Indulging one’s inner Marco Polo

[Photo by Khalid Sharif/For chinadaily.com.cn]

After spending about an hour at the waterfall, we moved to our next destination in the city of Linfen.

Local government officials escorted us to a relics site, where we saw the world’s oldest-known observatory that dates back more than 4,000 years in Xiangfen county. The site, which covers an area of 3 million square meters, is believed to be a settlement for five legendary rulers from 2,600 BC to 2,000 BC.

Archaeologists inferred that 13 stone pillars, each at least four meters high, stood on the original site, forming 12 gaps between them. Local staff explained to us how the people of the time observed the sunrise through the gaps to distinguish the different seasons of the year.

After this visit, we had dinner and a boat trip through Fen River Park. The night views along the lighted river were beautiful. On our fourth day, we started our journey to Yuncheng where we visited the Guandi Temple in Xiezhou, 20 km west of the city. There are many Guandi temples both in China and overseas, but the temple in Xiezhou is the finest and most famous.