Tianya Haijiao, the edge of the world
Two-yuan Chinese bank notes are a collector’s item. First issued in 1987 as part of the fourth series of bank notes, they have been out of circulation for some time and are very rare. I have not had the pleasure of seeing one. But it is on sale in some specialist shops for more than US$20 each. On the back of each note with a one-yuan denomination and above in the fourth series is a famous landscape. For example, the one-yuan features the Great Wall of China, the five-yuan features Yangzi River, and the ten-yuan features Mount Everest. In the case of the two-yuan, however, a rock is depicted breaking the waves of the sea.
A rock? Yes, this is a special rock; it is engraved with the large Chinese characters: 南天一柱. “Nantian Yizhu”, the “Pillar of Southern Heaven”. This heavenly “pillar” is at Tianya Haijiao (天涯海角), the name of which literally means “Heaven’s edge, Sea’s corner”. To the emperors and court officials of bygone eras, this part of Hainan was the edge, the end of the civilized world.
Two-yuan Chinese bank notes are rare, they are a collector’s item
两元中国银行纸币很少见, 它们是收藏家的项目
Visiting officials and resident exiles in Hainan were lovers of nature. Many were Buddhist or Daoist, or eclectic Buddhist-Daoist. Enormous boulders and freakish rock formations dotting the seashore awed and inspired them to incise appreciative poems to commemorate their stay in Sanya. In a sense, they were ancient graffiti artists. Rock appreciation is a dying art. It is really on par with art – sorry for the pun – appreciation. Just as one may derive great satisfaction from gawking at a coloured canvas, one may also attain a similar level of satisfaction from meditation upon a river-smoothened pebble. Both natural and artificial works stimulate one’s sensory emotions, causing cerebral awareness and even spiritual enlightenment.
And just as one is willing to part with thousands of dollar for that piece of painting, others may also be willing to part with similar amount for that natural creation. During his banishment in Guangdong in 1094, Su Dongpo experienced inexplicable pleasure in seeing a rock that was five feet in height according to his faithful follower (but only one foot according to his son Su Guo). It was queer; it had nine peaks. He was willing to buy it for one hundred pieces of gold from the owner, who had more than hundreds of rocks in his collection, but was unable to follow through with the purchase because of his exile to Hainan. He even wrote about it in a poem entitled Nine Glories Mountain in a Jug (“Huzhong Jiuhua”). Eight years later after his exile, he was aghast to learn that the fanciful rock was sold to another collector for eighty thousand cash.
My collection of rocks!
我的小石头的集合!
Because the rocks in Tianya Haijiao were popular backdrops for photography, an amusement park of about a thousand hectares was constructed on that beachside locality, twenty-five kilometres northwest of downtown Sanya, with that emotive name. Opened in 1988, it is where we are heading on our last sightseeing day. We should qualify as privileged rock connoisseurs by the end of the evening.
Eagerly devouring our Uighur dishes, with additional meat, costing 15 RMB each, we pay with one-yuan and ten-yuan notes. We do not have to wait long for the No. 16 bus to arrive at ten minutes past eleven in the morning. It was fairly crowded. Two inconsiderate middle-aged men are occupying three seats in the rear, making no effort to shift for others. (On a later trip with my brother on a Saturday, a local girl in her mid-twenties readily offered me her seat near the entrance of the sardine-packed bus.) At our destination, Jo and I are delighted. It is not the end of the world; it is too nice. Near the entrance, decorative strings of colourful triangular transparencies hang across the foreground, simulating a gayful atmosphere for photographers.
Behind us is a forested mountain range. On a peak are three spherical buildings, one bigger than the others. Is it a communication centre?
Tianya Haijiao entrance; Tianya Haijiao map
天涯海角入口; 天涯海角地图
Near the ticketing booth is an information office. Its brochure-cum-map is helpful. As my eyes focus on the names of the park’s features, I smile with great satisfaction.
“Zhao Ding”
But is it the bust that I am searching so desperately for? Jo obtains the “Individual Ticket” costing 65 RMB while the ticketing officer permits me the “Favorable Ticket” costing 35 RMB. To us, the admission fees are reasonable.
Tianya Haijiao Scenic Park is small in comparison to Nanshan. From the entrance, we can see the sea about four hundred metres beyond. In the water is a group of rocks, which I later learn is “The Love Rocks”. According to the map, the Zhao Ding statue is placed near the beach at the end of the central pathway. Deeply curious, I elect to see it first, starting our short anticipatory walk in the park.
