I went to the temple with the cab. I was still trying to get my bearings so taking a cab was the best thing to do. Cabs in Xiamen are cheap, You pay between 10-20 CNY for within the city trips. However, I have learned that the buses go at a flat rate of 1 CNY anywhere in the city! So going back to my hotel from the temple I took a bus.
Nobody speaks English in Xiamen. If there is, then it’s your lucky day, haha. In my experience, many of the locals would go out of their way to help you. I asked a student how to get to Zongshan Lu which is near to my hotel. He does not speak English but when I said Zongshan Lu and pointing to the map and then the bus, he understood me. He told me which buses that would pass by Zongshan Lu and even urged me to hurry up because the bus was about to leave, haha. It is good that the buses are numbered and numbers are universal.
Anyway, in Naputuo I was able to visit the temples on the ground and even lighted an incense stick. The incense stick are free and they usually use it to pray for something. I am a forever curious cat so I tend to just follow and go with the flow =)
The temple is also a huge park. At the back of it is a rocky hillside, the Wulaofeng aka the Five Old Men chain of hills with an abundance of greenery, grottoes and nooks and crannies for people to sit down and rest, have a chat, a little picnic or meditate. It’s being one with nature here, although you can clearly see that the park is man-made.
It was a busy day when I visited. There were many tourists, albeit local tourists from other provinces and cities in China. I tell you – China does not need foreign tourists, they have enough local ones!
Entrance is free of charge. To learn more about this temple that was founded in the Tang dynasty, please go here: Nanputuo Temple
I suggest at least half a day visit to this temple, especially if you wish to climb the hillside and maybe have some tea or lunch at its vegetarian restaurant. I had tea here which I will post in my next entry.
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Outside of the temple entrance you can find the incense burners where many pray and do their customary rituals.
This is the Hall of the Heavenly Kings.
Beautiful (dragon) details on top of the roofs of the temple.
Inner courtyard of the temple after the entering the Hall of the Heavenly Kings. To the right you will see the Eighteen Arhats.
The Mahavira Hall. These are massive buddhas.
The Mahakaruna Hall.
The Sutra Pavilion and Dharma Hall.
Going up the Five Old Men hills touching the cloud.
Turtle mirroring =)
You need to be fit to climb the Five Old Men hills.
This is not yet the top =)
I did not bother to go all the way up. Far ahead in the distance you can see the buildings of Xiamen University.
I need to deep dive my learning about Buddhism and Chinese folk religion.
The park in front of the temple.
Travel Period: December 2016
Destination: Xiamen (Fujian), China
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.
