ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT CHINA DAILY CHINAWATCH T R A VE L Stopping to visit Confucius It is worth hopping off the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway to see the Great Sage’s hometown, and the trip back in time should be remembered with a literary souvenir, Pauline D Loh reports. n weekends, the Confucius Temple and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu are packed with swarms of tourists in never-ending processions. Everywhere, the din from guides speaking through megaphones and the cacophony of chatter is ear-splitting. I can imagine Confucius holding his head in pain. On a July weekend after the opening of the high-speed railway linking Beijing and OShanghai, the city in Shandong province was experiencing a big increase in visitors. All the budget hotels were booked, and we family. Our guide was his great-grandson of ended up staying in the best suite of a three- the 72nd generation. The master craftsman star hotel — the only room available if we who carved our Nishan rock seals was also a wanted to remain within the city limits. 72nd generation great-grandson. Its three-star ranking was, however, In Qufu, nearly 60 percent of the population debatable. But fortunately for this UNESCO- has the surname Kong, after their Great Sage listed World Cultural Heritage city, the scenario Ancestor, Confucius. is changing. Zhang Xinjie, vice-director of the Nowhere is that more apparent than in Qufu City Council publicity department, said the sprawling Confucius family mausoleum, international hotel chains had moved in as where generations of Kongs are buried. Even soon as Qufu was confirmed as one of the now, the various branches of the family tree stops along the high-speed railway route. still command their individual burial plots, The Shangri-La group is building a hotel, and simple headstones among tombs are while another five-star establishment from eroded by age. Exposure to the elements Hong Kong has one on the drawing board. distinguishes the old and new. Also planned is a 5,000-room budget hostel A walk through the cemetery can reveal a lot to cater to group tours. about the family, but the slightly voyeuristic The city has plenty to attract visitors. view may make a visitor uncomfortable. Apart from the three main attractions — the The Sage’s legacy lives on in the tourist Confucius Mausoleum, his temple and the attractions, a profusion of restaurants Kong Family Mansion — Qufu is home to a host offering Confucian family cuisine, a huge of historical celebrities, including China’s first liquor factory bearing the family name deified king, Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor), and countless descendants in Shandong and his son, Shao Hao. province, throughout China and in another Shen Nong, the legendary farmer’s god and 118 countries, according to Qufu City Council the first herbologist, reputedly started his publicity department. agricultural experiments here. It was the discovery of a seal-making shop WEI FENG / foR CHINA Daily Guan Yu, the famed warrior of the Three just outside the mausoleum entrance that Confucius is still remembered in rituals and ceremonies performed in the Confucian Forest in Qufu, Shandong province. Kingdoms (AD 220-280), was believed to be made my day. entombed here as well — or at least his head Inside the rather dark shop, a small treasure was given full burial honors by Cao Cao, his trove of little rocks and chops wait to be carved say Confucius was born. As legend has it, his rock, you can choose the script used to carve it suited the rather archaic characters. sworn enemy. into personal seals, the mark of a Chinese mother went into labor while on the way home your name. If in doubt, consult the experts. In the end, we bought seals for the whole For history buffs, going to Qufu is like taking scholar. We admired a selection of brown and gave birth in a cave by the hillside. The place Our seal-master was Kong Xianhai, an family, fitting souvenirs from the home of a walk through thousands of years to the Nishan rock seals, all with darker markings that has become a tourist attraction, of course, and award-winning craftsman with a calligraphic the Sage. Expatriates can also ask for help in beginning of China’s recorded history. suggested shapes of pine trees and mountains. the site of a Confucian studies center. style that would do his ancestor proud. He translating names, and here at least, they can We soon became friends of the Sage’s Nishan (Mud Mountain) is where people After you have chosen your piece of Nishan chose a running script for my name, and said be assured of a classical interpretation. winespecial View to Growing renown a thrill for Changyu wines