hai321's Blog

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen!

    Today we will go and visit the Yuelu Academy! Yuelu Academy is one of the four famous academies in China, and it was established by Zhudong, magistrate of Tanzhou prefecture in 976A.D at the time of Northern Song Dynasty. The academy accepted disciples throughout the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was only in 1903 that the academy was transformed from a school of traditional Confucian learning to an institute of higher learning and in 1926 it was officially named Hunan University.

    Early in 1015, Emperor Zhen Zong of the Song Dynasty awarded the academy hid Majesty's own handwriting Yuelu Academy on a tablet. Form then on many famous scholars and great thinkers gave lectures here, among them were Zhangshi, Zhuxi and WangYangming, thus making a great impact on the province's culture and education. Most of the existing buildings here were constructions of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the bulk of the engraved stone plates and inscribed tablets have all been kept intact, In 1956 the academy was listed as a historical site at the provincial level and later, in 1988 it became a historical site at the state level. The last restoration project started in 1981 and the major part was completed in 1987.

    Now, here we are at the He Xi Platform, He Xi means the the splendour of the sunrise, It was named by Zhuxi, a great idealist philosopher of the Confucian school during the Song Dynasty, The platform was first built on the top of Yuelu hill, by Zhanshi, and later in 1528, a pavilion was built on it, But it became deserted with the passing time. In 1790 Luodian, the master of the academy, built a platform at the present site, In 1820, the succeeding master, Ouyang Houjun, renamed it He Xi Platform in order to memory Zhuxi and Zhanshi. It was restored in 1868.

    On the inner walls of the platform are two big Chinese characters Fu and Shuo, which mean blessing and longevity respectively. Legend has it that the Character Shuo was written with a broom soaked in yellow mud by a Taoist master at the time Master Luodian was attending a banquet in honour of the examination officials and those dispels who had passed the civil exam Hence it has been regarded as having celestial touch The character Fu was written by Luodian, the master himself.

    This gate in front of us is the Main Gate, the gate was formerly built at the time of the Song Dynasty, and was then called Central Gate. The main gate underwent both destruction and reconstruction in the course of time. The present structure was once thoroughly renovated in 1868.

    The characters Yuelu Academy on the horizontal tablet were inscribed by Emperor Zhen Zong of the Song Dynasty. It was presented as an award to Zhoushi, the master of the academy, when he was summoned to the emperor's presence. On both door posts are couplets which read The kingdom of Chu, unique home of the talents, The Academy of Yuelu, the very cradle of all . It was composed in the Qing Dynasty by the master of the academy, Yuan Jiangang and his disciple Zhang Renjie. This gate was the Second Gate, It was first built in 1527 during the Ming Dynasty. It underwent repairs and restoration many times .It was completely devastated during the Anti-Japanese War .In 1984, the gate was restored to its former state.

    This is the Lecture Hall, where the students had lessons here, it was first built at the time of the Song Dynasty and was once named Jing Yi Hall. Now, it has a more elaborate name The Hall of the Loyalty, Liability, Honesty and Integrity, because on the inner walls of the hall are engraved four big Chinese Characters: loyalty, Liability, honesty and integrity. They were handwriting by the great scholar, Zhuxi, who once lectured here. Others, such as the School Regulations, the Administrations and Way to Read were masterpieces of the masters of the academy. On the two horizontal tablets hanging on top were written:

    Learn before you can probe the infiniteness of the universe.

    The doctrines taught here in the south are genuine Confucian doctrines.

    They were inscribed by the emperor Kangxi and Qianlong respectively during the Qing Dynasty.

    The building in front of us is the Yushu Library, yushu literally means imperial books, so Yushu Library, built in 999A.D in the early Song Dynasty, was a place to keep imperial books. Books were continuously sent here during the succeeding dynasties. The library was first named Classics Treasuring House in the Song Dynasty, Classic Venerating House in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and finally Yushu Library in the Qing Dynasty. It had been repaired and expanded many times, and now it has a collection of over twenty thousand Chinese classics. This building was rebuilt on its original site in 1986.

    The two small pavilions Xi Quan and Ni Lan, built during the Song and Ming Dynasties, were restored to the right and left of the compound galleries in order to display cultural relics.

