
Located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, Fengdu is an ancient city with a long history, known as the "Ghost City" to most Chinese people.
It got its reputation as the "Ghost City" in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Two
officials from the imperial court: Wang Fangping and Yin Changsheng, got bored
with the political life in the court and came to Min Mountain outside the Fengdu
City to practice Taoist teachings. Both of them later became immortals by
carrying out self-cultivation. This story widely spread and makes Min Mountain
famous. 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".
According to superstitious legend“the dead come to Fengdu and the
devils go to hell". Since Tang Dynasty, forty-eight temples have been built in
this place, such as "the Hall of the Jade Emperor","the Palace of Hell", "the
Boundary between the Living and the Dead", "the Ridge of Helplessness" and“the
Balcony of Nostalgia". All of the temples there look quite magnificent while
statues are extremely lifelike.