The Love Rocks (爱情石)
To our left is the Historical Figure Statue Garden. The signboard informs us that eleven sculptures of historical figures are placed there. The persons, it says, were pioneers developing the southern territory, banished high-ranking officials, and outstanding locals and patriots. Near the pathway is the first, a two-metre high white marble sculpture of a nimble young lady. Dancing on a pedestal half a metre in height, she swirls with her unfurling roll of cloth while looking skywards. Since she is near the walkway, we draw closer to learn her identity. A stone panel chronicles a story of stoicism.
Born in Songjiang towards the end of the Southern Song era, the teenage girl, sold by her poor family, ran away from her unhappy marriage to Sanya, where she stayed for more than thirty years. After acquiring the spinning and weaving skills of the ethnic Li, weaver Huang Daopo returned to her Shanghai hometown. Her improvement of the weaving technique boosted the indigenous industry, benefiting the lives of people there.
Fittingly, two young ethnic girls are represented in the splendour of their native costumes and headdresses on the reverse side of the statue.
Runaway Huang Daopo (1245-1330 A.D.) learnt weaving from the Hainan ethnic Li people
黄道婆（公元1245-1330）从海南民族李人学习编织
At the end of the pathway is the celebrity I hope to see. Slightly larger than life-size, the bronze statue shows Zhao Ding reposing firmly on a square pedestal that is waist-high, his majestic poise unmistakeable. Clad in a long robe that ends at his feet, the statesman and renowned poet is seated inclined on a reddish-brown stone chair. He has a short beard but long hair which flows backwards below his shoulder, which seems uncharacteristic of pre-Manchu bound-hair tradition.
His frowning face stares downwards towards his right knee. His right arm rests gently on the “armrest” of his seat while his left is placed on his upper left thigh. His legs are spread out, showing that he is at ease with himself. But on his thigh is his tightly clenched left fist, and on the armrest are the fingers of his right hand, tense and apart. The veins are bulging. Intrigued, I examine his facial expression. It is unforgettable. He narrows his eyebrows. He is angry; he is in deep contemplation. Over what? The future of Song China? Or his suicide?
If I had not been acquainted with his tragedy, I would have thought that he was an imperial emperor. His countenance reminds me of God’s face in Michelangelo’s famous interpretation The Creation of Sun and Moon on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Admiring this great titan, I almost fall on my knee to kowtow, to render my humble homage to his courage and heroism during the downfall of the Northern Song and to his immeasurable dedication in regenerating a new Song from Nanjing. The sculptor has executed an excellent and invaluable art piece. A plaque on the pedestal beneath Zhao’s feet briefly narrates his achievements.
I almost fall on my knees to kowtow to this great Song chancellor Zhao Ding
我几乎跪在我的膝盖上，向这位伟大的宋代总经理赵鼎
Bless his soul. This park is an appropriate environment for the tribute to him. He is surrounded by evergreen trees. The attentively manicured grass and hedges amplify our esteem for the best chancellor of the Southern Song dynasty.
The lettering confirms his death from fasting in 1147 and his posthumous accolades such as Tai fu (太傅; Grand Tutor), Feng Guo Gong (丰国公; Feng State Duke), and Zhongjian (忠简; Faithful and Approachable).
Fifty metres away are two dramatic equestrian statues, the dynamic illustrations of the two “Fubo” (“Wave-Subduing”) generals commemorated non-pictorially in Wugong Temple. At three-metre tall, each figure of a military leader mounted on his horse stands on a low, round rock podium one-metre high. Placed on either side of the central pathway, these two imposing Han warriors are silently guarding the entrance to the Tianya Haijiao beach.
Once glowing in golden colour under broad daylight, the two men, cast in bronze, have darkened with age and weathering, patches of green copper stains surfacing. I sneak through a gap in the surrounding hedge to peer at the inscription engraved on the granite base. As I squat down and furiously record the several lines of information in my notebook, a little boy shouts politely in Mandarin.
“Uncle, you cannot step on the grass and flowers.”
I pretend not to hear. The advice is repeated. I am almost done…Done. Standing up, I smile and acknowledge.
“Duibuqi! Zhidao le.” (“Sorry. I understand.”)
