Lingyin Temple

Lingyin Temple is a working Chan Buddhist monastery founded in 326 CE, set against a wooded hillside west of West Lake in Hangzhou's Xihu District. The temple complex climbs the slope through a series of restored halls, the largest of which, the Hall of the Great Hero, houses a 20-meter gilded camphor-wood statue of Sakyamuni Buddha carved in 1956, one of the tallest sitting Buddha statues made from a single wood block in China. Visitors pass through the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the main worship halls, and a monastery courtyard where incense burns continuously, then can continue up forested paths behind the temple toward smaller shrines and pavilions on the hillside. A full visit, walking through the main halls and at least part of the hillside grounds, takes 2 to 3 hours; those also visiting the adjacent Feilai Feng Grottoes on the same ticketed approach path should allow extra time. The temple is busiest with tour groups and incense-burning visitors from mid-morning through early afternoon, particularly on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month and during Buddhist festivals, when the courtyards fill with worshippers. Arriving shortly after the 7:30 AM opening gives the quietest walk through the main halls before tour buses arrive. The paved courtyard in front of the Hall of the Great Hero is the best vantage point for photographing the hall's carved eaves and the wooded hillside rising behind it.