The contradictorily named Leisure Ford (Xiaoyao jin) is well known in modern China as a famous battlefield. Although history faithful to the truth is a little hard to track down, most accounts in China now go like this:

 

In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), a general called Sun Quan, afterwards to become king of the Wu Kingdom, led a troop of 100,000 soldiers towards Hefei, with plans to take the city. The city general, a subordinate of the famous Caocao, named Zhang Liao, had but 7,000 troops under his command. Troops were fearful and restless awaiting the onslaught that was sure to result in the sacking of the city. So Zhang thought he would try to even up the odds.

 

Taking almost all of his troops, Zhang initiated a night blitz upon the unprepared Sun barracks and the bloody battle that ensued was to eventually result in the rout of Sun's unprepared army. Sun is said to have escaped death by leaping the canal that ran beside the battle field.

 

Nowadays the area has lost much of its charm. It was turned into a park this century, and now covers a total of 31.3 hectares. The park is an uninspiring thing that is probably only of interest to Chinese history lovers, botanists and sadistic zoologists. The zoo in the southeastern corner of the park is typical of China's zoos, with small cages and poor facilities. The western corner has bonsai, rare Chinese plants, rockeries as well as mock versions of traditional Chinese architecture. There are also three islets on the lake, that between them hold a cenotaph of general Zhang Liao, a statue of him seated upon his horse and a bridge that is said to be the spot that Sun Quan leapt to freedom.

 

 

Baohe Park (Baohe gongyuan) is one of a ring of parks that circle the old city walls of Hefei. This park is the southeast section of the ring, while the others, in clockwise order, include the Xinghua Park (Xinghua gongyuan), Hei Pond (Heichi) and the Leisure Ford Park (Xiaoyaojin gongyuan). Baohe itself is mostly lake, although there is a memorial temple, several small tombs, a number of pretty arched bridges, a small conifer wood and a profusion of willow trees that drape their boughs over the water.

 

The park is named after a famous Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD) official, Bao Zheng, whose name is now a synonym for incorruptibility and rectitude. Bao worked as a judge and was the final say in all important rulings in Kaifeng, including executions. In the middle of the park's Lord Bao Memorial Temple is a statue of this powerful and wise administrator, behind which stands the tools of his highest authority, three fixed hay cutters (Zhadao). Each cutter is marked differently, one dragon headed, one tiger headed and one dog headed, meant as indicators of the condemned man's social ranking. The statue's face is painted black, a colour that in opera tradition is the symbol of honesty. This idea is backed up by the Bao family motto, that adorns the hall, and preaches "familial piety" (Jia xun) to all who see it.

 

There are a few other sights of interest. The hexagonal pavilion, to the east of the Lord Bao Memorial Temple, contains a well that legend states is a measure of moral status. It is said that when corrupt officials drink the well water their heads will split. Also of interest are the garden houses, in typical Anhui architectural style, that Bao and his progeny used to live in, hidden away in the conifer forest and ideal for relaxation and study.

 

 

Mingjiao Temple (Mingjiao si), built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), is one of China's state-protected Buddhist complexes. The present day temple has a sixteenth century architectural look, after the renovations that took place then, despite the fact that the temple was partially destroyed by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and restored in 1991. The temple is known for a number of reasons, including the fact that on the frequent windy days here, the bells in the eaves peal, and that the halls here house over 30 Buddhist statues. Visitors here would do well to try out the vegetarian restaurant that sits beside the temple.

 

The site is also alleged as the platform that Caocao, famously devious warlord and later king of the Wei Kingdom (220-265 AD), was to drill his troops before the battles against Sun Quan's Wu Kingdom (222-280 AD) army. Caocao is known for many feats, but nowadays he is most famous as a major character in the book "The Three Kingdoms", and for being the protagonist in the Chinese version of "Speak of the Devil" (Shuo caocao, caocao jiu dao).

 

Anhui Provincial Museum

 

The Anhui Provincial Museum (Anhui sheng bowuguan), built in 1956, is the largest and most comprehensive museum in the province. The 9000-square-meters of space here houses over 100,000 exhibits, many fossils or historical relics that date back over 2,000 years. The museum has no English, however, and so is really only good either for those into their Chinese history or Chinese readers.

 

A lot of the exhibits are related to the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD), a time immortalized by the book of the same name, although exhibits mainly concentrate upon the Cao family, most famously headed by the warlord and king of the Wei Kingdom, Caocao. Calligraphists will be pleased with the mostly Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) exhibition pieces of the Four Treasures of Chinese Calligraphy (Wenfang sibao, see shopping overview for details). The last hall in the complex also contains some examples of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) Huizhou architecture.