Adlibing Asia: Days 312-318 - A meeting with Confucius

Taking advantage of our 3-day weekend we ventured off on Friday to the hometown of the Great Chinese Sage Confucius, along with Matt. We ended up getting to Qufu in the late afternoon, and by the time we found and checked into our hostel all the temples were closed. So we spent the evening strolling around inside the walled town (we even strayed outside the wall for a bit!), checking out the locals doing their stuff. Inside the wall the streets and buildings have mostly been redone for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to Qufu every year, but outside the walls there still remains plenty of dirt roads and sellers selling their local wares (as opposed to the tourist junk inside) - the boys favourite being the cheap Chinese fireworks that were a must on the list of things to buy in Qufu!

After a typical Chinese meal we settled ourselves in the middle of the night markets to drink, chat, and people-watch the night away. It's actually quite interesting watching the goings-on of the markets and observing the sellers try to lure passer-bys to eat at their stall - the food on offer ranges from a variety of greens and other veges, as well as the usual frogs, eels, fish and other creatures which flop around in their cramped little bowls.

In the morning we went out to explore the sights around town. Our first stop was the Confucius Mansions, where Confucius' ancestors lived since around the 16th Century - after Confucius thought became really popular.

Confucius himself was born in the 5th Century BC, into a poor family and his teachings didn't become well-known until after his death. The Mansions were big, elaborate, and beautiful but the whole experience was dampened due to the fact that the rest of China came to visit Qufu on the same day as us!! Well, not quite, but it sure felt that way.

From the Mansions we headed to the Temple of Confucius where we continued the battle of trying to see through and over the masses.

That aside, the temple complex is very impressive and consists of rebuilt temples and pathways, and also numerous temples and other historical remnants that retain their old character (by this we mean they are in a somewhat original state and haven't been done up yet).

After wandering through the temples we passed through all the touts trying to sell us things including horse carriage rides where one poor horse is at times made to pull the carriage with more than 10 passengers inside. We did however stop to buy a Chop (Chinese carved stamp) to commemorate the Adlibing Asia Tour, and then moved on past the pedicab drivers and made our way to the Confucius Forest.

Once we followed the tour groups to Confucius' tomb we managed to veer off the concrete path and actually go into the forest, which is covered with blooming flowers as far as the eyes could see, and for once China smelt like flowers instead of pollution.