Discover China

Last weekend, I visited the village of Chinese friends in WuXiang (武乡) County, Shanxi Province, about three hours drive south of provincial capital Taiyuan. It’s an area well away from the international tourist sites and where few other foreigners have been, with many fascinating and very friendly ancient villages. On Saturday we explored a spectacular section of the TaiHang Mountains east of the village. The TaiHang Mountains are a 400 km long range that runs north-south along the eastern boundary of Shanxi Province. As well as stunning natural scenery, a great surprise was to hear Buddhist chanting wafting through the valleys. Rounding a spur, we came across a remote Buddhist temple inside a cave with sacred spring and monks cabins along the cliff line. On Sunday we went to the nearby TaiHang Dragon cave, a local attraction, which was also impressive.

TaiHang Mountains

TaiHang Mountains

Buddhist Cave Temple, TaiHang Mountains

Buddhist Cave Temple and Monk’s Cabins

Interior, Buddhist Cave Temple

Sacred Spring, Buddhist Cave Temple

Sacred Spring, Buddhist Cave Temple

Entrance, TaiHang Dragon Cave

TaiHang Dragon Cave

TaiHang Dragon Cave

In 1983 a list of the “142 key Buddhist Temples in the Han Area of China” was produced, and since 2009 James Baquet has been visiting them during his holidays. His fascinating website Chinese Pilgrimage features images and brief descriptions from his “epic” three-year journey to these sometimes exquisite, always interesting temples.

You can also read the stories of James’ visits to many of these temples and other sites in the travel section of the Shenzhen Daily newspaper.

James Baquet is an American living in Shenzhen and many of his great insights into Shenzhen and its history and Chinese temples have previously been featured in Discover China News.

The next destination in James Baquet’s excellent series of Shenzhen Daily articles on Chinese temples and halls is Shanghai:

• Chenxiang Pavilion, Shanghai
• Longhua Temple, Shanghai
• Yuanming Lecture Hall, Shanghai
• Jing’an Temple, Shanghai
• Yufo Temple, Shanghai

For previous articles in James Baquet’s series on Chinese temples and halls see Temples of Putuo Mountain and Ningbo, Hangzhou’s Jingci Temple and Exploring Shenzhen’s Temples.

Putuo Mountain is an island in Zhoushan prefecture of Zhejiang Province, and is one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism. It can be reached by boat from the major cities of Ningbo, also located in Zhejiang Province, and Shanghai. James Baquet continues his excellent series of Shenzhen Daily articles on Chinese temples with stories of his visits to temples and other sites on Putuo Mountain and temples in and around Ningbo:

• Huiji Temple, Putuo Mountain
• Puji Temple, Putuo Mountain
• Fayu Temple, Putuo Mountain
• Nantianmen, Putuo Mountain
• Tiantong Temple, Ningbo
• Ayuwang Temple, Ningbo
• Qita Temple, Ningbo

For previous articles in James Baquet’s series of articles on Chinese temples see Hangzhou’s Jingci Temple and Exploring Shenzhen’s Temples.

Songshan is considered to be the central sacred mountain of China. At the foot of this 1500 metre high mountain, close to the city of Dengfeng in Henan province and spread over a 40 square-kilometre circle, stand eight clusters of buildings and sites. These buildings are reflections of different ways of perceiving the centre of heaven and earth and the power of the mountain as a centre for religious devotion. Find out more about this amazing World Heritage listed location by watching the online videos of the CNTV Journeys in Time six-part Series: Mount Songshan.

I enjoyed a visit to the Songshan Shaolin Temple and its ancient pagoda forest as part of my travels through Anhui, Henan and Zhejiang provinces in 2009 (see story and pictures).