Fengdu Ghost City is about 110 mile (170 kilometers) downstream from Chongqing Municipality on the north bank of the Yangtze River in the People’s Republic of China. Fengu Ghost City is a tourist attraction featured along a Yangtze cruise. Fengdu Ghost City is a place to learn about Chinese ghost culture, the afterlife, and to see what the Chinese would call a “model of hell.” Fengdu became known as Ghost City in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when two Imperial court officials married and settled on Ming Mountain to practice Taoist teachings. The couples’ surnames combined, Yin and Wang, sounded like “King of Hell” in Chinese. They supposedly became immortals. Thus was born Fengdu City of Ghosts – the hell theme and ghosts culture stuck. This photo is of cool Ghost City architecture and a freaky scene on the roof. Photo #1 by Tennessee Wanderer
During the Tang Dynasty, a temple was erected on Ming Mountain that depicted life in hell. It displayed demonic images and torture devices, reflecting the idea that good people will be treated well in the afterlife and that bad people will be punished by going to hell. Notice that this photo is of the same temple in Fengdu Ghost City as the first picture, but this is a close-up of details on the roof. Google Translator seemed to fail many times, saying the title of this photo is, “Fengdu ghost town – Samsung hundred children in the house roof.” Photo #2 by DDTai
Fengdu Ghost City is lined with bizarre statues which lead up to “hell.” I’d be willing to guess that Google Translate didn’t do this statue justice — “Man eating a ghost.” That’s not what it looks like to me. A better translation might be Ghost Girl? Photo #3 by Gisling
A little research in the Chinese vision of the afterlife showed that ghosts of the dead must undergo three major tests to enter the “netherworld.” These tests have been turned into three of the many attractions in Ghost City. These attraction locations are called – Nothing-To-Be-Done-Bridge, Ghost Torturing Pass, and the Tianzi Son of Heaven Palace. The photographer titled this, “Fengdu ghost town – Bai Wuchang solely on ‘Towards Xiao then good’ There are so warm and cap ‘you come’.” More WTF at Fengdu. Photo #4 by DDTai
Taken during a cruise to Fengdu Ghost City. Up on the hill, in a foggy setting perfect for ghosts, is the massive Devil Hotel. I’m not sure if that is a “pet name,” but officially the giant face is called The Ghost King. It holds a Guinness World Record title as the biggest sculpture ever carved on rock. It stands 138 meters (415 feet) tall and about 217 meters (711 feet) wide, so that The Ghost King can be seen from all around the city. Photo #5 by Britrob
Demon for bad boys at Fengdu Ghost City. The photographer wrote, “In the ghost city of Fengdu, they have devil statues for different vices. This one is what happens to boys who don’t behave themselves.” WTF China? What kind of ancient ghosts and devils do you have to represent what happens after “bad” people die? Photo #6 by Matt Ryall
This is Modoribashi at Fengdu Ghost City. Modoribashi means the Bridge to Hell. An attraction called “Nothing-To-Be-Done-Bridge” connects the real world with the nether world. It’s a testing point for good and evil. According to legend, the bridge has three identical stone arches. The middle arch is where people are tested, but there are many different protocols for crossing the bridge – all depending on age, gender, and marital status. Under the Nothing-To-Be-Done-Bridge are square-shaped pools of water. Virtuous people pass over the bridge without problems, but evil people will supposedly fall into the pools below. When visitors are about to leave, they are encouraged to pass the other two arches called the golden and silver bridges. According to local superstition, this will bring people good fortune. Photo #7 by Gisling
At Fengdu Ghost City – Chinese Realm of the Dead. Another attraction is “The Ghost Torturing Pass.” It is the second test before entry into the nether world and it’s said that it is the place where the dead report to the Yama, the King of Hell, for judgment. In front of The Ghost Torturing Pass structure, there are 18 different scary sculptures of ferocious demons. Notice the heavy coat of dust? Kinda surprised that the person in charge of knocking off the layer of scum isn’t afraid of going to Chinese hell. Photo #8 by Maximovich Nikolay
Fengdu ghost town – the house of stone steps into the Son of Heaven. There are black and white impermanence folklore messenger of good and evil in the Soul. This is a pretty freaky place. Photo #9 by DDTai