    Today, we will go and visit Shaoshan, the hometown of Chairman Mao. Shaoshan is a small mountain village about 100km southwest of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, with some fairly beautiful scenery and a once typically Hunan village atmosphere, Shaoshan has been irreparably changed by history. On the 26th December 1893, a baby was born in a little house in this village, to a relatively wealthy peasant couple. The child was to grow up to become China's Great Helmsman, Chairman Mao Zedong, and it was in this region that he spent his childhood and youth, attending school and helping his father with his work.

    As the hometown of the great man of the generation, now Shaoshan is one of the important tourist zones in Hunan province. The major tourist sites including the Former residence of Chairman Mao, Memorial Hall of Mao Zedong, Water-dripping Cave and Steles Forest of Mao's Poems， and so on.

    The former residence of Chairman Mao is the most interesting site. Entered through a courtyard, the house is of a sunny yellow, mud brick walls, with a nicely thatched roof, and is found on a wooded hillside, above some lush paddy fields. There are 13 and one half rooms in the Former residence, which include one and half central room, a kitchen, a dining room, three family bedrooms and a guest room. Within the rooms are various personal effects of Mao and his parents, as well as photos from Mao's life.

    This is the central room, used by two families: Mao's family and their neighbor. So we said that there is only one half of the central room belongs to Mao's family. And this is there kitchen, where Chairman Mao often helped his mother doing some housework in his childhood. Go through the kitchen was Chairman Mao's parent's bedroom, there are two photos of Chairman Mao's parents on the inner wall, and it was in this room where Chairman Mao was born.

    The Dripping Water Cave, about 3 km northwest of the village, is a very popular destination, possibly because of the fact that Mao allegedly spent 11 days here in the early days of the Cultural Revolution Years (1966-76), contemplating the unknown.

    The Mosque is a major spot for religious activities of over 60.000 Moslems in Xi'an, likewise, an important cultural relic protected by the Provincial People's Government. Unlike the Arabic mosques, with splendid domes, the minarets reaching into the clouds, the colorful engraved sketches with dazzling patterns, the Mosque here in Xi'an possesses much Chinese traditional touch in both its design and artistic outlook; besides the style peculiar to Islamic mosques, this Mosque also holds characteristics of Chinese pavilions with painted beams and engraved ridgepoles.

    However, any further discussion about the Mosque will be futile unless anything of the introduction of Islam into China is brought up.

    Islam as a religious order was founded in the early period of the 7th century A.D. and was introduced to China in the mid-600s. At that time, Arabian merchants and travelers came to the northwest of China by way of Persia and Afghanistan and thus established diplomatic, trade, and military contacts with China. In the meantime, another route saw a batch of sea voyagers through Bangladesh Bay and the Malacca Strait to China's Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Huangzhou, Yangzhou and other cities where many of them settled down and married the local women who later gave birth to babies who then became Moslems.

    However, massive immigration of the Moslems to China did not take place until as late as the early period of the 13th century, when Genghis Khan, as a result of his expedition against the west, had conquered vast expanses of land stretching from Central Asia to Eastern Europe, including the north of Iran. Many of the Moslems in the conquered areas were thus forced to enlist and later settled in China.

    Among the enlisted many were soldiers, and some were smiths and officials who were called the Hui people in the history books on the Yuan dynasty. The Hui people later followed Kublai Khan down to the south, helping him unifying China and then establish the Yuan dynasty. In the wake of the conquest, Islam spread all over China and mosques began to appear everywhere. In the Yuan dynasty, many Moslems held positions both in the military and civilian organs of the country. And a lot of the Moslems took part in Zhu Yuanzhang's uprising in the early 14th century and made great contributions to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, all the emperors of the Dynasty issued mandates to protect Islam, and to set up mosques in praise of the Moslems for their feats. In the early 16th century, Islam predominated Qinghai on the minority nationalities including the Huis, the Uygurs, the Kazaks, the Kirgizes, the Tajiks, the Tartars, the Ozbeks, the Dong Xiangs, the Salars and the Bonans. The Moslems in Xi'an are mainly the Huis, being a small portion out of the ten million in China.

    The Mosque at Hua Jue Lane is the largest in Xi'an, and at the same time, it is also one of the earliest built on a comparatively large scale, and well preserved mosques in China.