Bearing the chastisement of the young civic-minded ecologist, I - in my humiliation - present these recorded (uncorrected) words for the benefit of potential visitors:
“General Fu Bo by the name of Ma Yuan his other name was Wen Yuan who was born in Mao Ling of the Fu Feng county during the Dong Han Dynasty. He was offered official post as Xia Xi marquis. In the seventeenth year of Jian Wu during Emperor Han Guang Wu (A.D. 41) he commanded the country’s armed forces to put down rebellion in the south of China and then county and city wall and moat were set up in Hainan Island.”
Ma Yuan’s steed is glancing towards its left; its chest or body is protected with a steel vest. Looking at his right, the general in helmet and armour is holding a long spear vertically. In his mid or late thirties, the handsome man sports a short beard on his gaunt and broad face. According to legend, his white horse discovered a spring of fresh water on the coast of Danzhou at a critical time during his campaign, thus saving his demoralised thirsty troops dehydrating from the heat and arduous battles. He established a garrison there. Baimajing (White Horse Well) town bears the name of the spring. General Ma (B.C. 14-49 A.D.) was later deified in many temples in Guangdong and Hainan.
Eastern Han General Ma Yuan (马援) pacified Lingnan during 1st C A.D.
东汉总将马援在一世纪初安定岭南。
Even though Concerned Ecologist has departed, the thick chest-high hedge encircling the second statue prevents me from getting close to its podium, on which are lines of information so tantalizingly close, yet unavailable. Without a beard, the smiling general is portrayed as a young man in his twenties. His right hand is grasping a long spear, its sharp head skewering some invisible fallen enemies.
Lu Bode was commander of one of the five battalions, totalling one hundred thousand combatants, dispatched by Han emperor Wudi in 112 B.C. to capture Nanyue immediately after its king’s assassination by its disgruntled prime minister. The successful conquest extended the Han border to Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Lu Bode captured Hainan in 110 B.C. while Ma Yuan provided stability in the settlements.
During my 2012 visit, the surrounding hedges of the two statues have been temporarily removed for the central pathway renovation. Now visible to spectators, the Lu Bode inscription reads:
“General Fu Bo by the name of Lu Bo De was born in Ping Zhou during the Xi Han Dynasty. He was offered official post and left Hou (a county in Fu Jian province) for Pi (a county in Jiang Su province) for his military exploit.
In the sixth year of Yuan Ding of Emperor Han Wu during Han Dynasty (in 111 B.C.), he commanded the country’s armed forces to go on a punitive expedition in the south of China and announced victory and then Zhu Ya and Dan Er two regions were set up in Hainan Island. Lin Zhen county of Zhu Ya a region is just Sanya region today.”
Western Han General Lu Bode (路博德) conquered Lingnan during 1st C B.C.
西汉总将路博德两千年前征服岭南
My wife and I wander into the Historical Figures Garden. Its space is ample for family or community picnics. In the middle is a small meandering lake with some pavilions. Few visitors are around because most have rushed to marvel at the famous rocks. By the side of the lake are interesting plants. From the branches of a two-metre high cactus (Euphorbia antiquorum), leaves are budding. Well-spaced out around the pond are the eight statues. Besides Madam Huang and Zhao Ding, the others are Li Deyu, Hu Quan, Lady Xian, Buddhist monk Jianzhen, and two local scholars.
Li Deyu, who had contributed so much to the later Tang dynasty, is represented here by a simple statue on the uncluttered field. Consisting of about six huge chunks of granite blocks, this representation, the least impressive of the lot, shows only his rugged face and upper body. Wearing his official cap, he sits, glancing pensively towards his left.
Not all dynastic officials were pusillanimous sycophants. A contemporary of Zhao Ding, Hu Quan was only thirty-three when he was appointed as an editor or junior compiler in the Bureau of Military Affairs (Shumiyuan). Bravely pushing in 1138 for the recovery of northern China and the public execution of Qin Hui and his conspirators, the thirty-six year old poet was first banished to Fujian, then to Guangdong in 1142, and finally to Jiyang County (Sanya) in 1148.
A year before he left Guangdong, he painted Night Rain on Xiao Xiang (“Xiao Xiang yueyu tu”). Inscribed on that painting, the last verse of his four-line poem vividly described his sufferings during his exile: “Widespread rains and deep mist, at night I fish the cold.” The “clear and deep” Xiang (潇湘; Xiao Xiang) River region (in present Hunan) had left a deep impression on the Guangdong exile. After a total of seventeen years in exile, he was recalled and delegated as vice-minister. He finally resigned from the court as a highly respected Academician. Chiselled from two huge granite blocks, his greyish two-metre high statue is fitting: his chest disproportionately inflated, he is standing with justifiable pride as his right hand rests on his right waist, his left hand holding a sword.
