Hualin Temple (huá lín sì 华林寺), the cradle of Buddhism in China, is located in Guangzhou (guǎng zhōu 广州), with a long history of more than 1400 years. It is said that Dharma (dá mó 达摩) made his way across the Indian Sea and Pacific Ocean so as to come to China to do missionary work. After his arriving in Guangzhou, he built the Hualin Temple. It is of great significance in cultural exchanges between the China and India.

Hualin Temple was constructed during Southern Song Dynasty (nán sòng 南宋). It was originally called Xilai (visitor from the west) Temple (xī lái ān 西来庵). In the year 1654 the temple was expanded and renamed Hualin Temple. It was then one of the five largest Buddhist temples in Guangzhou, with a large team of monks.

There are two stone lions and drums in front of the entrance. And there are four Chinese characters “华林禅寺"(huá lín chán sì) engraved above the door. And there is a couplet on the stone pillars on both sides, which reads that “华严世界观十万诸佛，林茏鹫山隐五百应真".

Entering the entrance of Hualin Temple, there are stone pagodas on both ends. And there are a row of bungalow to the south in which there is the Gongde Hall (gōng dé táng 功德堂), beside which there is the Dharma Hall (dá mó táng 达摩堂).

The Dharma Hall is reconstructed in 1990s in 20th century, with the purpose to commemorate Dharma. The hall looks northward and there is a wooden couplet on the stone pillars in front of the hall. It reads: “东土禅宗传妙法, 西域宝甸辟华林", which praised the great contribution made by Dharma in introducing the Buddhism to China. On the white stone base in center of the northern wall there is a statue of Dharma. On the eastern and western wall there hang two curved pictures which describe the legend of Dharma.

Since there is no Daxiongbaodian Hall (dà xióng bǎo diàn 大雄宝殿) in Hualin Temple, the Five-Hundred-Arhat Hall (wǔ bǎi luó hàn táng 五百罗汉堂) is taken as the main hall. It was built in the last year of Emperor Daoguang (dào guāng dì 道光帝, 1821-1861). The statues of the Arhats are lifelike, in different postures and moods. There is also a statue of Marco Polo, the Italian explorer who came to China in the thirteenth century.

Hualin Temple
Location: No. 31 Hualinsi Front Street (huá lín sì qián jiē 华林寺前街), Xiajiu Road (xià jiǔ lù 下九路), Liwan District (lì wān qū 荔湾区), Guangzhou
Admission: free
Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Tel: 86-20-81393175
Traffic: Subway: Line 1
            Bus: No.79, 82, 6, 61, 3, 530, 2, 823, 556