Lingyin Temple

Lingyin Temple, founded in 328 CE, is one of the most important Buddhist monastic complexes in southern China, set at the base of Feilai Feng ('Peak Flown From Afar') in the hills west of West Lake in Hangzhou's Xihu District. Visitors typically pass through the limestone grottoes of Feilai Feng first, where more than 300 Buddhist and Taoist rock carvings dating from the 10th to 14th centuries are cut into the cliff face and cave walls, before crossing a stream into the temple grounds proper. The temple is arranged as a series of halls climbing the hillside: the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the Mahavira Hall housing a 20-meter gilded statue of Sakyamuni Buddha carved from camphor wood, and the Hall of the Medicine Buddha further up the slope. A visit typically takes two to three hours, including time at the Feilai Feng carvings, which many visitors rush past on the way in and should revisit on the way out. Camphor and gingko trees, some centuries old, shade the courtyards, and the smell of incense from worshippers is constant. The temple is busiest from mid-morning through early afternoon, when tour buses from central Hangzhou arrive; weekday mornings right after the 7AM opening are quietest, before the incense smoke thickens and the courtyards fill. Photography is permitted in the outdoor courtyards and at the Feilai Feng carvings but restricted inside the main halls out of respect for active worship. Because the site combines a working monastery with a rock-carving gallery, visitors interested in either Buddhist architecture or Song-to-Yuan-dynasty stone sculpture can spend the bulk of their visit at whichever draws them, though the combined ticket covers both.