Demanding Qin Hui’s public execution, 36-year old Hu Quan (胡铨; 1102-1180) was exiled
三十六岁的胡铨被流放; 他要求秦桧执行
From his long pigtail that ends in front of his navel, we can be sure that Lin Xuantong lived during the Qing era. His back leans against a waist-high dividing wall; his hands rest on it. After China’s defeat in the 1894-5 war with Japan, this patriot participated in the failed 1898 Constitutional Reform and Modernization. Returning to Hainan, he wrote books urging the development of the Xisha (Paracel Islands), three hundred and forty kilometres southeast of Sanya.
Today, his plans have been realised. A harbour and an airport with a 2.4-kilometre runway facilitate provisions to the military garrison and tourists on Yongxing (or Woody Island), the largest of the twenty-two islets.
Under the shade of a small pavilion is another two-metre high white marble statue. Seated comfortably and cross-legged on a chair, the elderly man with flowing beard is reading an open book held by his right hand as his left hand relaxes on the armrest. He seems untroubled. The information on the plaque tells me that he is Zhong Fang, a “famous writer and scholar of Sanya in the Ming Dynasty”. Passing all the imperial examinations, he was selected into the Central Academy. He subsequently served as a “high-ranking official in some provinces and ministries”, and achieved great fame for his contributions to literature and history. He was finally honoured with the title “Confucian Scholar”.
Lin Xuantong (林缵统; 1852-1922);
Sanya resident & high-ranking Ming official Zhong Fang (钟芳; 1476-1544)
三亚居民钟芳 (公元1476-1544) 是一位高级明官
By far the largest statue is a composition of Lady Xian and her entourage. Standing on a low circular platform of about fifteen metres in circumference, the magnificent three-dimensional statue is constructed from several blocks of granite. Shaded under a paladin, she leads a procession of people from different ethnic groups. The statue of her riding her horse is about four and a half metres in height. The facet on her left features eight Han and non-Han warriors while the facet on her right features seven persons, males and females of varying ages. The size of the monument underlines the importance placed on her role in Hainan’s and Chinese history. Xian Furen’s husband Feng Bao seems to be missing. Or is he the soldier standing on her left?
Staring at the grand statue of Lady Xian, my mind slowly drifts back to the post-Han era, to the ancestors and descendants of her husband, who could be my very own ancestor. The fall of the Han dynasty in 221 A.D. was followed by a three hundred and seventy year interval of instability and fragmentation. Kingdoms emerged, expanded, and then fell. Nomadic tribes like the Xiongnu took advantage, and invaded. As war refugees sought safety and security in remote regions of China, the bulk of the population in the north gradually dispersed throughout the domain. Millions made their homes in the more fertile southern regions like Fujian and Guangdong.
Lingnan warrior-goddess Madame Xian (冼夫人; Mrs Feng Bao)
岭南战士女神冼夫人(冯宝的妻子)
Established in 384, the Western Yan Empire, which controlled the regions of Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, lasted only ten years. Its capital was at Chang’an (Xi’an). Serving as a general in its army was a Feng An (馮安). His father Feng He (馮和) was, according to seventh-century Chinese historians, an ethnic Han, whose ancestral homeland was in southern Hebei. The general’s career ended when his Xianbei emperor was executed in 394 by the latter’s distant relative, Murong Chui, who became the first emperor of the Later Yan dynasty. Feng An and his family settled in Helong (modern Jinzhou, Liaoning Province). He had four sons: Feng Ba (馮跋), Feng Sufu (馮素弗), and Feng Pi (馮丕) through his wife; and Feng Hong (馮弘) through his concubine.
Feng Ba, the eldest, was diligent and meticulous. Joining the Later Yan army, he rose to the rank of General. Murong Chui was succeeded by his son Murong Bao and then grandson Murong Sheng. When the grandson died from a battle injury in 401 A.D., Murong Chui’s younger son Murong Xi became the fourth emperor. Emperor Zhaowen’s cruelty led to a conspiracy among some generals. When he left his fortress in 407 to bury his deceased wife, they closed the city gate. Murong Bao’s adopted son was declared the new emperor. The deposed emperor attempted to regain his throne but was captured and executed.
