#AtoZChallenge in China: Bāxiān guòhǎi (八仙过海 Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea)

We start today’s #AtoZChallenge with a tale in Changdao County that has become a popular story in China. 
While on the way to Miaodao village, or technically one of the islands that compose the county, our tour manager shared with us a story that happened there over a thousand years ago…
B is for Bāxiān guòhǎi
Among the 32 islands that compose the present-day Changdao County, 沙门岛 (Shamen Island), now called as 庙岛 (Miaodao or Miao Island) was the one where prisoners had been kept during the Song dynasty. For a time food in the island was abundant as it was supplied by the empire. But nearby local governments kept on sending prisoners that the population on Shamen Island exploded, straining food supply. That opted the emperor to order that food would be given to only 300 prisoners, and that the remaining ones would be executed.
On one of those days, a group of 50 prisoners was selected to be killed. When news of their impending death reached the prisoners, they devised a plan to get out of Shamen Island — by swimming across the Bohai Sea to Penglai Island. The current location of Penglai is unknown, but there’s a port city of the same name in the mainland about 15 kilometers away.
Out of the 50 prisoners, only 8 survived. Their story was passed on to locals, who called them the Eight Immortals Who Crossed the Sea — or Baxian guo hai.

According to the tour leader, the eight immortals’ journey became part of Chinese culture and was adopted into stories, books, and films. One variation of the story tells us the characteristics of the immortals — a man and a woman; one who’s old and another young; an emperor and a beggar; and a poor person and a rich one. Another adaptation links it to Taoist traditions.
The Long Island Trip
Day 1 was actually long! We toured a lot of places on the island chain, starting on the main island itself, Changdao. From there, we took a ferry ride to Miandao Village — the setting of the Eight Immortals story. The ride to Miandao was fantastic as we were joined by lots of seagulls!

On Miandao, we reached an old temple, which was similar to the ones in Beijing. The island itself is small and the village on it is full of fisherfolk.

We went back to Changdao and did a good 2km hike to Its southernmost tip. There, the island peninsula changes from spectacular limestone cliffs to islets (or whatever they are called) that have an S formation. That itself is a borderline between the Bohai and Yellow Seas. It would have been better if the skies were clear; though Day 1 looked nice, the whole island had been shrouded in a thin layer of smog. And that itself was kind of a nice thing since we had this spectacular view of the sunset — not by the beach but in front of our hotel

Day 2 was equally packed with kilometers of walks and hikes, first starting in Jiuzhang Cliff on the same island. We had some nice views of the Bohai Sea and limestone formations, also to this place called Immortal Bridge where the Eight Immortals were said to had set off on their escape. After lunch, we set off to Wang Fu Jiao Reef, a place that has a limestone cliff resembling a face of a woman holding a baby. We spent the whole afternoon by the reef and went back to the hotel by sunset.

Since our return journey will take 12 hours again, some of us decided to go to a nearby supermarket to buy stuff. “Nearby” on the island is not that near — in fact we walked almost 3km to the “nearest” supermarket. But along our way, we exchanged our travel stories and appreciation of our current trip. Not to sound so cheesy but hearing others’ travel stories is in itself an eye-opening experience that makes you want to travel more and escape the usual hustle of city living.
By swimming, just like the Eight Immortals did? Why not?
In tomorrow’s #AtoZChallenge, I will talk about this ubiquitous Chinese food that’s being blamed for adding pollution in the city! But hey, that’s something perfect when paired with beer!
Thank you for reading this far! Let’s talk about your recent experience too in the comments section below.