Is Niushou Mountain in Nanjing fun?

The Niushou Mountain Scenic Area in Nanjing is a tourist attraction worth visiting, with many interesting attractions worth visiting. I highly recommend friends to visit, so let’s take a look at the must-see attractions in Niushou Mountain Scenic Area. See below for details.

1. Foding Palace

As one of the cores of the Foding Holy Land area, Foding Palace is located at the west peak of Niushou Mountain. It is built on a historical mine with a total construction area of ??about 136,000 square meters. Together with the Foding Pagoda, it constitutes a new scene of Niutou West Peak, echoes with Niutou East Peak, and reproduces the magnificent scenery of Niutou's "twin peaks and twin palaces". The entire Foding Palace enshrines the Buddha's top bone relics. The exterior is divided into two parts: the large dome and the small dome, which means external support and internal support. The large dome is shaped like the Buddha's cassock covering the small dome, symbolizing the Buddha's immeasurable blessing; the lower half of the small dome is shaped like a lotus throne, and the upper half is shaped like a Mani orb. The top and bottom are combined into one, forming the sacred image of a 'lotus holding a treasure'.

The interior of Foding Palace is composed of a Zen temple on the ground and an underground palace. The underground palace is divided into two spaces: the Relic Hall and the Relic Palace. The entire Foding Palace is not only the main place for believers to collect and worship relics, but also a cultural display place where relic culture and world Buddhist Zen culture are presented through various artistic techniques. It has brought together a team of first-class experts from the fields of religion, art, and architecture from all over the country to achieve the grand goal of "a new heritage of world Buddhist culture and a new landscape of contemporary architectural art."

2. Zen Grand View

The Zen Grand View is 112 meters long from north to south, 62 meters wide from east to west, with an internal net height of about 41.2 meters, and three floors above ground. The entire space covers an area of ??more than 6,000 square meters, is oval in shape, and uses yellow, white, and gray as the keynotes to lay out the world's landscape, allowing people to meditate while walking. It consists of three parts: the Zen Garden where the Buddha was born, the Zen Garden where he became a monk, and the Lotus Theater in the middle, which shows traces of the Buddha's life.

The top of the Zen grand view is the Huluo dome, whose design comes from the branches of the Huluo tree when the Buddha entered nirvana. The dome is fully covered with transparent film and lights, which can create the first ray of sunshine in the morning, the warm sunshine at noon, the colorful clouds in the evening, and the moonlight at night. In the center of the Reclining Buddha is a 7.5-meter-long copper statue of Sakyamuni Reclining Buddha. Its surface is made of white marble and can rotate slowly 360 degrees, showing the Buddha's peaceful nirvana. To the north and south of the theater are two Zen gardens. To the south is the Zen Temple, which symbolizes the birth of Buddha. Its overall shape is like a lotus with an endless Ashoka tree in the middle. To the north is the Zen Garden showing the Buddha's enlightenment, with an immortal Bodhi tree in the center. On the ground, black and white sandstone is used as a metaphor for the chaos of the world and the purity of Buddha's light.

3. Foding Temple

Foding Temple There is a temple in Niushou Mountain that began in the early Southern Dynasties. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, the temple was large-scale and named Fodong Temple. It was the birthplace of "Niutou Zen" before Zen Buddhism. After the Northern Song Dynasty, it was renamed Hongjue Temple. The Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed by war, and the Ming Dynasty was revived. By 1856, the temple was destroyed by the Hongyang Rebellion, and incense was discontinued for a hundred years. In order to inherit traditional culture, Jiangning District rebuilt a cultural resort. The mountain was opened in 2012 and completed in 2015. At the suggestion of cultural celebrities and Buddhist monks, the temple was named Foding Temple after the relics enshrined in the Niushou Mountain Underground Palace. The Buddhist temple is one of the main buildings in Niushou Mountain, covering an area of ??68 acres and a construction area of ??nearly 40 acres. It imitates the Tang Dynasty style and has a traditional central axis pattern. There are seven main halls in the temple, and there are monk bars, temples and other buildings on the periphery.

4. Foding Pagoda

Foding Pagoda is one of the landmark buildings in the Foding Holy Land, about 88 meters high.

The construction area at the top of the tower is 5065 square meters

The hidden lake indicates that it will rain. A road has been built around Hidden Lake where visitors can walk around the lake. Rye grass and fruit grass are planted around the square, growing alternately and being evergreen all year round.

5. Yinlong Lake

Zenlin Road, with a total length of 3.7 kilometers, is an ecological tour route covering multiple ecological landscape areas with beautiful scenery. The Zen Forest Road Scenic Area is a natural oxygen bar for tourists to experience nature, breathe fresh air, and relax body and mind.

6. Chanlin Road Scenic Area

The Niutou Zen Cultural Park is built on the ruins of Hongjue Temple. It is the birthplace of the Niutou Sect of Hongjue Temple. It was built in the second year of Tian Jian (503), Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty. Its predecessor was Buddha Cave Temple, also called Hongjue Temple. In the Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid the name of Emperor Qianlong, it was renamed Hongjue Temple. During the Anti-Japanese War, Hongjue Temple was burned down by the Japanese army.