New emperor Murong Yun reverted to his original name Gao Yun, leading some later-day historians to regard him as the first “Northern Yan” emperor. His rewards to the collaborators offer a hint to their role in his elevation. General Feng Ba was made prime minister while Feng Sufu and their cousin Feng Wani (馮萬泥) were given high positions. When Gao Yun was assassinated in 409, Feng Ba succeeded him.
Known posthumously as Emperor Wencheng of Northern Yan, Feng Ba styled himself as “Heavenly Prince” (“Tian Wang”). He conferred honours on his kin: the prime ministership on his brother Feng Sufu; the crown princeship on his son Feng Yong (馮永); the titles of Princess Dowager and Princess on his mother and wife respectively; the Dukeship of Ji on his brother Feng Hong; the Dukeship of Guangchuan on his cousin Feng Wani; and the Dukeship of Shanggu on another cousin’s son Feng Ruchen (馮乳陳). But assigned to duties in outlying cities, the last two were unhappy. They staged a rebellion the following year but were crushed by Feng Hong, who executed them, despite their surrender.
In 414, the Northern Wei emperor sent his envoy to negotiate a peace treaty with Feng Ba. The envoy was imperious and Feng detained him. When Sufu died the following year, his depression transformed him into a temperamental king. In 418, the Northern Wei ruler conducted a raid and seized about ten thousand households. When the crown prince died in 426, another son was made heir apparent. By 430 Feng Hong had become the prime minister. The seriously ill emperor issued an edict transferring his authority to the crown prince. But his concubine, ambitious for her own son to inherit the throne, conspired against the crown prince, preventing him and his other brothers from visiting their father.
Informed of her machination, Feng Hong invaded the palace and executed her and her son, and seized the throne after his ill brother had died from shock. Ruthlessly, the new emperor (formally known as Emperor Zhaocheng) killed his brother’s sons (exceeding a hundred as rumoured) to safeguard his power. But he was susceptible to invasions by the Northern Wei dynasty. His problem was similar to that of his half-brother: the avarice of the concubine. By his wife, he had three sons: Feng Chong (馮崇), Feng Lang (馮朗), and Feng Miao (馮邈). But he made his son Feng Wangren (馮王仁) through his concubine his heir.
After Wei army raids, Feng Lang and Feng Miao fled to Liaoxi (modern Tangshan, Hebei) where Feng Chong was commanding a defence force. The two successfully persuaded their brother to switch allegiance to the Wei. When he was besieged by the emperor’s forces, the Wei ruler came to his aid. In 434, Feng Hong proposed a peace with the Wei but was repulsed. He turned to the Liu Song emperor, whose alliance did not pay off during the critical moment.
The following year, he appealed to the Guguryeo ruler for an alliance. When his capital was again attacked by the Wei army, his new ally rescued him and settled him and his followers in Liaoning in 436. Feng Hong now lost his kingdom. Yet he badgered his long-suffering rescuer, demanding a royal treatment. Finally, the Guguryeo leader had enough; he executed Feng Hong and his sons. Thus, the Northern Yan dynasty ended.
Northern Yan emperor Feng Hong fleeing to Korea
北燕皇帝冯弘逃到韩国
Before his demise, Feng Hong had sent Feng Ye (馮业) and three hundred followers to the safety of Liu Song’s southern China. They settled in Xinhui District (modern Jiangmen City), which is on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta and about thirty kilometres south of Guangzhou (Canton). Feng Ye’s great-grandson is Feng Bao, the husband of Lady Xian. What is the relationship between Feng Hong and Feng Ye?
In the New Book of the Tang (Xin Tang Shu), Feng Ye was recorded as Feng Hong’s son. That book, commissioned by the fourth Northern Song emperor, was presented to him in 1060. It was a revision of the Book of the Tang, commissioned by the founder of the Later Jin dynasty (936-947).
In Volume 111 of the New Book is a biography of Tang general Feng Ang. Below is an extract.
冯盎，字明达，高州良德人，本北燕冯弘裔孙。弘不能以国下魏，亡奔高丽，遣子业以三百人浮海归晋。弘已灭，业留番禺，至孙融，事梁为罗州刺史。子宝，聘越大姓洗氏女为妻，遂为首领，授本郡太守，至盎三世矣。
In the first sentence, Feng Ang is described as an astute and moral-minded person of Gaozhou and a descendant (裔孙; yi sun) of Northern Yan (北燕; Bei Yan) emperor Feng Hong.
In the second, we are told that Feng Hong, unable to capture the State of Wei (魏), fled to Gaoli (高丽) and dispatched (遣; qian) his son (子; zi) Feng Ye with three hundred people by sea to Jin.
