On February 9th a local celebrity here celebrated his birthday. No one really knows how old he is. No one seems able to tell us EXACTLY who he is (was), but he's a pretty important fellow around here. Who is this man below? Give up?
His name is Fuxi and he is supposedly the first ancestor of the people here...we think. Sorta like Adam from the garden of Eden. There is a rather large temple complex in the city that
houses several of his images, some small, some larger than life.
Fuxi is always depicted wearing leaves as his covering and has a good bit of facial hair. Several thousand people flock here each year from all over China, Korea and Japan to pay homage to Fuxi (and ask him for blessings for financial prosperity and health in the coming year). They bring offerings of fruit, assorted drinks and money which are presented before his images along with burning incense.
The folks here take Fuxi very seriously. He is a local hero and adds to an already ancient history. The area around our city has a history dating back reportedly over 7,000+ years. Now that's old!
