Erhai, Yunnan: The Three Pagodas

At Erhai Lake, my dad, my dad’s high school classmate, his daughter, and I went to the Three Pagodas.

First, we saw the middle and biggest of the three pagodas. It was square and had about 17 identical sections, each with a “block” followed by a Chinese-style overhang. The other two were octagonal. They had about 10 sections of windows in the core and Chinese-style overhangs. All three were made of stone.

Then, my dad’s high school classmate’s daughter and I made clay animals called “Wamao,” guided by deaf people. I felt that we did a good job understanding them. It was a free experience, but dried clay is fragile, so our parents paid about 120–140 yuan for each animal to be glazed and painted. I chose red for my animal, and she chose blue for hers.

We also saw a picture wall. Here were the poses:

• A cherry tree—you are supposed to be the trunk.
• A Chinese character—you are supposed to be part of the character.

Summary

This trip to the Three Pagodas was cool and surprising. I never knew there was a stone that made a scratching noise when knocked with a stick!