In the next statement, we learn that Feng Hong “vanished” (died) and Feng Ye remained in Panyu (番禺) until his grandson Feng Rong assisted the Liang dynasty as Luozhou’s (罗州) prefectural governor (刺史; ci shi).
In the final statement, we are told that his son Feng Bao was betrothed to a lady from an influential family with the surname “Xian”, whose assistance made him an effective leader and who instructed him until his third generation Feng Ang.
If Feng Bao is my ancestor, that would make emperor Feng Hong as my ancestor too. A disconcerting thought flashes across my mind: my blood has been tainted with the latter’s murderous and temperamental genes!
Reiterating seventh-century Li Yanshou’s claim, Australian historian Jennifer Holmgren insisted: the imperial Fengs were not ethnic Chinese who had become barbarized through their initial service to non-Chinese kingdoms in northern China; instead, they were of Xianbei (鲜卑) origin, undergoing a gradual process of Sinicization. If she is correct, and if I am their descendant, then ethnically I am a part-Xianbei and a part-Li (through Lady Xian). Xianbeis are Mongolians living in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.
Another fleeting thought temporarily paralyses me: I might be a descendant of a murderous temperamental emperor, who is a Mongolian. Perhaps my elementary schoolmates were right after all, teasing me as “Kublai Khan”. Great Kublai and I might be kin!
Perhaps I could seek comfort in the belief that Lady Xian and her Feng grandchildren have injected some redeeming traits into my ancestral bloodline. Their loyalty to their emperors and rectitude in preventing unnecessary carnage may be inspirational to their descendants. In deference to their captive Chen emperor’s advice, they welcomed the tenacious northern Sui troops into southern China, thus saving the country from a potentially disastrous civil war. The monument in Tianya Haijiao Park is a truly fitting memorial to the Li ethnic woman who preserved Chinese unity as well as to her Feng spouse and her influential paternal Xian clan.
Anxious to romp around the rest of the park before sundown, my wife and I move on. Near the Ma Yuan statue is a slightly greyish stone that is about a metre and a half in height. It is oval in shape like an egg if viewed aerially; for its top is “rounded”, without sharp edges. Its side is indented with reliefs, painted in black, of natives engaging in activities like farming, fishing, gathering, hunting, and religious rituals. This is the sculpture of the “Sanya Man”, the ancient inhabitants whose relics, dating back some eleven thousand years, were found in the Luobidong Cave in Sanya in 1993.
Ancient inhabitants of Hainan
海南古代居民
Even older than the Sanya Man is a small main-belt asteroid discovered in 1997 by astronomer Zhu Jin and his assistants Wang Jiali, Li Xiangyang, and Ma Chun Mei, working in the National Astronomical Observatory in Hebei. This celestial object was later given the official serial number 9668 and the name “Tianya Haijiao”.
Something attracts Jo’s attention. At the Rosy Sunlight Garden, giant bushes of bougainvillea have been pruned and wired into two huge greeting elephants, two smiling whales with flapping tails, a peacock with eyes that follow us, and a long dragon with a yellow ball in its mouth. To deliver those effects, the gardeners have conscientiously not only trained the flexible branches but also trimmed off some of the mauve flowers, which are in full bloom. Thus, we encounter green elephants whose trunks, heads, and ears are covered with contrasting purple “satin cloths”, purple-speckled green whales, a green peacock with purple fan-tail, and a green dragon with purple head and tail. They are beautiful photographic backgrounds for many cheerful families.
“Elephants”
“大象”
Eager to see the Pillar of Southern Heaven, the famous outcrop on the two-yuan bill, we walk towards the shore to inspect the first sea sculpture in the famous series of rocks-cum-calligraphies. It occurs to me that eons ago the waves had so eroded this coastal strip until the more resistant granite rock formations were left standing in shallow water, or even high and dry when the tides receded. Since they assumed familiar manifestations when appreciated from vantage angles, they were given sobriquets like Love Stone, Stone Elephant, Marvellous Rock, Stone Bud, Pillar of the South Sky, Stone Tortoise, Tianya Rock (Safe Stone), Progressive Rock, and Haijiao Rock (Lucky Stone).
