I made a quick calculation and understood why our tour guide from the temple was so breezy when telling us the temple was totally self-funded. He also told us that more wealthy people were more inclined to believe in Buddhism, which surprised and confused me a little bit. Anyway, I don't believe in it but I respect their choice.

By the way, Tianning Temple owns some of the most precious white jade Buddhist statues in the world. They made me wonder if we human beings could possibly be more skillful than the craftsmen who made them.

Leaving the temple we had another walk by the artificial river that we'd seen the previous night but it looked much less attractive in the daylight --- the water was dirty with the city waste. Mr. Xu, our second-day guide, seemed a little ashamed of the rubbish and explained that the city government was making great an effort to deal with the pollution, but it took time. 

We passed four steles decorated with blossoming flowers and carved with name-like words. Yes, they were former names of Changzhou and the earliest could be dated to the Qin Dysnasty (221-206 BC). From Mr. Xu we learned that Changzhou used to be one of the most important and prosperous areas in the Yangtze Delta, but in a re-demarcation of the administrative regions nationwide after 1949, the mayor of Changzhou at that time generously gave the two wealthiest counties to the neighbor cities, only to see the fall of his own domain. So Changzhou people have been working hard to regain the glamour of their hometown.

We went by Dongpo Park, a memorial park of Su Dongpo, the great Chinese poet in the Song Dynasty and whose poems I like very much. From the city introduction I learned that many Chinese celebrities in ancient times and at present were from Changzhou, especially in academic circles, and many artists chose to reside here and their trails have become historical sites.

As the last program of the morning, we climbed the Wenbi Tower in the Hongmei Park. Despite my aching thighs (they kept hurting for days and reminded me that I should indeed do more exercise), the breath-taking view was totally worthwhile. The panoramic view of the city from the tower top was sublime. The Hongmei Park, or Red Plum Park, was even better than its beautiful name suggests. We crossed a puzzle made of tall bushes, saw an amazing exhibition of root carvings and relaxed for a sweet ten-minutes by the soothing lake.

Changzhou is such a small city that you can visit most of its attractions on foot. But in some aspects, it's huge. You can feel the touch of history everywhere in the city. Each simple little thing there may have a long and interesting story behind. The city is currently making a bid to increase its tourism, naturally, but I don't think a one-to-two days sightseeing (that's how long a normal travel agency will arrange for with a small city) will allow you to get people to know the real charms of Changzhou.

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