Xichan Temple

Founded in the Tang Xiantong era ("lychee trees through four dynasties, passed down from the Song"), one of Fuzhou's Five Great Chan Monasteries; Bao'en Pagoda (a 67 m multi-story stone pagoda); thousand-year-old lychee trees; a hundred-pillared corridor and Jade Buddha Hall. The temple was founded in the eighth year of the Tang Xiantong era (867), rising and falling several times through the Song, Ming and Qing, and has long been known by the saying "lychee trees through four dynasties, passed down from the Song" as one of Fuzhou's Five Great Chan Monasteries. A hundred-pillared corridor stretches through the temple, and the reclining Buddha of white jade from Myanmar enshrined in the Jade Buddha Hall is solemn and exquisite; the 67 m Bao'en Pagoda, a multi-tiered stone structure, is the most striking landmark in western Fuzhou, and climbing it affords distant views of the Min River. The thousand-year-old lychee trees are said to have been planted in the Song, their red fruit hanging in summer one of the old temple's sights; the literati tradition of "tasting lychees at Yishan" continues to this day, and ancient trees cast deep shade by the release pond in front of the temple — a realm of quiet within the bustling city.

Getting there: Bus / taxi (Gongye Road)