Zibo Liaozhai City

Location:

Zibo Liaozhai City is located in Pujia Village (Village of Family Pu), Hongshan Town, Zichuan District, Zibo City.

Distinctions:

Zibo Liaozhai City is the hometown of Pu Songling who was also called “King of the Short Stories”in China. It is also one of the five tourism regions of Shandong Province.

Brief Introduction:

Zibo Liaozhai City is a compositive large landscape area whose main form is the garden group and. its theme is stories from Liaozhai written by Pu Songling. Zibo Liaozhai City consists of 6 parts including Art Exhibition Hall, Hu Xian Yuan (Garden of Fairy Foxes), Shi Yin Garden, Liaozhai Palace, Man Jing Temple and Guan Hu (Fox-viewing) Garden.

There is a Pu Songling Museum, which was almost the same as the original house where Pu Songling used to live. The formal residence of Pu Songling was a typical courtyard of the villages in the northern part of China. A horizontal board on which fives golden characters “Pu Song Ling Gu Ju” (Former Residence of Pu Songling) are inscribed by Guo Moruo is hung high above the gate.

In the yard, there are Liaozhai Studio where Pu Songling wrote his great book, Exhibition Room of the Life of Pu Songling, Exhibition Hall of Wenshi (Aragonite, Pu Songling’s favorite when he was alive) and Exhibition Hall of Calligraphy and Chinese Painting of Contemporary Scholars.

Liu Quan Spring, also known as “Man Jing”, was where Pu Songling got his stories. Now, there was a stone tablet with two Chinese characters “Liu Quan” written by Shen Yanbing. The mouth of the spring was decorated with bluestones. The water in the spring is clear and overflowing, making the tourists forget to leave. Apart from stories in Liao Zhai Zhi Yi (Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio), Pu Songling created thousands of Liqu (popular music) here. So, tourists can appreciate the music in the Liqu Teahouse. While having the tea, they can also enjoy themselves by listening to some music. Hu Xian Yuan (Garden of Fairy Foxes) was designed according to the stories in Liaozhai. In it, there are exhibition rooms of life and books of Pu Songling, events when Pu Songling opened his store and school, calligraphic works and paintings of masters and so on.

Shi Yin Garden was originally a garden of Family Bi. Pu Songling worked as a techer in Bi’s house, leaving large numbers of poems and essays about Shi Yin Garden. In, Shi Yin Garden, there are green trees and strangely-shaped stones. After the garden was moved to the hometown of Pu Songling, tourists can know more about Pu Songling’s life as a teacher.

Man Jing Temple was rebuilt according to the ancient one. The gate is in the style of double gate arches. In the temple, there are buildings like Tian Wang Dian (Hall of the Celestial Kings), Da Xiong Bao Dian (the Great Buddha’s Hall), San Sheng Dian (Three Religion's Hall), Bell Tower and so on. Seen from outside, Liaozhai Palace seem like a heavenly palace with clear lake, Green Mountain and fairy buildings.

Using colored sculptures, special effects in movies, special light and sound etc., designers of this palace represent artistic images like fairy foxes and ghosts created by Pu Songling.

How to Get There:

Tourists can Bus 1 at Zibo Bus Station to Zichuan Bus Station. And then, they can take Bus 23 and get off at Pu Jia Zhuang (Village of Family Pu).