By ERIK NILSSON By ERIC JOU His goal is not to just enhance the reputation of Changyu, but to drive To learn more about Confucius and — climb The author Robert Louis Stevenson once awareness and consumption of wine in one of the world’s greatest mountains to boot said that “wine is bottled poetry”— verse general in China. — head to Shandong province. that is beginning to transcend languages and “You can’t stop baijiu Chinese liquor — Separated from Beijing by a small slice cultures for Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. it’s the national drink,” he says. of Hebei province to the south, Shandong Founded in 1892 by Qing Dynasty (1644- “But you can change the ratio of the drinks offers a week’s worth of wonderment that is 1911) diplomat Zhang Bishi near the tip consumed,” says Coughlan. “Our philosophy refreshingly different from the Chinese capital. of eastern China’s Shandong Peninsula, is to get people to drink more red wine. It Majestic mountains and splashing springs Changyu’s appellations have since traveled doesn’t matter which brand, and when they make the provincial capital, Jinan, a common the globe to grace the glasses of diplomats, start drinking red wine, give them Changyu.” launching pad for excursions throughout heads of state and business leaders. The hilly, sandy land in company’s home Shandong. Zhang Qihang, the winery’s outreach city Yantai has proven over the past century LI MING / foR CHINA Daily The urban sprawl of the city of 1.9 million director, said Changyu is now growing to produce top-quality grapes. An archway on Mount Taishan marks an important place in the story of Confucius. Upon reaching packs the cracks among Mount Taishan’s exponentially and through strict care Changyu employs about 800 local villagers the spot and taking in the view, the Sage said: “The world is small!” foothills, creating a cityscape in which craggy producing increasingly fine wines. to tend its 156-hectare vineyard, among peaks compete with shiny high-rises for “Changyu’s grapes are of the highest them Lei Cheng, who has been working at lordship over the skyline. of Buddhas populate this 258-meter peak. as a peak for Buddhism and as a Taoist god. quality and we adhere to very strict self- the site for more than three years Here are five highlights: Some 23,000 stone-carved Buddhas, Those hoping for a journey of historical imposed regulations in our efforts to grow A farmer most of his life, Lei says the land bodhisattvas, disciples and guardian kings proportions should follow the Imperial Route the best,” said Zhang. in Yantai is ideal for growing grapes. Qufu lurk in Wanfo Cave — Qianfoshan’s biggest up the mountainside. Here, more than 6,000 Australian Sommelier Christopher “We gather about 1,000 tons of grapes As the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, burrow — alone. The southernmost cliff face steps snake up China’s greatest topographic Coughlan began working at Changyu in 1997. each harvest,” said Lei. “When we have drier Qufu’s main claim to fame is having shaped is bearded with 130 carved Buddhas and treasure. Carved calligraphy serves as Now responsible for wine education, weather we grow some of the best because two sages of the ages. pocked with the openings of the Longquan, testimonial to past cameos by China’s most Coughlan said that over the course of his the lower water content means more sugar Today, the tiny town of Qufu is essentially a Jile, Qianlou and Luzhu caves. acclaimed literati and rulers. time in China he has seen Changyu grow in the smaller, but sweeter grapes — perfect Confucius museum where visitors can see the Visitors can ride a cable car most of the way Those seeking something a bit more both as a company as a winemaker. for making wine.” house he was raised, the graveyard where he up the mountainside and return to base on a off the beaten path can slug up the wilder “When I was young, Australians didn’t Both Zhang and Lei say the 2010 harvest was buried and the temple built to honor him. sled, rocketing along an 87-meter metal half- Western Route. However, they’ll come across drink wine — Australians were beer and rum was perhaps the best in recent memory, and The Confucius Temple houses several pipe winding down the mountainside. Spring few historically significant spots, aside from drinkers, but probably in the last 25 years it believe that this year’s harvest in late October pagoda-covered inscriptions, the only seekers have long looked to the city as an oasis the Longevity Bridge, which spans a small has really taken off,” said Coughlan. “It’s now will yield similar if not better results due to dragon-carved columns found outside of in the semiarid province. waterfall feeding the Black Dragon Pool.