Lingyin Temple and Feilai Feng

Part Of The UNESCO West Lake Cultural Landscape Of Hangzhou (2011); Active Chan Buddhist Monastery · Hangzhou, Zhejiang

One of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist monasteries in China, hidden in a forested valley in the hills west of Hangzhou's West Lake. Tradition says it was founded in 328 CE by the Indian monk Huili, who looked at the limestone crag across the stream and declared that it must have flown here from India - giving it the name Feilai Feng, the Peak That Flew From Afar. That peak is now carved with hundreds of Buddhist sculptures made between the 10th and 14th centuries, the finest collection of its kind in southern China, including a much-loved laughing Maitreya with a round belly, set among caves, springs and old trees. Across the stream, the temple, also called Yunlin Chan Temple, rises in grand halls up the hillside; its Mahavira Hall shelters a seated Buddha carved from camphor wood and gilded, around 20 metres tall, and a newer hall holds five hundred bronze arhats. The eccentric monk Ji Gong, hero of Chinese folk tales, was ordained here. Today the temple draws huge crowds of worshippers, including young people praying for luck in exams and jobs, alongside monks keeping a full daily round of prayer.

1 Fayun Lane, Lingyin Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Daily 7:30-17:30, last entry 17:00. Free entry by real-name timed reservation made 1-7 days ahead; festival days may have special arrangements.

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