    According to "the Stele on the Building of the Mosque", the mosque is said to be built in the Tang Dynasty. However, the architectural style of the mosque suggests a possible building dating back to the Ming Dynasty. The four courtyards of the mosque cover an area of more than 12,000 square meters, out of which about 4,000 are occupied by various structures. The still intact wooden front memorial gateway of the front yard, built at the turn of the 17th century, with glazed tiles on the top, spectacular corners and upturned eaves, is about 9 metres high, and has a history of about 360 years. The stone memorial gateway in the center of the second courtyard is flanked with a tail stele on either side with dragons carved on each, recording the repair work ever since the building of the Mosque. On the back of one of the steles are engraved characters by the master calligrapher Mi Fu, "May Buddhism Fill the Universe", on the other, "Royal -Bestowed" by Dong Qichang, another master of the same art of the Ming dynasty. They are treasures in Chinese calligraphy. At the entrance of the third courtyard is an imperial built hall, where a "month tablet", showing the calculation of the Hui Calendars in Arabic, is stored. It was compiled by a man in charge of the mosque called Xiao Mining in the early period of the Qing dynasty. A three –storeyed octagonal wooden structure called "Retrospection Tower" also stands in the center of the courtyard, which has the same function as the minaret in Islamic temples in Arabic countries, and which is a place from where orders were sent to call the Moslems to come to worship. Respectively, on the south and north wings of the tower, are a reception chamber and a Scripture Chamber, both elegantly laid out. The five wooden houses, which are called "Water Houses" in the southwest section of the Mosque are the place where the believers bathe themselves before they attend their services. And in side the fourth courtyard there is a structure called "the Pavilion of Phoenix", a place where the worshipers used to wait for the services. The Pavilion, in fact, is a compound structure of three small buildings. The six-gabled structure of the central part, adjoining the two three-gabled buildings on each side looks very much like a flying phoenix, and hence its name. Just at the back of the Pavilion, there is a fishpond, beyond which is a platform occupying an area as large as 700 m2. Across both ends of the platform stands the 1,300 square metered service hall, holding over a thousand worshipers at once. There are over six hundred sunk panels well as the sunk panels, are decorated with patterns of painted trailing plants and Arabic letterings. The imam leads his group of worshipers, while facing in the direction of Mecca, to chant in Koran and to pay their religious homage.

    The Moslems in China share very much the same customs with their brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world. They worship five times a day: at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, at dusk, and at night. Female worshipers attend their services in a separated place from their brothers, usually at home. Moslems pay special attention to their health and see that they always wear clean clothes. They are teetotalers not only of wine, but also of pork and animal blood for in Koran pigs have been mentioned four times as being "unclean". According to Koran, a man can have four wives and women should wear veils when they go out. However, except a few places in Xinjiang, the Chinese practise monogamy and women are veiless when they go out. Upon his death, a Moslem has to be "thoroughly cleaned" (thoroughly bathed), has to be put on "Ke Fan" (to be shrouded with a piece of white cloth) and has to be buried coffinless in the ground, with an imam reciting Scriptures at the funeral.

    The Chinese constitution promulgates that freedom of religion of each citizen and freedom of preserving or reforming local customs for every nationality are permitted. And of course, the Moslems in China enjoy equal rights with peoples of other nationalities and their religious beliefs and customs are respected everywhere in the country.

    Chinese Buddhist temples are never single buildings. They always consist of a group buildings following a fundamental patter, which can, however, be modified. The main buildings and their symmetrically corresponding secondary buildings form individual groups and courtyards. The entire temple complex is spacious. The buildings inside the complex are usually single-storied and the main halls are sometimes decorated with a double roof. The towers, pavilions and halls can be multi-storied structures.

    The Chinese temple complex has been subject to great structural changes throughout the centuries. But temple architects follow the basic principles of secular structures from the Tang Dynasty onwards. The complexes stand on a central axis, usually a north-south axis: east-west only as an exception. (Guiyuan Temple is just the very exception.) The main buildings are strung along this central axis, their broadest sides facing south or east.

    The most important and most frequently presented building inside a Buddhist temple complex are the main entrance gate, the bell and drum towers, the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the Hall of the Buddha and a pagoda.