Fifty metres from the sandy shore at low tide is a pile of rocks on which two elongated rocks stand out because they form a “V”, just like a couple in embrace. Naturally, they are named “Love Stone”. Nine small boats, each carrying two or three persons, are circling it. Judging from the size of these boats, I estimate the visible length of each rock at about eight metres. Each has a Chinese character carved and painted in red - 月 (moon) or 日 (sun). The one in front is the Moon Rock while the one behind is the Sun Rock. This Sun-and-Moon Rock is the first rock feature clearly noticed by visitors when they present their admission ticket at the entrance gate.
The Love Rocks (爱情石) or Sun-and-Moon Rocks (日月石)
Standing on the beach, we easily recognize the five tall buildings of Phoenix Island in the distance on our left, even though they are sixteen kilometres away as the crow flies. Similarly, the milky-white Nanshan Guanyin pinpoints the location of her host park, the same distance on our right. The sand here is coarse and brown but the water is cool. As we walk along the beach, we notice the many rocks that pop their heads out of the undulating waves. Wind-surfing would be a dangerous sport here. Perched on a small solitary rock, a gentleman is fishing. It is equally perilous.
Clean and well-maintained, the coastal pathway is friendly to visitors in wheel-chairs and to those who dislike walking on loose unresisting sand. A large viewing deck has been provided for their comfort. Wednesday may be a working day; yet this section of the park is fairly crowded, with equal proportions of young and old. Even in the vicinity of the boat-hire stall – a table and chair under a large beach umbrella – are about sixty visitors, some standing knee-high in the water, some playing among the rocks, some photographing, and some walking slowly but aimlessly. Seventeen boats are beached, waiting to be hired from their lingering owners.
Many visitors to the park
许多游客到公园
Stone Elephant is nothing like its name. But the Marvellous Rock earns its stripe. It is a rock that has its bottom eroded, thus leaving it with two or three “legs”. It stands on another boulder. According to a legend, it was left there by the gods. Stone Bud is a rock that has been split into three parts of unequal heights by weathering over the centuries. It too deserves its name; for it does resemble an open flower bud. These natural sculptures are not huge; they are only about two or three metres in height. The calligraphic inscription of Zhao Puchu is smooth; the characters curve and sway as if they were dancing. The sculptors were highly skilled in their craft, working with heavy tools to insculp the subtle poetic words or lines conceived by celebrated artists.
Rocks of various sizes and shapes
各种尺寸和形状的岩石
A signboard in front of a group of large boulders relates that the inscription 海判南天 (Haipan Nantian) on the largest one is “the earliest stone inscription in Tianya-Haijiao Scenic Zone…. [and] was inscribed in 1714 during the Qing Dynasty by imperial commissioners Miao, Cao, and Tang when they made an inspection tour to Sanya….” The translation “Southern Sea and Sky” given on the board does not fully capture the poetic sense of the inscription, which is “The Sea accompanies the Southern Sky”.
We are surprised: the tide has receded, exposing the even sand around the Pillar of the South Sky. More than a hundred people are milling or posing in front of the feature immortalized in the two-yuan note. With much excitement, we move closer to lovingly pat it. About five metres tall, the egg-shaped boulder is a solitary rock and not part of a larger landmark as printed on the rare banknote. During low tides, it lies on the beach, and not far out in the deep sea. The neighbouring rocks too are separate rocks, which appear, when slightly submerged during high tide, to be parts of a huge formation. Fortunately, these grandeurs had not been carted off by ancient rock aesthetes for their private gardens.
The Pillar of the South Sky
南天一柱
When seen from the beach, a boulder in a reef of rocks does convey the outline of a tortoise emerging from the water. Thus, it is aptly dubbed “Stone Tortoise”. Nearby is the Tianya Rock, which has two red etched characters 天涯 (The End of the World). About six metres in height, it looks like a huge birthday cake. The fissures, two at least, if not more, give the illusion of a cut-birthday cake. On one face of the Tianya Rock is a poem. With minimal editing on my part, the English information on a wooden board tells us:
‘The most famous stone is the Safe Stone. It is stable and square in shape, and stands on the seashore of the South Sea. Zhuang Zi, a great philosopher of China, called the South Sea “the Heaven Pond”. Chen Zhe, an official of Yazhou County during the years of Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, inscribed the characters “Tian Ya” on a large rock at the “Heaven Pond”.
Safe Stone is also called “Tianya Stone”. Touching it will bring safety and happiness to you.’
