I had been wanting to visit Qufu for a while as it is only a couple of hours or so by High Speed Rail from Beijing. The train journey was uneventful and the smog outside got progressively worse the further we got from the capital. I alighted at Qufu East Station and headed over to the bus station next door as that is where both the long distance buses and the local city buses depart from. I think I took the K19 bus and it took around half an hour to get near the old city walls. I decided to scope out where my hostel was first and I was pleasantly surprised at how close it was the main attractions. I took a bit of a wander around. Qufu seems like quite a quiet place. Definitely, not somewhere I would want to live, a visit would be enough for me. Qufu probably isnt on many foreigners Chinese tour itineraries, but since I had found out that it was the birthplace of Confucius, I been wanting to visit.
In the centre of the old town are two of the three main attractions in Qufu. I headed towards the temple and tried
to find the ticket office, there didnt seem to be one about. I found what Could be the ticket office, Bur was told that it was in a separate location. It was on the main street, I saw it and there were a few people outside trying to entice me in. Being a cynical person, it didnt really seem legit. The main ticket office was next door but there was zero English. Bugger, I had to speak to the vultures. They were trying to sell me a ticket for all three attractions, which does work out cheaper, but it is only valid for one day (I dont know whether I believe them on that as I read conflicting information on the internet), but I didnt think I would have enough time to do them all. The women were like you can do all the sights in three hours, not how I operate ladies. They also wanted to sell some kind of shuttle bus or tour ticket. They looked a bit peeved when I rejected it all, and directed me to a counter in the main office. If only that place had clear or any English signs I could have saved
myself the hassle of talking to the saleswomen. I bought a ticket for the Confucius Temple, which was 90 RMB, a bit steep in my opinion.
I headed back over to the temple and I passed through the Golden Sound and Jade Vibration Gateway. This was built in during the reign of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty. There were quite a few gateways to pass through. I came to the Gate of Lofty Virtue and Great Way, I love these names, they sound really grand. This gate was built in 1415 and eulogises the Sages (Confucius) virtue as the greatest in the world and his way as the greatest of all ages. The foot of the gate is surrounded by four carved animals to ward off evil. The Temple of Confucius has also been called the Temple of the Supreme Saint. Confucius was born in 551 BC and died in 479 BC. He is considered a famous ancient thinker, statesman and educator. It is not just in China where Confucius thought is/was popular, but his influence has spread to neighbouring countries. After heading through the gate, I came to Bishui Bridge. It had originally been built in the 13th
century during Hongzhis reign during the Ming Dynasty. It was later rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. Bishui refers to the water encircling the imperial palace, which looks like Bi, which is a round flat piece of jade with a hole in the centre. It signifies everlasting education.
Just over the bridge, I came to Hongdao Gate. It was the main entrance gate of the temple during the Ming Dynasty. It was given its name by Emperor Shizong of the Qing Dynasty. After walking further along the path, I came to another gate. This temple certainly likes its gates and there were style differences between the two gates. This gate was Dazhong Gate and it was first built in the Song Dynasty and then later rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty. After walking through the gate I came to the stone tablet of Emperor Hongzhi.