Hell and its bureaucrats at Fengdu Ghost City. Why are there bureaucrats in Chinese hell? Because to the Chinese, the social structure in the hell will be exactly like it is in this world. In hell, a spirit would go through an entire bureaucracy to get the final sentence. Pure spirits would be rewarded and the sinful ones would be severely tortured. Different tortures would be given for different sins. This Ghost City amusement park, which was once real temples, display instruments of torture and a wide range of demons to “vividly depict the Chinese people’s imagination of Hell.” Photo #10 by Chiva Congelado
Fengdu Ghost City – “The City of Ghosts” . . . a cheesy, tacky weirdness all about hell and full of “terrifying” dusty demons to dole out punishment to the wicked. Photo #11 by Rafael (Rafa http://www.micamara.es)
Welcome to hell at Fengdu Ghost City. There are many statues of ghosts and of devils in the temples which describe the after-life where people who disobey ancient Chinese morals are punished in every horrifying ways. Photo #12 by Chiva Congelado
The photographer wrote and Google translated this pic to say, “Fengdu ghost town – although the eighth layer of hell judge the role of criminal law is punishing the evil is not the same place.” Just more WTF kind of bizarro hell trip amusement park is this, China? Photo #13 by DDTai
Again, we are in “hell.” The photographer tagged this photo, according to Google Translate, with: “Fengdu ghost town – West Hell Siege peeling pestle pound iron pan weighing said cut sawing eye make up by cutting the heart and the magic potion kneel.” Indeed the language barrier and translations only add to the WTF freakishness. Photo #14 by DDTai
Google translated this pic to say, “Fengdu ghost town – famous eighteen layers of hell what the hell sub-display approach in handling a wide range What goes around comes around.” Photo #15 by DDTai
“Punishment and reincarnation.” Photo #16 by Chiva Congelado
WTF China – Hell at Fengdu Ghost City. Photo #17 by Chiva Congelado
This is the “Ghost of Lust.” Photo #18 by Gisling
Big Demon Ghost – Fengdu – Another of the Big Ghosts guarding the steps leading up to the Pass to Hell. Photo #19 by Terry Feuerborn
Fengdu – Drunkard – Ghosts lining the way to hell. Photo #20 by Gisling
Fengdu Ghost City Wuyun Tower. This pagoda is at the top of Mt. Mingshan. It is visible from the Yangtze River. Photo #21 by Terry Feuerborn
China – Ghost City of Fengdu is a very disturbing place. This is another ghostly statue leading to hell. Photo #22 by Rafael (Rafa http://www.micamara.es)
Fengdu Ghost Town – Emperor Temple is a ghost town in the heart of the oldest part of the construction area. This temple is the largest and best preserved. Photo #23 by Rafael (Rafa http://www.micamara.es)
Fengdu The City of Ghosts China. Photo #24 by Rafael (Rafa http://www.micamara.es)
Yasha ghost. Photo #25 by Gisling
Had enough of the bizarreness? You can escape the amusement park by riding over Fengdu Ghost City Photo #26 by Gisling
Not too sure what this means, but the photographer wrote (with the “help” of Google translate) Fengdu ghost town – “one of Taoism 72 fairyland.” Photo #27 by DDTai
Rope bridge in the old Chinese ghost town Fengdu. Photo #28 by !eberhard
Fengdu – The Chinese Realm of the Dead. Is that really the devil’s hotel on hill? Is this a family attraction? Unlike a visit to Disney World, where kids will have happy dreams, taking kids to Fengdu Ghost City – full of demons and ghosts and hell – might cause nightmares? Photo #29 by Maximovich Nikolay
Fengdu City of Ghosts “town square.” Photo #30 by DDTai
At Ghost City Fengdu. Photo #31 by Rafael (Rafa http://www.micamara.es)
Fengdu Ghost City Pagoda. Photo #32 by Gisling
Freaky China Torturer at Fengdu City of Ghosts. Photo #33 by Wilson Loo
Fengdu Ghost City, a one-of-a-kind bizarre and freaky attraction full of ghosts, demons, and depictions of hell. Quite the family fun amusement park. WTF China? Photo #34 by Andrew Horne
What is the deal with that statue of a deer sucking a woman’s breast?
The character 蔓 in the middle (the second one) is pronounced like “man”, which means either “spreading” or “turnip” (depending on the accent). The first character 食 (shi) means both to eat (verb) and food (noun), depending on the context, and the third character 鬼 (gui) means ghost. In this case, the first and second characters form the adjective to describe what the ghost eats.
The Chinese language has a lot of flexibility with characters, where one word can be a noun, an adjective, or a verb (or sometimes just a stand-in), but this could also be a hindrance to machine translations, especially if one of the characters doesn’t get recognized (which I have a feeling is what happened there), so it became “Man eating a ghost.”
The name of the “Ghost Girl” is basically turnip-eating ghost. I’m not sure why there’s a deer sucking on her breast, though, or how turnips fit into this.
