Take a look at the Wanfo Pagoda in Mengcheng in early spring

Take a look at the Wanfo Pagoda in Mengcheng in early spring In March 2023, I returned to my hometown Mengcheng and suddenly wanted to see the Wanfo Pagoda. Although I often go back, I suddenly realized that it seems that there has been nearly 20 years of time, and I haven't seen it up close. People are like this, often overlooking the people and things around you, maybe they are the precious and cherish in life. In early spring, it is warm and cold, the willows are green, and when you walk into the Wanfo Pagoda Park, time seems to be now, and it seems to shuttle back 20 years ago, moving forward and stagnating, indescribable mixed feelings, just like visiting a familiar and strange old friend. Nothing has changed and it seems that everything has changed. The Wanfo Pagoda, as its name suggests, has a pagoda body with a so-called ten thousand glazed Buddha statues. Also known as the Flower Insertion Pagoda, Xinghua Temple Pagoda, Cishi Temple Pagoda (because there was Xinghua Temple in the Song Dynasty and Cishi Temple in the Yuan Dynasty here), commonly known as "Mengcheng Brick Pagoda", located in Baota Middle Road, Chengguan Town, Mengcheng County, Bozhou City, Anhui Province. The entire pagoda is an octagonal thirteen-story pavilion-style brick pagoda, 42.2 meters high, with a circumference of 24 meters at the bottom and a diameter of 8 meters. The Wanfo Pagoda was built in the first year of Chongning in the Song Dynasty (1102). The body is not very large, but the shape is beautiful, the structure is rich in changes, and the preservation is relatively complete. It is a fusion of Chinese north and south pagoda construction techniques, with beautiful shapes and gorgeous decorations, unique, both iconic and prayerful and symbolic. It is now also a national cultural protection unit. When I was young, I went to see the pagoda. At that time, the management was not perfect. The pagoda could be climbed and played at will. The more you go up, the narrower it becomes until it is solid. There are many folk tales and life anecdotes about the pagoda. Some say that the pagoda is inhabited by spirits and fairy objects, and some say it is a holy place for lovers to date. The current pagoda, renovated, with trees planted around it and a square laid out, also has a guardian beast. Of course, the current pagoda cannot be climbed, it can only be viewed from a distance. Although it is more majestic, it also lacks a bit of life intimacy. People grow year by year, and the pagoda also becomes more ancient, as if they are all growing. Whether you are in a foreign land or near the ground, take the time to take a look at the Wanfo Pagoda! Maybe it is a period of time in your life.