Hualin Temple (Five Hundred Arhats Hall)

Hualin Temple sits down a narrow lane off Xiajiu Road in Liwan District, its history traditionally traced to 526 CE when the Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma is said to have landed near Guangzhou and preached at the site before continuing his journey north, where he would later become associated with the founding of Chan Buddhism. The temple's most striking feature, the Five Hundred Arhats Hall built in the final years of the Daoguang reign in the mid-19th century, is a maze-like structure of interconnecting corridors lined with individual carved and gilded statues representing five hundred enlightened disciples of the Buddha, each rendered with distinct facial expressions, postures and attributes. Visitors enter the temple grounds through a modest gate, pass through smaller prayer halls housing incense burners and Buddha statues, and then navigate the labyrinthine arhat hall, where local tradition holds that visitors can find a statue resembling themselves among the five hundred figures. A visit through the temple grounds and the Arhats Hall typically takes about an hour. The clearest photo opportunities are within the Arhats Hall itself, where rows of golden statues line the corridors in repeating patterns, though photography etiquette should be observed given the hall's active use for worship. The temple sits within Liwan's dense old-city fabric, near the Shangxiajiu shopping arcade, making it easy to combine with a broader walk through the historic Liwan District streets, with weekday mornings offering the quietest conditions within the maze-like hall.