The ghost girl, from what I’ve read, is a wreath or flower eater. She stole, in life, wreath/flowers from the Buddha statues and in death cannot eat food (either if people leave food for her or if she reaches a peice of food?) but only wreaths and flowers.
Awesome stuff. Creepy and downright horrible. Good job documenting this for us who will never get to see this in person.
I’m more bothered by the repeated use of “WTF” here than the whole ghost town itself. Anyway, it’s not exactly tourist-friendly nor pretty, but it’s a really interesting aspect of their culture.
Very interesting. Thanks for giving us the chance to know about this historical city and culture.
i agree that the most bothering are repete “wtf”..seems like the author never seen those kinds of things, maybe need travel more arround the world!
it’s normal for Chinese culture, and mostly the Japanese ghost is originally inspired by Chinese religion and ghost history also.
bty ,thanks for sharing..
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If you’d like to provide bloggers with travel money, I’ll send you my details. 😉
Funny, how warped, inflexible, totally propagandized, capitalist owned and operated, American minds interpret other cultures against their own, with their blinkered eyes, chained souls, broken dreams, wounded spirits. Oldsmobiles! They will come back! Diesel/Electric hybrids, front wheel drives! Carbon fiber bodies, Ultra light, super fast, astoundingly economical, CV transmissions, Engineered by Americans! Built in Detroit! By GM(America)! They will triumphantly beat out all Asian makes models! Sell for less! Never rust! Never wear out! Believe this? Don’t judge other cultures until you really really understand that even, outside your own conscious awareness, reside many other paradigms, none similar to your Corporate devotion, farmer written, Constitution ruled, notions, indoctrinations, psycho-consumerism, Flag-waving, pride exploiting, WWII victor fueled, nonsense notions, propaganda’s. American Barbie Dolls – fashioned after Eve Braun’s body, in Herr Hitlers’ mind’s eye only! “Perfect Aryan” model! Adopted in the late thirties by the Nazi party! In Germany! Blond, blue-eyed American Dream, ideal was first a creation from Hell by Nazi devils for racial, ethnic cleansing, propaganda purposes. You Google it ! You see! Keep in mind the long history of China, 6,000. years old or more! America, not even 400 years, and dieing fast, look at Detroit City today, compare to only a few decades ago! China, a sustainable culture all these 60 centuries! America, totally foreign oil dependent ‘Tinsel Town’ culture, up fast, ready to die fast! Even the U.S. dollar fades away now. America has no buildings, traditions, more than 300 years old. How can they reach oneness, understanding, realization, with this, ancient world, almost perpetual? Like wind, sun, rivers, tides, even the heated geysers, perpetual, and untouched down through the ages. John Phillipe Sousa’s music, beating hard against the air, bringing American blood to boil, even that does not compare, to an unblinkered gaze into the past, into the future the timelessness these buildings lend humanity. America! Wake Up! There is so life after the U.S. dollar crashes! No, it won’t hurt much, not if you prepare now, in the most earthly ways! A new world, with new dimensions awaits you! You will be set free, These old buildings promise that!
This comment is crazy! Is anybody else reading this as well?
“Funny, how warped, inflexible, totally propagandized, capitalist owned and operated, American minds interpret other cultures against their own, with their blinkered eyes, chained souls, broken dreams, wounded spirits. Oldsmobiles! They will come back! Diesel/Electric hybrids, front wheel drives! Carbon fiber bodies, Ultra light, super fast, astoundingly economical, CV transmissions, Engineered by Americans! Built in Detroit! By GM(America)! They will triumphantly beat out all Asian makes models! Sell for less! Never rust! Never wear out! Believe this?”
This is blowing my mind right now…
Yes! This comment has way more WTF than the posts above.
“sound like someone no like americans” lawl
Castillo de San Marcos is from the 1500s and resides in St. Augustine FL…..you think because the Nation broke free in the 1700s, thats all there was to it? Have you ever heard of Spain? Ponce de leon?
What a rant uncle B. Thanks. It was way cool and full of a deep perspective. Much appreciated.
Beautiful, but I was appalled at the disrepair and filth of the interior displays. Where’s their national pride…
I don’t quite understand where you’re coming from. I mean, as far as I know, it could just be deliberately made to look old, a bit dirty, and in disarray because of the subject matter. I don’t necessarily think that not keeping what could be characterized as a Chinese equivalent of a haunted house attraction in pristine condition is a lack of national pride. If anything, it probably adds to the character.
It also looks like a number of those buildings are Taoist temples. This means that there are monks there, and some of the statues appear to be religious figures, so the cleaning schedule likely has to be set around the rituals and the coming of visitors.
