Anyang Has a Wide Range of Tourist Opportunities

In August 2012, I was back in Anyang and was the guest of the government and local business to visit some of the tourist sites in Anyang that I hadn’t had time for on my first visit to Anyang.  One thing that stuck me is that Anyang with appropriate promotion by City, Province and Central government tourism authorities and by private business still has much potential for growth. During this trip, our first visit was to Youli which has been restored but the original temple area dates from the Longshan to the Western Zhou periods.  This is the place where “the Western Duke (Ji Chang) deduced the the 64 hexagrams, and wrote the Chinese classic "Yi-Ching (the book of changes)". The Duke(Ji Chang) was the leader of the Zhou Clan at the end of the Shang Dynasty and according to history was known for his benevolence, Ji Chang spent many years in study and writing the final classic work.  Thus, Youli is the birthplace of the "Yi-Ching", which is known as one of the key parts of Chinese culture. Originally there were no walls nor so grand a building.  In fact, although Ji Chang is talked about as being “jailed or imprisoned” here in actual fact it is said that the King just had a line drawn around the area and had Ji Chang instucted that he could not pass outside the lines made in the dirt or dust.  Later generations built the temple of King Wen in memory of this great man, which has become the sacred place for people to pay respects to the late sage King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty. This place was declared as a National Important Protective Unit of Historical Relics by the State Council in 1996.  Later we visited a temple to Yue Fei (not pictured here) (March 24, 1103 – January 27, 1142). who is sometimes referred to as Pengju, and was a military general during the Southern Song Dynasty.  His ancestaral home is in Anyang.  Yue Fei is best known for leading the defense of the Southern Song against the Jurchen-ruled Jin Dynasty in Northern China.  Although Yue Fei was later recognized as a hero and a great patriot, his own government ordered his  death.  Later he was granted the posthumous name of Wumu by Emperor Xiaozong in 1169 and then the title of the Prince of E by Emperor Ningzong in 1211. Today Yue Fei is seen as a patriot and national hero in China, since after his death, Yue Fei has become a mythic symbol of loyalty in Chinese culture.  Many books and movies have been made about his way of battle/military development and strategy and their are countless stories of his epic achievements in many fields.  This hero is another reason to visit Anyang which is trully a cultural gem which to-date many too few foreign visitors tour and come to appreciate. Related Articles: Anyang: A Cultural Gem for Tourists to Visit China Increasing Focus on Green Energy Anyang Green Industrial Park About the Author:   Christopher W. Runckel, a former senior US diplomat who served in many counties in Asia, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark Law School. He served as Deputy General Counsel of President Gerald Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board. Mr. Runckel is the principal and founder of Runckel & Associates, a Portland, Oregon based consulting company that assists businesses expand business opportunities in Asia. (www.business-in-asia.com) Until April of 1999, Mr. Runckel was Minister-Counselor of the US Embassy in Beijing, China. Mr. Runckel lived and worked in Thailand for over six years. He was the first permanently assigned U.S. diplomat to return to Vietnam after the Vietnam War. In 1997, he was awarded the U.S. Department of States highest award for service, the Distinguished Honor Award, for his contribution to improving U.S.-Vietnam relations. Follow us on Twitter: @InsightNewsAsia Back to Homepage