    Buddhism is said to be founded in India in the 6th century BC by Siddatha Gautama (BC565 –BC486), the son of a nobleman and member of the Kshatriya caste near the present borders of India and Nepal. Buddhism advocates that all the people are created equal and turns against the caste system of Brahmanism, so it was popular with the common people.

    It was said that Buddhism was spread to China in 2 BC. At the beginning, it was only regarded as a kind of witch. About 200 AD, Chinese version of Buddhist s scriptures began to appear, and thus, Buddhist doctrines began to emerge with traditional Chinese religious thought. From 2nd century to late 6th century, translation and research of Buddhist sects with Chinese characteristics were becoming more and more popular and many temples were built, which reached its peak in Sui Dynasty (581AD-617AD) and Tang Dynasty (618-907). Some Buddhist sects with Chinese characteristics came into being. Buddhism exerts a great influence on Chinese philosophy, literature, art and folk customs.

    What is presented before our eyes is a copper statue of a famous bodhisattva in Hynayana Buddhism. Bodhisattva is a title which is only next to Buddha. This statue is the image of Avalokitesvara, which has been popular with Chinese people or more than 1,000 years. She is called the Goddess of Mercy cordially by Chinese and is regarded as the symbol of kindness, mercy and benevolence. When we visit the Avalokitesvara Pavilion after a while, I will give a detailed introduction about her. This copper statue was sent to Guiyuan Temple by Taiwan Buddhists in September 1990. It shows that all Chinese, whether in the mainland or in Taiwan, are eager for the reunion of the country, even including religion believers.

    The building we see now is the Buddha Hall where one certain Buddha and his two assistant bodhisattvas are worshiped. This Buddha is Amitabha Buddha. Amitabha means incomparable brightness. According to Buddhism, time and space is limitless and thus there are many Buddhas in different spaces and times. But in a certain space or in a certain period of time, there is only one certain Buddha who is in charge of instructing all living creatures. Amitabha Buddha is the Buddha who presides over the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the west, which will come in the future. Buddhist s scriptures describe the Land of Ultimate Bliss as a wonderland, in which no pain exists and the people enjoy their lives. In one word, it's very attractive. Some people will think it must be very difficult to enter such a world. How can I go to such a paradise? Maybe I have to work hard and bear a lot of sufferings. In fact, it's very easy to enter the world. He only needs often murmur 'May Buddha preserve us' sincerely. It's enough.

    You see, the statue in the middle is the very Buddha. On his left is the Goddess of Mercy. On his right is the other bodhisattva who follows the Buddha. It is said that he can save all the living creatures from three kinds of terrible disasters.

    Now, let's step into the Buddhist s scriptures Pavilion where the s scriptures of Buddhism are kept. But I'm afraid what attracts our attention at the first sight must be this snow-white statue. It is a statue of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. This statue was carved out of a big piece of jade which is 2-meter-tall and weighs 3 tons. It was carved by Myanmar handicraftsmen and donated to the temple by the Rangoon Buddhists in 1935.

    If we watch the statue, we may sense that the peaceful expression on the Buddha's face has brought us to a quiet and harmonious state.

    The last building we will visit is the Avalokitesvara Pavilion in the north yard. When we entered the yard just now we saw a statue of her. Now I'd like to introduce her carefully.

    As a goddess, she swore that she would not become a Buddha until all the living creatures suffering from pains were saved. So she became a bodhisattva who is most popular among the people and attracts the most believers of all the gods and goddesses in Buddhism. It was said that one would be saved from trouble and disaster as long as he (she) chanted her name and if it was heard by her. Thus she is called Guanshiyin, which means'hearing or looking on the voices of the suffering'. Because of her kind heart and benevolence she got another title'the Goddess of Mercy'.

    According to Buddhism, bodhisattvas have no distinction of sex, that is, they are neither male nor female, because they are immortals. But it's very strange and interesting that most of bodhisattvas were engraved or carved in the images of various kinds of men in human society. Changes didn't take place until an emperor's mother thought it was inconvenient to worship a male bodhisattva in her bedroom. From then on, Guanshiyin, the bodhisattvas began to appear before her believers in the image of a beautiful and elegant lady.