The core attraction of Niutou Zen Cultural Park is Hongjue Temple Tower, which is 45 meters high and has seven floors and eight sides. It is the oldest imitation wood structure brick tower in Nanjing. The gilded Lama Pagoda unearthed in the underground palace of Hongjue Temple Pagoda in 1956 is one of the treasures of the Nanjing Museum. It is 0.35 meters high and Xumi Temple is 0.16 meters high. The bottom of the tower is engraved with the inscriptions "Eternally offered to Honglu Temple in Niushou Mountain, Jinling" and "Eternally offered to Monk Ximen Li Fushan, the Imperial Commissioner". Also unearthed were jade bottles, golden reclining Buddhas, celadon jars and other cultural relics, all of which are now collected in the Nanjing Museum. Then, the Nanjing Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Committee sent people to investigate the inscriptions on the brick tower walls and found more than 70 inscriptions from tourists during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1957, the Hongjue Temple Pagoda was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province.

7. Niutou Zen Cultural Park

Hongjue Temple was originally called Foku Temple and was built in Liang Dynasty.

In the second year of Tian Jian's reign (503), Hongjue Temple was located at the southern foot of Niushou Mountain and was later renamed Puchue Temple.

After Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, he built a Xiandong Temple under the Fodong Temple. Therefore, Niushou Mountain is also called "Fairy Cave Mountain". Monk Farong of the Tang Dynasty gave lectures here and founded the "Niutou Zen", which became famous. During the Southern Tang Dynasty, the Pilu Hall, the Buddhist Pagoda, the Heavenly King Hall, and the Baiyun Ladder were expanded on the basis of Puchue Temple. It is grand in scale and prosperous in popularity. In the early years of Hongwu, the temple underwent large-scale renovations and was later renamed Focao Temple and then Hongjue Temple. And carve Buddha statues and figures on the cliff to form cliff stone carvings. However, after hundreds of years of erosion and weathering, only ruins remain in the temple, and the cliff carvings are difficult to identify.

8. Hongjue Temple

The Hongjue Temple Tower is a typical Jiangnan brick and wood structure tower. This star anise. In the ancient culture of Jiangsu, hollow tubular structures with interlaced internal and interlayer angles are common. The first one is the twin towers of Luohan Courtyard in Suzhou, built in the Song Dynasty, with seven-story octagonal towers. Yangzhou Wenfeng Pagoda, built in the 10th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1582), is also octagonal and has seven floors; the Longshan Pagoda in Jintan County was rebuilt in the 40th year of Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1701); All have this structure. It overcomes the weaknesses of the early hollow cylinder structure, with an open outer wall and staggered interlayers, thereby avoiding top-to-bottom longitudinal cracking and damage outside the door (or window).

The underground palace buried at the bottom of the tower: On July 14, 1956, tourists discovered the underground palace at the bottom of the Hongjue Temple tower. There were cultural relics under the upper circle. After excavation at the Nanjing Museum, a gold-plated Lama Pagoda was unearthed, 0.35 meters high, and the Xumi Temple was 0.16 meters high. Engraved on the bottom of the tower are the words "Jinling Niushou Mountain Honglu Temple will stay forever to support you" and "Eunuch Ximen Li Fushan, a disciple of the Royal Supervisor of Buddhism, presents his courtesy". There are four gates in the pagoda, and there are Buddha statues of Sakyamuni and Veda in the niches. The tower is equipped with a thirteenth zodiac wheel, a treasure cover and a gourd top. At the same time, there are Buddhist statues, jade bottles and other cultures

9. Hongjue Temple Pagoda

The tomb of Zheng He is located at the southern foot of Niushou Mountain in the Southern Tang Dynasty, to the west of Erling. This is the tomb of Zheng He, the eunuch who was the navigator Sanbao of the Ming Dynasty. From 755 to 79000, the tomb was at the foot of the Ci Burial Mountain in Yongle, surrounded by Zutang, Niu Shou, Cuiping, Daishan and Wushan to the east, north and west. In front of the tomb, you can see the Yangtze River flowing eastward. In 1985, to commemorate the 580th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages to the West, it was rebuilt by the Jiangning County Culture and Education Bureau. Next to Zheng He's tomb, there is an exhibition room to display related cultural relics.

10. Zhenghe Cultural Park

The Yue Fei Anti-Jin War Base starts from Hanfu Mountain near the Qinhuai River, 500 meters east of Tiexin Bridge, and ends at the main peak of Niushou Mountain. It remains intermittently for about 4,200 meters. . It is more than 2,000 meters long from the foot of Niushou Mountain to the ridge. The width of the base varies from 1.5 to 3 meters and the height is approximately 1 meter. Therefore, the base is made of local reddish-brown stone, winding and staggered. Some sections of the road have obvious artificial traces; due to the age, wind and rain, some areas have been scattered and collapsed, making it difficult to find. It has been more than 860 years since Yue Fei attacked Niushou Mountain, and the remains of the old base have become good material for patriotism education for young people. In spring, people can enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers. Not only can they appreciate Buddhist cultural treasures such as Hongjue Temple, but they can also visit the ancient battlefield in person to mourn Yue Fei's resistance to the Jin Dynasty, remember the national hero, and receive patriotic education.

11. Yue Fei’s Anti-Golden Fort

Taohua Creek is a new landscape created by Niushou Mountain Scenic Area. A small stream winds down from Qianlong Lake, with gurgling water and peach blossoms on both sides. In spring, the flower buds gradually bloom, and a sea of ??flowers is intoxicating. The entire Taohua Creek is located at the east entrance of Niushou Mountain, with a total area of ??14.87 hectares, about 220 acres. The peach blossom varieties are selected from 26 kinds of peach blossoms suitable for Nanjing.