Lingyin Temple · Feilai Peak (Peak Flown From Afar)
Founded in the first year of the Xianhe era of Eastern Jin (326 AD) by the Indian monk Huili, who marveled that 'immortals and spirits were hidden here', hence the name: expanded under the Five Dynasties Wuyue Kingdom into one of the Five Mountains of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in Jiangnan; the tale of Ji Gong (Daoji) taking vows here is a much-loved story
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 07:00-18:00 (peak season)
- Ticket
- Feilai Peak CNY 45 + Lingyin incense ticket CNY 30
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
Founded in the first year of the Xianhe era of Eastern Jin (326 AD) by the Indian monk Huili, who marveled that 'immortals and spirits were hidden here', hence the name: expanded under the Five Dynasties Wuyue Kingdom into one of the Five Mountains of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in Jiangnan; the tale of Ji Gong (Daoji) taking vows here is a much-loved story. Feilai Peak holds 338 cliff-carved Buddhist figures (Five Dynasties to Yuan Dynasty); the Southern Song big-bellied Maitreya is the earliest such statue in China, and the grotto art is the finest in Jiangnan. Feilai Peak CNY 45 plus Lingyin incense ticket CNY 30; open 07:00-18:00 (peak season); take Bus 7/1314 or the metro then transfer to a bus; during Spring Festival pilgrims number in the hundreds of thousands — go on a weekday morning.
Getting there: Bus 7/1314 or metro transfer to bus
Photos
More in Hangzhou
- Xixi National Wetland
Boat maze of reeds and water villages west of the city.
- West Lake
UNESCO lake of pagodas, causeways and arched bridges; boat or bike the shoreline.
- Lingyin Temple
Buddhist temple founded 326 AD amid grottoes of Song-era rock carvings.
- Longjing Tea Village
Terraced Dragon Well tea fields; tastings at family farms.
- West Lake Loop
A World Heritage Site (inscribed in 2011): an urban lake with misty hills on three sides and the city on the fourth, dredged in succession by two of its governors, Bai Juyi and Su Dongpo; Su Shi's verse "wishing to compare West Lake to the beauty Xi Shi" made it a byword for Eastern aesthetics
- Su Causeway & Bai Causeway
Su Causeway, 2.8 km long, was built from dredged silt when Su Shi dredged West Lake; six bridges span the lake, with peach trees and willows lining both banks—"Misty Willows over Six Bridges" is the top spring scene