Fuddland
An hour’s bus ride out of (苏州) is the small historic water town of (甪直). Just over a square kilometre in size, and dating back 1,400 years, it’s famed for its surviving small bridges and a Buddhist temple containing treasured sculptures of arhats — the term for those who have attained enlightenment.
A single ¥60 ticket gains you entry to eight local sites of interest — as well as the temple there are a few museums displaying farming tools and detailing the lives of some of the town’s famous inhabitants, as well as some historic houses — all within walking distance of each other, and it makes for a nice little daytrip. is rather less touristy than (同里), but then it is also less well maintained — although that didn’t seem to bother the good few local artists from setting up their easels along the canalsides.
One of the more interesting sights was housed within the Buddhist temple: three thousand-year-old ginkgo trees, which I have since learnt is a species of tree with no close living relatives — an example of a living fossil [think crocodiles, horseshoe crabs and coelacanths]. But I was most intrigued by this sign off to one side in the arhat room:
Anyone got any theories as to the meaning of “119”?
Update: Disappointingly, it appears that 119 is the emergency number for the fire service. I was hoping for some kind of mystical significance, but I suppose this is still quite useful information that I really should have known before now. And what kind of sign is that anyway? Surely, “In case of fire, dial 119” would be a little more effective than a cute but cryptic couplet?
Comments
felicity | 2007 / 04 / 10 – 05:42
in the story book “a boy wants a dinosaur” the grandfather takes the boy to the dinosaur pet shop on ginkgo street….. never thought too hard about ginkgo until just now!
mrtn | 2007 / 04 / 10 – 22:07
re 119:
also:
police 110;
(deliciously vague) rescue 120;
traffic accident 122according to the great god wiki…
David | 2007 / 04 / 12 – 15:13
Re #2: I knew 110 was for emergencies, but had been assuming it was for all emergent situations — now I’m supposed to decide what kind of crisis I’m facing and dial the appropriate number! And what exactly do I do when I witness someone setting fire to a burglar?
Kav | 2007 / 04 / 13 – 02:04
Hmmm,
Nobody can live without 119This sounds vaguely sinister.
It’s almost as if one day you are walking down the street when someone official comes up to you and demands ‘What is the number?!’
If you fail to say ‘119’ then, well, nobody can live without 119…
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