styles from the Han dynasty all the way up to the Qing dynasty.  Additionally, we saw so many pieces from tea sets to bowls to lamps, to statues.  The amount of inventory the dealers had was endless.  In case you were wondering, we did not leave empty handed.  Pazi purchased a very neat red porcelain lamp and Adan bought a vase with a dragon design on it.  We spent about 500RMB (under $75 dollars) for both.

Way out in WuYuan
After seeing the difficulties associated with the bus station.  We decided to find a local driver to take us to the villages of WuYuan instead of dealing with busing transportation.  Using our adequate Chinese, we were able to tell our only Chinese speaking hotel attendant that we needed to hire a driver.  Eventually, we were able to book a driver, however he would be taking us and two other groups in together.  Seeing it as our best option we agreed and hoped for the best.

The next morning, our last true day of vacation, we made our way to WuYuan with five other Chinese people.  The drive to WuYuan from Jingdezhen was a bit bumpy but very serene.  It lasted about 1.5 hours.  We arrived just before 10:00am in the first village of Tuochuan and would subsequently see Da Likeng and parts of Qinghua before the day ended.  All these areas had great scenery.  Each one had a unique maze of stoned pathways lined with original buildings--tea houses, small shops, and traditional homes.  Also, we happened to see several active farms, a Buddhist temple, and a few creeks that intersected townships.

After a full day, we headed back to Jingdezhen for a good night's rest.  At 7:30am we were boarding a long distance bus bound for the Nanchang station.  From here we would have a quick lunch and then be off to the airport to catch our flight back home.  Another adventure completed.