    We'll pay a visit to a very serious, sacred place. Generally, the place is regarded as the most holy by Buddhists. It is the Grand Hall, where the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni is worshiped. It is always the center of a Buddhist temple in construction and in Buddhists' mind.

    The statue in the middle is Sakyamuni. According to Buddhism his mother gave birth to him in a garden. He belonged to Kshatreya Caste. He married his cousin when he was 16 or 17 years old. At the age of 29, he was confronted with the sights of an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic. With eyes opened to aspects of life newly revealed to him, he broke from the material world and became an ascetic. Six years later, he gave up mystic concentration that at last brought him enlightenment under a tree. He then founded an order of mendicants and spent his next 45 years preaching his ideas until his death.

    These two statues beside the Buddha are his two disciples. The one on the right was said to be Sakyamuni's cousin and he had good memory so that he could remember all the Buddha told his disciples. The one on the left was said to be the lord of Brahmnism and he once was Sakyamuni's tutor. But afterwards he was convinced by Buddhism after long-term debate between Buddhism and other religions and he accepted Sakyamuni as his tutor. Thus he became the eldest one of all Sakyamuni's disciples.

    Next, we'll pay a visit to the Ahrat Hall in the south court.

    The Ahrat Hall is an important structure in a Buddhist temple. But not all temples have an Ahrat Hall, especially, well-kept Ahrat Halls are very rare in China. This one is among them, and what's more, it has its own unique characteristics.

    Generally, an Ahrat Hall is a square building. The building is subdivided into four small square courts so that the hall can get enough sunlight. This kind of structure show some lucky implies in Chinese Buddhist culture.

    Another characteristic about the hall lies in these sculptures themselves. They were neither made up of wood, nor stone, nor clay. A special way was taken in making them, which could prevents them from being burned, being soaked or being eaten by insects. All the sculptures were floating in water while Wuhan was flooded in 1954, but, surprisingly, they were sound and safe after the flood had receded. It was really a wonder.

    Ahrats are the immortals in Buddhism. But when you have a look around the sculptures, you may find from the expressions on their faces that they are so familiar to you. That's only because they were molded on the basis of the people in the reality, so they are human beings in our daily life rather than immortals.

    Ahrats are the symbols of harmony, happiness, and good luck, so the Wuhan natives have got used to counting ahrats since ancient time to pray for peace. There are a few ways of counting ahrats. We can count from the first ahrat from left to right or from right to left, when we just enter the hall. We can also choose any ahrat as our starting point, and count in the same way, left to right or right to left. We should base counting on our own ages whatever we take. For example, I'm 25, so I should stop in front of the 25th ahrat from the starting ahrat. The sculpture in front of which I stop is my lucky ahrat. My lucky ahrat will accompany me to spend a peaceful and lucky year. Wouldn't you like to have a try now? If you need, I can explain connotation of some ahrats.

    That's all for the explanation to Guiyuan Temple. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. You will have another 30 minutes to have a look around the temple. If you have any problems, do let me know. I would like to repeat our bus number, A3074. Please don't forget. See you later.

    Today, we will go to visit Hubei Provincial Museum. On the way to the museum, I'd like to show a present to express my warmest welcome to you. You may wonder what the present is. Well let me introduce it to you. The music you are going to listen to is the very gift. Now, please enjoy the music.

    Have you ever listened to the music? And what musical instrument is used to play the beautiful melody? That's the serial bells, a wonder in the world. Indeed a wonder in the world. Every year tourists from all over the world continuously come to visit them and appreciate the programs played by it. Each year they return with unforgettable memory.

    The building with red wall and green tiers before us is the very museum, Hubei Provincial Museum. Constructed in 1953, the museum is the center for collecting, studying, preserving and displaying historical and cultural relics in Hubei. More than 700,000 ancient relics are stored up in it. There is a collection of 100,000 books on history, archaeology, art etc. These relics provide precious material data for studying the development of history, culture, art, science and technology in ancient China.

    Situated in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, Hubei has a long history and rich land. As early as 2,000,000 years ago, our ancestors lived and worked here and gradually they began to create their own civilization. The relics unearthed from Zenghouyi Tomb are good proofs to the civilization. The relics displayed in the museum are most from the tomb. Serial bells are the most precious and greatest of them all.

