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Fengdu "Ghost City"

Fengdu is located on the northern bank of the Yangtze, 176 kilometers downstream from Chongqing. Known as the "Ghost City, Fengdu is a very popular shore excursion site for tourists on the Yangtze River.

Fengdu received its reputation as the "Ghost City" in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Two officials from the imperial court--Wang Fang Ping and Ying Chang Sheng were bored with political life in the court and came to Mt. Minshan outside Fengdu city to practice Taoist teachings. Both of them later became immortals by carrying out self-cultivation. When combined together, their surnames Yin and Wang sound very much like "King of Hell" in Chinese. Hence the people began to call Fengdu the "Ghost City".

To Chinese people, the social structure is hell is exactly like that in the real world. In hell, a spirit goes through the whole bureaucracy to be finally judged. Those pure of spirit will be rewarded and those sinful of spirit will be subjected to severe punishments.

Different punishment would be given to different kinds of sins. The temples built on Mt. Minshan display punishing instruments and wild demon images, which vividly depict the Chinese people's imagination of Hell.

Landmarks on the hill bear horrible names--Ghost Torturing Pass, Tower of Last Glance to Home, No Way Out Bridge, and River of Blood.