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Quyuan Temple

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Located on the Phoenix Mountain (Fenghuang Mountain) and facing the Three Gorges Dam, Quyuan Temple (Qu Yuan’s Hometown Scenic Area) was built in remembrance of Qu Yuan, the great poet of the Warring States Period (476BC - 221 BC). 

Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese patriotic and romantic lived in the Chu State during the Warring States Period. In his lifetime (339 – 278 BC), he wrote 25 pieces of Fu. Fu is a classical Chinese literature form in which essays are written in the rhyming verse. Qu Yuan was also an excellent politician. He believed that the Chu Kingdom should ally with the Qi Kingdom and fight against the Qin Kingdom, but the king of Chu, Chu Huaiwang, did not take his advice and allied with the Qin Kingdom. The Chu Kingdom was finally defeated and occupied by the Qin armies. Disappointed and desperate, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River, Hunan. Upon hearing of his death, the people searched the river on small boats to try and find his body. When nothing was discovered, they started to feed the fish with glutinous rice balls (later called Zongzi, pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in a bamboo or reed leaves) so that the fish would not eat Qu’s body. From then on, people started to commemorate Qu Yuan by celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival annually on May 5th of the lunar calendar. 

Quyuan Temple was first built 5 km (3.1 miles) east of Guizhou, Zigui during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). The first temple was destroyed and a new one was constructed in the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279). During the following Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, the temple was renovated many times. In 1982, Quyuan Temple was moved to Xiangjiaping, 3 km (1.9 miles) east of Guizou, Zigui due to the construction of Gezhouba Water Control Project. In 2010, the temple was moved for the third time to the Phoenix Mountain because the rising water would have submerged it after the Three Gorges Dam was completed. 

Located on the Phoenix Mountain, 600 meters (656 yards) from the Three Gorges Dam, Quyuan Temple, together with Quyuan Cultural Center, Three Gorges Ancient Residence Houses and the riverside landscape belt, constitute Qu Yuan’s Hometown Scenic Area. The new temple covers an area of 30 Mu (4.9 acres) and consists of a gate, wing-rooms, a corridor of stone tablets, a front hall, a Music and Dance Building (Yuewu Building), a main hall, Xiang Hall, and Qu Yuan’s tomb. The new temple, mainly built of red pillars, white walls, and grey hanging roofs, respects the style of the old one in terms of construction, decoration, and colors.

 Travel Tips of Quyuan Temple: 

 Entrance Fee: CNY 90 (for Qu Yuan’s Hometown Scenic Area - ticket for the temple included)
 Opening Hours: 08:00 - 16:30
 Transportation: 
1. Visitors on a Yangtze Cruise tour can take a bus to the Phoenix Mountain when their cruise ship stops at Zigui.
2. Take a bus from Yichang to Zigui County and then transfer to the Xiangjiaping bus.

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