    Are you familiar with the history of the serial bells?

    It is said that it is the oldest musical instrument kept in the world. You see, our ancestors already knew how to use music to enrich their lives so long ago.

    Luckily indeed, our archaeologists discovered it by accident and thus displayed the marvelous ancient civilization of Chu State in front us.

    In 1978, a soldier discovered a large tomb when building his house. It was really a great surprise to discover it at that time. Afterwards, archaeologists excavated these serial bells on the same spot. This was appraised to be the tomb of Zenghouyi. It was220 square meters, 20 metros deep, consisting of 4 tombs. The main coffin was made up of huge internal and external coffins. The man in it died at the age of 45. Those buried alive with the dead were all female, aged from 13 to 25. They were in 21 coffins.

    Besides the serial bells, more than 7,000 other historical cultural relics have been unearthed, such as bronze ware, ancient musical instrument, weapons, golden ware, jade ware, painted ware, woodenware, and bamboo ware. Most of them are unique art treasure and they were deliberately made.

    What is especially worth mentioning is the ancient musical instrument, such as serial bells, stone chimes, drums, 25-stringed plucked zither, and bamboo flute. They are totally 8 types, including 124 pieces. The entire musical instrument is placed perfectly among the bronze serial bells. They make the tomb look like an ancient concert hall.

    Today the underground concert hall has come back to life. As a major instrument, 64 serial bells are put in the middle room, lined along the north and west wall. It can be concluded that serial bells are Zenhouyi's favorite, for his body was placed in the west room.

    As wee see, these big bells are shaped like round-bottomed baskets; small ones are like warming pots. They are hung in 3 layers from the winding bell shelf that is 13 meters long, 2.7 meters high. The whole bell shelf is supported by 6 human-shape objects. It is as strong as newly cast.

    Ok, let me give you a brief introduction about the elegant ancient serial bells. All the bells have been played. They are all carved with inscription about musical melody. Each bell can produce 2 pitches. After many years of research, we find that its amplitude approached the international level of today. The combined scale is the 7 notes in C major of today. Its compasses very side, including 5 and a half octaves. The whole sound may be adjusted. Its wooden shelf is quite exquisite. Although buried for 2,400 years, the serial bells are well played. It not only can be used to play with to produce scores with the same melody, but also can produce mixed sounds though harmony and repeat tunes. Chinese musical pieces, such as Intoning Three Times Before Leaving Yang Pass, The Moon On The Spring River, and foreign pieces, such as Christmas Eve, can be played on it, even Beethoven's Ode to Joy in the Ninth Symphony can be. Foreign tourists are usually attracted by the fascinating music when listening to the Chinese song The Night On The Prairie. When foreign songs cut in, they are shocked by the old civilization of Chu State. As the famous violinist, Menuin praised it, "The grand Greek music is accepted by the world". However, the musical instruments in ancient Greece were made of wood, what's more, not a single instrument is kept till today. Here we are able to enjoy the sound of the instrument of 2,000 years' history from the tomb of Chu State.

    Actually, whoever enjoys the music played on the serial bells will be surprised at the great achievement made by the people of Chu State in the fields of music, culture, smelting, and casting.

    According to the history, Chu State was called the state of rites and music at that time. People in Chu State love dancing. They danced in the palace and sang in the room. They knew how to enjoy dancing and singing. We can imagine the following scene. The host of the bomb was seated in his palace and watched the girls dancing. On both his sides sat his followers. They sat on the floor. A table with short legs was placed in front of them. They put one hand on the table that is used to hold arms. This can be proved by the relics in the tomb.

    Do you know, in China, a male and a female mandarin ducks are the symbol of love, for they often play together in the water and live together. Can you see the box here? This box was found in the tomb. The box was painted. It was empty in it. But there are some pictures. They describe a very vivid situation; some people are striking bells, beating drums and dancing. This picture is very precious, for we can know how these instruments should be played, especially the serial bells.

    I wonder if you have noticed that there is only one mandarin duck on the box. Do you know why? Oh, he is abandoned by his lover. But he found a new company—music. He didn't heed the other mandarin duck, for what he really loved was music.

    Well, I have a question. What is the tourists' favorite?

    The music played on the serial bells.