Suzhou Hanshan Temple: Unveiling the Mysteries of this Millennium-old Monastery
Hanshan Temple is located ten miles west of Suzhou City in Fengqiao Town and belongs to the Linji school of Zen Buddhism. During the Tang Dynasty's Zhenguan era, the renowned monks Hanshan and Shide founded the temple, which houses numerous ancient relics, including stone inscriptions by Zhang Ji, stone statues of Hanshan and Shide, fragments of inscriptions written by Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin, among others. It was once one of the top ten famous temples in China.
Attraction Information:
Address: No. 24 Hanshan Temple Alley, Gusu District, Suzhou City
Ticket Price: 20 yuan per person
Opening Hours: 7:30-16:30 (Entry stops at 16:00 and the garden is cleared at 16:30)
Transportation: Take Metro Line 1 to the 9002 community bus East Line, or take bus 313/301/33 and get off at Heshan Bridge or Laifeng Bridge, then navigate to Hanshan Temple by car.
Travel Tips:
Burning Incense for Blessings
1. After entering through the west gate, the incense burning area is right at the main entrance of the Grand Hall. A family blessing incense is 80 yuan per set, which can be purchased outside the temple or brought by yourself. It is recommended to worship clockwise from all sides, using the left hand to light the incense and place it in the censer
2. To the left after entering is the Arhat Hall, where you can find an arhat with whom you feel a connection and bow three times
3. In the Bell Tower, you can ring the bell for blessings, 5 yuan for 3 rings. On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, there is a bell-ringing ceremony of 108 rings, which is said to symbolize the elimination of 108 kinds of worries
4. In the Sutra Copying Hall, you can copy sutras for free. The hall is located next to the Vegetarian Hall, and copying takes about half an hour. Once finished, place the copied sutras in the cabinets on both sides
5. Feed the koi for 10 yuan per pack. After purchasing the fish food, you can feed the koi up close and share in their good fortune. Note that one pack of feed should only be fed by one person
6. At the Dharma Items Distribution Center, you can purchase a string of eighteen beads for 50 yuan per string, with an orderly queue
Experience Review:
Outside Gusu City lies Hanshan Temple, where the midnight bell tolls reach the guest boats. I thought it was famous just for a poem, but it was a great surprise!
Travel Feelings:
Listening to the bell inside the hall truly allows one to calm down and feel the most authentic self. Just find a place to sit and watch different people praying and kneeling, experiencing the tranquility of the temple.
The Hanshan Temple in the textbook finally appeared in front of itself which "the moon fell and the frost was full of the sky, Jiangfeng fishing fire was worried about sleep. Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City, the bell to the passenger ship in the middle of the night" how can old Suzhou not go to Hanshan Temple? It is very convenient for Trip.com to buy tickets to the attractions and directly swipe the order QR code to enter the park, eliminating the trouble of queuing up to buy tickets on the spot!
A piece of Zhang Ji's "Fengqiao Night Bo" made Hanshan Temple famous! This time I came to this place, I felt that the Fengqiao outside was really beautiful, and the fingers of Zhang Ji's bronze statue were all touched. The koi in the koi pool is so big, it is simply no natural enemy, so I can grow up happily, and it is also the light of the Buddha Gate. This temple is also very prosperous. It's really fascinating!
Hanshan Temple is actually very small, but it is very famous, so there are very, very many people! Personally, I feel that the experience is not as good as the Xiyuan experience, but it is quite comfortable to copy scriptures in Hanshan Temple. The whole person is immersed in it and feels the good years. It's just that it's very early to get off work here. It is not recommended to copy the scriptures after 3:30 in the afternoon. The aunts will get off work at four o'clock. The plain noodles in the West Garden should also go early, and close at 3 pm. The cat in the West Garden can be negotiated, hahaha There is a cat talking, and a word will be mia.
The first time I went to Suzhou Hanshan Temple, there were a lot of people and it rained and there was no more stay, and there was no bell ringing. I will worship it next time. I will come to Suzhou Jingxiang often in the future. 🙏🙏🙏
The environment is still quite good. The ticket is bought one day in advance. The ticket price is considered to be low in many attractions. When I went today, it was a little rain on a cloudy day. The artistic conception of the misty rain Jiangnan was also very popular. The only downside was that many areas of the punch-in place seen from the Internet were difficult to maintain. There are too many people in line for everything.
🎃 'Suzhou Tandian·Hanshan Temple' 🎃📍🗺🎠⛳️🐾 Hanshan Temple Lane No. 24 🐾🎰 # ✨💜 Ring 👑 Environment 💜✨🍾 # ✅✅✅✅✅🎰 # ✨💚 📸 Photo 💚✨🍾 # ✅✅✅✅✅🎨 #✨🏳️🌈 Push 💎 lift 🏳️🌈✨🍾 # 🎖️🎖️🎖️🎖️🎖️☯️⇢🌸💦: Of course, I have to go to Suzhou to go to Hanshan Temple on the sixth day of the sixth day. It’s not much drizzle in the afternoon. There is not a lot of people at the gate. There is no row around the gate. I can directly enter Buddha worship. I bought a dragon. The rope god of wealth ornaments hung the rope and rang the clock. The taxi at the door was the same as the price at the entrance of the train station. Just one or two kilometers directly opened the price of 60 ... I would like to take a taxi! Or go out and take the bus! When Didi waited, I saw several taxis opening the price indiscriminately and the speechless people scolding ... corrupted. Good feeling! ! !
The Hanshan Temple in early spring is beautiful in the sun, and there are many people in the fragrance. On Sunday, there are many tourist groups. The bus is parked on the side of the road. The road is full of horn sounds, which is very uncomfortable. But it doesn't affect the mood, because the weather is too powerful. We chose to walk to the main road and call the car, otherwise it would be difficult to walk. A poem let us know the bells here, the moment inscriptions in the yard, the incense in the yard, the whole yard is floating, the ticket can be made on the same day, it is very convenient.