Nanshan Temple and the Guanyin of the South Sea

Buddhist Temple Complex On The Sanya Coast With A 108 Metre Statue Of Guanyin; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Sanya, Hainan

A vast Buddhist complex on the tropical south coast of Hainan, built in the 1990s on a site where the Tang monk Jianzhen is said to have sheltered after being blown off course on one of his failed attempts to reach Japan. The temple halls step up a hillside above the sea in Tang style, all sweeping tiled roofs, red columns and courtyards of frangipani, with the South China Sea filling the horizon behind them. Its centrepiece stands offshore: a statue of Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, 108 metres tall on its own islet reached by a causeway, with three faces looking out to sea and inland, one holding a rosary, one a lotus and one a scripture. Completed in 2005 after six years of work, it is among the tallest statues on Earth and can be climbed partway inside to a shrine. Around the temple spread gardens of longevity culture, a vegetarian restaurant, a small jade Guanyin in a separate hall, and coastal paths looking across to Sanya's bays. Electric carts carry visitors across the large site.

Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone, Yazhou District, Sanya, Sanya, Hainan, China

Daily about 8:00-17:00, with last entry at 17:00 and the halls and statue interior closing then; electric carts run through opening hours.

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