Hangzhou Temples

This is our second day in Hangzhou. The morning was spent sight-seeing, and the afternoon at Zhejiang University. The green scenery still dripping after yesterday's rain was a welcome change from dry and dusty Beijing. We spent the morning at the Peak Flying-from Afar and Linying Temple (Temple of Soul's Retreat). The cliffs and caves of the Peak Flying from Afar contain over 340 Buddhas carved out of the rock face, from thumbnail size to several feet tall. A few lower down were damaged in the Cultural Revolution (we were told) but most are intact, many with elaborate decorations.


Buddha Statue and Admirer


Cliffside Buddhas


Finger's of a Buddha


Laughing Buddha and Attendants


Leafy Buddha

Linying Temple is an active Buddhist temple with four large halls rising up the hillside, with immense Buddha statues in various incarnations and the associated guardian figures. The burning incense of the visiting believers made the air both fragrant and smokey.


Entrance to Linying Temple


One of the Four Kings of the Sky


Burning Incense


Wall Relief


Temple Roofs and Green Trees