China’s Architectural Wonder Has Been Standing for 700 Years

The Guanyin Pavilion was built to last. And last. And last. This temple has sat atop a large reef rock in the middle of China’s Yangtze River in Ezhou for 700 years. When the water rises and covers the foundation, it looks like the structure is floating. Also known as the Goddess of Mercy Pavilion, the temple isn’t open to the public nowadays. But we’ve captured a glorious bird’s eye view of this historical treasure, holding its own against the swirling current.

#Uncharted #China #EzhouCity

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[chichan]

Guanyin Pavilion is actually built out of local corals and basalt rock.
Basalt rocks are formed by a rapid Cooling of basaltic lava.
Basaltic lava, or mafic lava, is molten rock enriched in iron and magnesium. And that's how it is.

[skyyzz]

people travel for hours, film for hours, just to make a 1 minute video ...

[tacos]

Great big story??? I feel like i got cut off and we only hit the intro

[UDONTCME]

Any detail about who made it and why would have been nice.

[HarveyDent]

How many people got the to end and said, "that's it?"

[user]

Meeting in an office between Editor of Great Big News and an online journalist: Come in and take a seat. Right, I would like you to fly to China, take a minute's worth of drone footage of this temple in a river and fly back. Have it on my desk by Thursday.

[lorrieharkey]

Mildly Infuriating: Required ads on a 1 minute video.

[someguyudontknow]

Great big story: *makes video that lastS **1:11*
Ima head out

[josva]

Untouched pieces of chinese history like this are beautiful. Respect your heritage and those who came before no matter where your from or who's in charge.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

That is incredible, 700 years. Amazing

[MaddRamm]

So tell us more about it!!! I wanted a Great Big Story about the cool temple in the middle of a dangerous annual flooding river!

[bscatcher]

And people say Chinese stuff doesn't last very long.

[verit]

It's beautiful, It's lucky it survived the Cultural Revolution!

[BarManFesteiro]

Meanwhile their modern buildings are falling apart

[BeepyBeepus]

We need a story on the people who actually swim to see it...can't imagine swimming in so much pollution

[CholaBella]

I love these videos but I desperately need them to be longer.

[MRSketch]

You know what its really a testament to? Two things that will make a building last a SUPER LONG time..
Being built on a solid foundation, then having a great roof that sheds water away from the building, or
contains it some how so its not a problem.
In this case, having a foundation of rock, was a smart move.

[Dwesk]

funnily enough there was a place riddled with similar pavilions on Uncharted 2

[principlesforcartography]

There is also a rock temple that periodically submerged in the middle of Yangtze River. Luckily, those buildings were made of rock and stone. Many ancient Asian buildings just vanished because they were made of wood.

[Bigfoot_With_Internet_Access]

Middle of the Yangtze river: *Exists*

Ancient Chinese: Yep, perfect place to build a temple