Just got back from Mid-Autumn Festival vacation in Chongqing and paid a visit to this site in Fengdu for the day. It IS run down. It is ALSO worth seeing. Most of what I’ve seen in this part of China is ‘if it’s religious, it can wait’. Party policy it seems. There are no monks and park workers do not do any sort of upkeep with the site. Cultural heritage is not a thing to consider because it is a reminder of “old traditions” which they had attempted to wipe out years ago. SOME sites get more care and attention because they are in tourist destinations/major cities. This I’m sure used to be a nice pilgrimage site, but has long since been neglected. There is a piss-poor haunted house mimicking a lot of the ancient sculptures you see here through cheap, broken, dirty animatronics(built in 1994). The misguided signs direct you to the haunted house for the “Ghost City”, while the real deal is hidden somewhere up the path that merely says “Ming Mountain”.
The whole place is a mix of Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucianist ideas, so no one group could really claim it if they wanted to. The carvings, hundreds of years old, are beautiful to see in person. And the haunted house actually had some amusing stories to tell famous in Chinese literature. If you want to see a little bit more of the place, I am currently updating my blog with photos from it. (A lot of ones similar to these.) My Chinese and some accompanied signage has helped interpret some of the hidden meanings in the figures.
I’m in agreement with some of the comments about the puzzling use of WTF so many times. I’m not quite sure about why this seems like such a WTF-worthy thing, as I don’t really see how this is different from the “Haunted House” attractions we have in the US, albeit on a larger scale. The belief in ghosts and the supernatural has been a part of traditional Chinese culture, and this is just a way of showcasing it (and to make some money in the process).
At the time that I’m writing this, the caption for photos #14 and #15 appear to be switched. #14 has the Chinese that talks about the 18 levels of Hell, and it’s about punishing the evil spirits, and #15 is about the iron city in the western part Hell (from what I understand, at least… this stuff doesn’t exactly make that much sense to me either, to be honest, as I have spent more of my life living in the US than in China at this point).
It’s like a meme on some social sites, I’ve seen it connected with Japan many times when showing something not known well in America, like WTF Japan. That’s the way it reads to me anyhow, same thing only applied to China this time.
Ah, OK. I’m only familiar with some of the older, more absurd/famous memes. ;_;
I was just somewhat puzzled, but I guess that makes more sense now.
I found this place to be very interesting structurally speaking… If you OPEN YOUR MIND and feel it. And, I mean really feel it. You’ll know it’s true… 6000 years! that says alot in it of it’s self.
I have bookmarked these remarkable photos to explore later. – I must say also that the “WTF” inserts are offensive. Still, I look forward to viewing them – from the Chinese perspective, rather than an uninformed American one.
Not all Americans are idiots. I’ll say that there are a ton of American morons, but there are a ton of morons in every country. You are just making yourself seem “uninformed”, good job!
Reminds me of Spirited Away…
That big tower in one of the photos reminds me of the set and setting for the preliminary tournaments in an anime and manga called Naruto. If you know it, one of those buildings pictured reminds me of the imperial-isch, gussied-up stylings of the building where Leaf Hokage;s epic battle was set, as well. The progenitor of the whole story was from Japan, though. So I;m thinking that, either he or one of the anime;s illustrators likes Oriental Gnosticism
Idk how to put this back in the main thread, so this is for ryan (above), I guess
“Spirited Away”! Yes, Ryan; had the same thought. Fascinating that “The City of Ghosts” comes across in the pics as a comfortable place; a favorite haunt, so to speak. 🙂
Let this be understood that at the time these building and temples came into existence, it was the only and most effective way to establish “goodness” in the society and make it defeat the “evil”,
by resorting to teaching through these means that evil is punished. It is same in ancient Indian culture and others with little variations. Don’t the Christians believe in “hell” and “heaven”
and muslims in”janat” and “dosakh’. It takes a mind which sees beyond what the eys see to appreciate such things. eyes can see a physical entity but an idea or a concept can only be seen through the mind’s eyes and we have first to train our minds to see what our eyes cannot see.
we are blind, trying to show every other blind, the way and it will not lead us anywhere, except that we stay where we are now i.e. IGNORANT
That;s very interesting.. I;m not so keen on temples, though. They should only be for devotee;s– monks. I like the baha-i philosiphy, which I think is reasonably ecumenical. But I wonder now, if our dharma is only affine for trying to be heavenly and transcendent. Where actually it;d be a greater motive to help humanity onto it;s feet.
