Twelve Views of Bayu (Chinese: 巴渝十二景) are popular scenic views in and around the city of Chongqing, China. Ba and Yu (Chinese: 巴渝; pinyin: Bāyú) are old names of Chongqing in Imperial times. Influenced by Eight Views of Xiaoxiang in Hunan Province, people in Chongqing listed their own most beloved views during the reign of the Tianshun Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Scenic views in the list changed throughout the history. Some scenic views appeared in earlier lists no longer exist in modern days due to the change of physical geography, landscapes and land-uses.
Original Eight Views
The first version of the list contains eight popular scenic views, the same number of views in the Xiaoxiang list. In the second year of Tianshun Emperor's reign (1453), people carved the list on to the bronze bell in Chongyin Temple (later renamed as Chang'an Temple), a former Buddhism temple located at current Chongqing No. 25 Middle School's campus. The eight views on the original list are:
Jin Bi Xiang Feng (Chinese: 金碧香风; lit. 'Fragrant wind in Jinbi Mountain'): Jinbi Mountain is the highest peak of Mountain Ba, and currently it is part of the Renmin Park in Yuzhong District. Jinbi literally means golden and blue. During the Song dynasty, a governor of Chongqing built a hall with golden and blue tiles on top of the mountain. During the Ming dynasty, another governor of Chongqing raised many species of flowers on the mountain and made the air there smells balmiest. Hong Yan Di Cui (洪岩滴翠; 'Clear water drops down from the Hongyan Cave'): Hongyan (now called Hongya, 洪崖) literally means waterful cliff. It is located near the riverside area of modern Yuzhong District and close to the Chongqing CBD. Today it is known for the clustered Diaojiaolou buildings. There is a cave on the cliff, and spring water flows out of the cave and drops down the cliff. Long Men Hao Yue (龙门浩月; 'Bright moon of the Long Men'): Long Men literally means Gate of Chinese Dragon. There used to be two giant rock in the near-shore shallow water of Yangtze River, on which there were two big Chinese characters Long Men carved during the Song dynasty. In clear nights, the inverted image of the moon will appear in between those two rocks and makes there to be a beautiful scene. It is now a part of Nanbin Park in Nan'an District. Huang Ge Wan Du (黄葛晚渡; 'The night view at Huang Ge Ferry'): Huang Ge Ferry was a major ferry crossing the Yangtze River and connecting the main town of Chongqing (today's Yuzhong District) and the Nanping Town (the core area of today's Nan'an District) in previous times. Huang Ge is the local name of ficus virens, a type of tree distributed in Asia and Australia. The Shibanpo Yangtze River Bridge replaced Huang Ge Ferry in 1980s, so that the ferry no longer exists. However, this scene is still manually preserved and become a part of Nanbin Park in 2005. Fo Tu Ye Yu (佛图夜雨; 'Yeyu Temple in Fotu Pass'): Fotu Pass was located to the west of today's Chongqing CBD area, close to Pipa Mountain Park and Eling Park, and it was an important military fort to defend Chongqing from the west in ancient times. Yeyu Temple was a major temple in Fotu Pass. Yeyu literally means raining at night. Years ago, there was a rock in the front of Yeyu Temple, and water permeated out of the rock every night and made the air moist, as if it were rainy. As a result, people call the rock Yeyu Shi (Rock that raining at night) and called the temple Yeyu Temple. Kong Dian Qiu Xiang (孔殿秋香; 'Autumn's fragrance in the Confucian temple'): During the Ming dynasty, there was a Confucian temple in today's Chongqing No.29 Middle School's campus. During autumn, guihua flowers would be in full bloom and bring fragrance to the temple. Jue Lin Xiao Zhong (觉林晓钟; 'The sound of bell in the morning at Juelin Temple'): Juelin Temple, located in the forest of Lianhua Mountain in Nan'an District, was built during the Song dynasty. Every morning, monks in the temple would ring the bell (just like any other monks in buddhism temples in China), and the sound of bell made people be joyful. In last years of the Ming dynasty, the temple and the bell were destroyed in wars and chaos. During the Qing dynasty, the temple was rebuilt and turned to be even more glorious. It had its own Eight Views, but the Jue Lin Xiao Zhong was removed from later lists. Bei Zhen Jin Sha (北镇金沙; 'Golden sands of the northern town'): The northern town refers to the old Jiangbei Town (part of today's Jiangbei District). Jiangbei Town was located near the place where Jialing River merges into Yangtze River. At the northern bank of where the two river merge, there is a sandy beach. Under the sun, sands on the beach shines like gold.
Traditional Twelve Views Chongqing is a major city with diverse landscapes and culture. The original eight views were not able to present all popular scenic views in Chongqing. Therefore, the number of views in the list was later expanded from eight to twelve. The traditional twelve views of Chongqing was proposed in 1760 by Wang Erjian (王尔鉴), a county-level governor of Chongqing during the reign of Qianlong Emperor in the Qing dynasty. In the new list, three of former eight views were removed due to various reasons, and several other views in and around Chongqing were added. The twelve views in Wang's list are:
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