Tianya Rock
天涯
After touching its companion Haijiao Rock, known too as Lucky Stone, we turn back. By the walkway are many interesting plants. The “Unyielding Tree” sprouts under the weight of an extremely heavy boulder, and works its way through a crevice, breaking the boulder as it strengthens. Visitors “are always moved by its spirit of strong determination”, says the sign. This unyielding “thorn tung tree” yields useful oil through its crushed seeds. From the family of Euphorbiaceae, Aluerites fordii is native to China, which is one of the major producers of “tung” oil (or China Wood Oil) used mainly for varnishing and beautifying wooden furniture. If mixed with gasoline, this oil can be used as motor fuel. Alone, it can cause gumming of the engine, the result when the Chinese used it as fuel during the Second World War.
Jiang Zemin revisited this park and planted a tree in December 2000. It was named the “Millennium Tree”. No further information is provided on its common or botanical name. We pass by a palm. Is it an Areca palm? I record its name: Archantophoenix alexandrae (F. Muell) H.Wendl.et D., which, I later learn, also belongs to the Arecaceae family. Native to Australia, Alexandra Palms are grown for ornamental purposes, attaining lofty heights of thirty metres. Their small ovoid fruits are each about a centimetre long and bright-red in colour. They are hardy palms.
A private bus is waiting at the exit for passengers heading to town; we are fortunate. The fare is 5 RMB each. It is crowded but the conductress directs me to sit on the square hump between the driver and the passenger occupying the seat to his right. Without a back rest, it is not an ideal seat; yet it offers me a good front view. Jo is sandwiched between two ladies on the same hump, facing the passengers. Along the way, the bus stops occasionally, the conductress shouting the destination. At a bus stand, two persons rush to board.
Although it is six in the evening, the town is still bright, and we decide to visit one last place before we depart from Sanya the following morning. We consult the map; the Beauty Crown Culture Center is on the No. 10 bus route. We hop onto the approaching bus. Instead of navigating by the shortest route, it goes by the longest, including crossing Sanya Bridge and then turning left into Fenghuang (Phoenix) Road.
Located at the corner of Fenghuang and Xinfeng Road on Sanya River bank, the stunning Beauty Crown Grand Theatre symbolises a huge white Mongolian tent, or a single-storey pagoda, with a crown against the darkening evening sky. In front of it is a fountain with jets of water. Brightly illuminating the white roof, the white light emitted imperceptibly from the small unobtrusive floodlights that are attached to the tips of the multi-facet sloping roof blends very well with the soft brownish-orange hues from the incandescent lights under the theatre eaves and around the courtyard.
In smart attire, some couples are entering the theatre to enjoy the “Las Vegas Grand Dance Show”, the bevy of bikini-clad dancers in various seductive poses advertised on the five huge billboards by one side of the courtyard.
Beauty Crown Grand Theatre; Miss World 2007 Zhang Zilin
美丽之冠大剧院; 世界小姐 2007 张梓琳
Given permission by the kind sentry at the barrier-gate to photograph the theatre’s external facade, we hurriedly enter the courtyard and capture the unique structure that hosts the Miss World beauty pageant five times: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2010. The organizers just could not get enough of the place. It was here that Miss China fortuitously won the Miss World title in 2007. Zhang Zilin was only twenty-three years old but her smile was sweet and sincere. She did China proud. And she deserved it. I must confess that I was totally charmed by her elegance.
Known also as Cultural Convention-and-Exhibition Centre, the theatre has a floor area of about thirteen thousand square metres, which can accommodate more than four thousand guests. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies like communication and sound system. I would like to enter Sheraton Sanya Resort, which host the beauty contestants in its five hundred and eleven suites. But time is short. Sheraton Sanya Resort is one of the many world-class international hotels in and around Sanya.
Finishing our photography, we cross the nearby bridge over the Sanya River. It is a wide river, which excites us as we survey the rows of new buildings. Sanya is a modern city, not a run-down town. On a whim, we decide to celebrate our last night in Sanya with a seafood dinner. At one of the streets, the tables are filled with patrons. We sit around an empty table after selecting a grouper from one of the tanks and some side dishes.
Two young girls in their early twenties are moving from table to table, busking. Armed with a loudspeaker on a trolley, they are enterprising. We decline their service but we enjoy freeloading, listening to their songs which are being paid for by the customers at the other tables. We enjoy our dinner; the price is reasonable. However, the aftermath is almost fatal. I always have a weak gut for lightly-cooked prawns, and the evening meal of seafood will leave me in bed during my last four days in Haikou and Hainan while Jo goes sightseeing on her own.
Copyright 2015
More photos
Rambling around my ancestral Hainan
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