I think that;s a good goal, but only nowadays people think that it is too extremely difficult to be feasible at all. And when mentioning ;people; i;m not too doubtful that everyone yearns for this in the long run.
But where along the line does it become too difficult? Idk, but it is difficult for either extreme to get along. Meaning, the aesthetic of utopian human nature gets tossed out by some.
I think it;s well proven in the fact that for so many, whom we trust and abide to be humanitarian for the general good, end up somewhat unfulfilled.
I;d ove if it weren;t so, but how many larger-than-life individuals, say, in an international cooperation, or in the capacity of leadership, just feign that influencing real change is complicated for himself/herself.
It;s easier now, for people to collaborate, but wherin the dharma is especially important, any good effort is harder to keep from being convoluted.
Wondering if that really means as much as i think it does, makes me think that some of the world will never have good dharma for themselves, unless those people can think, in an absolute sense, about achieving whatever is a positively good idea.
Lots of people have these dreams,and it seems that all those start to unravel.
Without using the word ;evil;, in the strict sense, negative influence seems to be so much more powerful, than collaborative and positive things.
Aung San Suu Kyi ,of Burma, being a well-known example, seems to have such a hard time, and for all purposes, her dharma is always about something good. But a few bad apples make it hard for her to do some obviously good things.
What i;m wondering is; barring some physical limitations, why can;t a few people, if they hold any sway at all, collaborate and just go accomplish what they set out to do?
The dalai lama, one good monk, said that one positive and constructive thing to do is to start changing the foundations of organized religion…
å˜¿å˜¿ï¼Œä½ å¯¹é¬¼åŸŽæ–‡åŒ–çš„æ述还是比较准确。（Wow,your describe about the Ghost City’culture is more accurare.If any body have huge intresting about Fengdu Ghost city , i can give your some help.because my home town is near Fengdu city.）
I just returned from a trip to China and visited Fengdu. Our guide told us that the Devil Hotel will never open because two construction workers jumped to their death and the Feng Shui is bad.
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Does anyone know if it would be appropriate to visit Fengdu on Qing Ming Festival? Or perhaps disrespectful?
Yeah, actually did one of the boat cruises down to the Three Gorges a couple of years back. Half of the park was under renovation, but it’s well freaky. It’s set up like a public garden, with winding paths and ornaments. Just that the ornaments are all ghosts or about death and punishment… Probably didn’t help that we were awakened at 5:30 on the boat so that we could disembark at 6, to continue on at 7:30 and not make too much of a delay.
But it was seriously WTF to be there…
View from the pagoda was awesome though.
Adam Robertson…
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After a person dies in the western world they are stranded, not knowing what to do or where to go, I like the idea of creating a place for the recently living to explore, gives us something to do until we figure out what to do next. Probably why there’s so many hauntings in the western world.
I think the original poster and some of the commenters are missing the nuances and symbolisms in the statues, they are cultural things that any chinese person will understand because they were raised with those stories. You are more likely to WTF if you don’t understand why they are in those poses, or what they are doing/wearing. Unfortunately, I’m not learned enough to describe it all to you.
Having been to China several times, it’s sad how things can be left in disrepair, especially cultural monuments, or cheapened with lack of regulation in the tourist trade.
I am so disgusted at WTF China. People should be proud about their ancestors and cultures. I am surprised that also there is no people that have been assigned to this Fengdu to accomadate the cleaning of the area and taking utmost care of the creative art structures. I do love History and read quite alot. I do not understand why there is no up keeping to make it attractive and beautiful for this is their ancestors culture and religion (beliefs). Why would you not be proud and blessed of Fengdu Ghost City. Many cultures are different in many aspects.
I rather like damnation in Chinese mythology– always loved Anime, so that was a sort of jumping off point. Then I hear about Christian or Jewish demons, and they were never so nicely charicaturised… Funnily enough, the latter ones make me think of the movie Drag Me to Hell. You gotta love it, though, it;s hilarious! xD
You would think the ghost of lust would be a little more sexy as to entice… ya know?
well looking at the pictures and being a chinese myself, i have to say this place isn’t scary at all. the statues are bizarre, but not scary anymore with all the tourism going on. and that hotel with the big statue, that’s just for show. there are many temples in many other places in china that features scenes from “hell”, they are disturbing but after seeing them too many times you know they are just stories. i think they have done too much for tourism, like the setting up of all those souvenir shops and stuff.
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[…] where we can find the famous “Hanging Coffins”, the “Cave of the Three Travelers” and the Ghost city of Fengdu. It’s also home to the “Three Gorges Dam” finished in 2006. This is the largest concrete […]