Goodmorning,deartouristfriends!Youlookruddyandenergetic,butIhadagooddreamlastnight.I'mgladtomeetyouontimeonthissunnyweekend.I'm__,today'stourguide,andthisismasterx,today'ssecurityenvoy.TodaywewillleadyouintoBaihelianginFuling.
BaiheliangisanaturalstonebeaminthenorthofFulingCity,Chongqingmunicipalitydirectlyunderthecentralgovernment,whichislocatedintheupperreachesoftheYangtzeRiver.Itis1600mlongand15mwide.ItisnamedBaiheliangbecauseithasbeenvisitedbyBaiheliangformanyyears.ItisalsosaidthattheoriginofthisnameisrelatedtoamannamedErZhuTongwei.ItissaidthatintheNorthernWeiDynasty,erZhuTongweididnotwanttomergewithERZhuRong,theelderbrotherofthefamilywhousurpedthethrone.HeabandonedhisfamilytolearnTaoismandbecameaTaoist.Erzhualchemymarket,toHezhou(today'sHechuan),thepriceisproudofTaishou.ThegovernorwasangryandthrewErZhuintotheriver.Thebamboocagedoesnotsink,butitgoesdowntheriver.AtShiliang,wherewhitecranesgatherinFuzhou,afishermanfromBaishiraiseshisnetandgetsit.ErZhuwassleepingsoundly,andthefishermandidnotanswerforalongtime.Thefishermenstillsetuptheirnetsinlightboats,andErzhucontinuedtopracticethetruthandalchemy;intheevening,theybenttheirkneestotalkrelatively,andintheevening,whentheyweretired,theyreachedtherivertodream.Thebambooflute,thefishingsongandthebronzechimehavetheirowninterests.Oneday,erZhutookDananddrankwithBaishifisherman.Aftergettingdrunk,hetookthewhitecranetobecomeanimmortal.Baihelianggotitsnamefromthis.
Mostofthetime,Baiheliangisprecipitatedintheriverwater.OnlywhentheYangtzeRiverentersthedryseasonattheturnofwinterandspring,canourBaiheliangcometolight.However,thetimeofleavingthewaterisusuallyonly20days,sometimesjustafewdays.ThereasonwhyBaiheliangiscalledawonderisthatithasimportantscientificandculturalvalue.Uptonow,manystonecarvingsofpastdynastiesarestillpreserved,includingtheauthenticworksofgreatcalligraphersandgreatwritersofpastdynasties.Therefore,Baihelianghasthereputationof"forestofunderwatersteles".Amongthesestonecarvings,themostfamousarethefishseenintheTangDynastyandthedoublecarpintheQingDynasty.
Afterthefoundingofthepeople'sRepublicofChina,scholarsandhydrologicscientistsstudyingculturalrelicsvisitedhere.TheyfoundthatthewaterlevelofthestonefisheyeinBaiheliangisbasicallyconsistentwiththelocalwaterlevelzeropositionrecordedbythewaterwaydepartment.Thisisasurprisingdiscovery,whichmeansthatourancestorshadanaccuraterecordofthechangeofthewaterleveloftheYangtzeRiverasearlyas1200yearsago.Therefore,Baiheliangisalsoknownas"theworld'sfirstancienthydrologicalstation".
TheancientsnotonlyrecordedthechangeofthewaterleveloftheYangtzeRiverinthisuniqueway,butalsofoundtheinfluenceofthechangeofthewaterleveloftheYangtzeRiveronagriculturalproduction.TheyobservedthatwheneverthewaterleveloftheYangtzeRiverfallsbelowthestonefishinthedryseason,thenextyearisoftenagoodharvestyearwithgoodweather.Therefore,ithasbeensaidsinceancienttimesthatthewaterlevelofthestonefishisagoodharvestyear.
TheconstructionoftheThreeGorgesprojecthasrealizedtheMillenniumdreamoftheChinesepeople.However,afterthecompletionoftheThreeGorgeswaterconservancyproject,theinscriptiononBaiheliang,whichhasbeenaccompaniedbyFulingpeopleformorethan1000years,willalwayssleep40metersunderwater.Howtoprotectthis"nationaltreasure"hasbecomeanimportanttestfortheprotectionofculturalrelicsoftheThreeGorgesProject.Afterthescientificresearchofnumerousexpertsandscholars,thethickestadoptedtheideaofbuildingcaissonMuseumontheoriginalsite.Becausethisnotonlyprotectsculturalrelics,butalsoformsatouristattraction,andincreasesthepossibilityofapplyingforworldculturalheritage.Fromtheofficialcommencementin2003totheimpoundmentoftheThreeGorgesDamto156metersinSeptember2006,theoriginaltwo-yearunderwaterconstructionperiodhasbeencompressedintooneyear,duringwhichalongshutdownperiodofmorethantwoyearshaspassed.OnMay18,2009,thecompletionceremonyofBaiheliangunderwatermuseumwasheld.Thewholeprotectionprojectiscomposedof"underwaterMuseum","connectingtrafficcorridor","underwateranti-collisionpier"and"onshoreexhibitionhall".
Later,whenyoucometoBaiheliang,youcanvisitthesestonecarvingsinthreeways:oneistowatchthemthroughtheglasswindowofthecorridor,theotheristowatchthemthroughtheoperatingcamera,andthethirdisthatthosewhoaremoreinterestedindivingcanweardivingsuitstohaveaclosecontactwithourstonecarvings.
Well,dearfriends,ourscenicspotiscoming,pleasegetreadytogetoffthebus,takegoodcareofyourvaluables,payattentiontosafety,thankyou!