Just as the Yellow Mountain is ranked top of all the mountains in China, the Zhenfeng Pagoda in Anqing, Anhui Province, is considered the best of its kind.

There is a saying: you need not visit any other tower after seeing the Zhenfeng Pagoda.

If you take a ship to the city, which is situated on the Yangtze River, you can see from far away the lofty tower and the temple architecture.

The name Anhui is taken from "Anqing" and "Huizhou," the two largest regions in the province.

With a glorious history as the capital of Anhui Province for 270 years, and a wide range of rich historical relics, Anqing is an ideal tourist destination.

The Zhenfeng Pagoda is located in the garden of the Yingjiang Temple, which were both built during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

On both sides of the gate of the Yingjiang Temple, there are iron anchors, each of which weighs three tons.

People say the shape of Anqing terrain is like a boat with the pagoda as the mast, so the boat must be rooted with the anchors, or it would float away on the Yangtze River.

The temple containing four different halls was not in as large a scale as renowned ones in other Buddhist scenic spots, but the Buddha sculptures were maintained from ancient times.

Wall carvings featuring Buddhas in heaven were rebuilt after being destroyed during the"cultural revolution" (1966-76). Each of the thousands of Buddhas differ in expression and action.

The seven-storey, eight-corner pagoda in the back garden is 83 metres tall.

The narrow and steep stone steps in the pagoda have been burnished and made very smooth. You must be careful and grasp the rails to climb up.

What's interesting in the tower is that you cannot easily find the stairs from one floor to another.

In the hall of each floor there are niches with stone Buddhas in the wall and several doors lead to the balcony.

You have to walk around the narrow balcony with low enclosures, above which are engraved seedpods of lotus, to find an entry to the stairs. However, some doors delude visitors, just leading you to a zig-zag room.

Old wind bells hang on every eave, emitting a nice sound with the wind from the nearby Yangtze River.

The higher you climb, the narrower the hall you will see, and on the top floor open to visitors - the sixth floor - only a few persons can stay at the same time. The seventh floor was locked with iron rails. Maybe it was too dangerous for tourists to enter, or, as the locals said, there may be the corpse of a monk kept there.

The city was tightly arranged and you seldom see the lanes and houses of the old days because of reconstruction. However, take a bus from the downtown bus station, and you can reach any of the eight counties of the city within one hour, where many ancient scenic spots and wonderful natural scenery can be seen, such as the Confucian Temple in Tongcheng County and the Fushan Mount in Zongyang.

Travel tips

Trains departing from Shanghai at 8:50pm reach Anqing by 10:30am the following day. Flights to Anqing take off on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

( Shanghai Star June 6, 2002)