Guiyuan Temple

Built in 1651 (8th year of the Shunzhi reign, Qing dynasty), “a wondrous realm west of the Han River” (the custom of counting arhats — Hall of Five Hundred Arhats laid out in a grid), calligraphy by Master Changming; a top prayer destination in Wuhan at Chinese New Year. Founded in 1651 (8th year of the Shunzhi reign, Qing dynasty), its name “Guiyuan” (“all things return to one”) marks it as first among Wuhan's four great Buddhist monasteries, long honored as “a wondrous realm west of the Han River”. Guiyuan Temple's signature experience is “counting the arhats”: the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats arranges 500 gold-plated bronze arhat statues in a grid layout — start from any statue and count up to the one matching your age, whose expression forecasts your fortunes for the coming year, full of folk charm; the temple's Sutra Repository treasures Buddhist texts such as the Dragon Tripitaka, and stone inscriptions of Master Changming's calligraphy are found throughout the temple. During Chinese New Year, worshippers at Guiyuan Temple number in the hundreds of thousands, with queues for the first incense stretching through the night — one of Wuhan's grandest folk events; on ordinary days it is quiet and pleasant to visit, and counting arhats, browsing the sutras and trying the vegetarian meal fit neatly into half a day.

Getting there: Bus or taxi (Cuiwei Road)