Qixia Mountain (qī xiá shān 栖霞山), also named as Sheshan Mountain (shè shān 摄山), is located at the northeast suburb area of Nanjing City (nán jīng 南京), Jiangsu Province (jiāng sū shěng 江苏省). With mountains all around, Qixia Mountain is facing Yangtze River (cháng jiāng 长江). It covers an area of about 860 hectares, with the highest peak of 286 meters, which is called Sanmao Peak (sān máo fēng 三茅峰). Qixia Mountain is reputed as “the first bright and elegant mountain of Jinling”(jīn líng dì yī xiù míng shān 金陵第一明秀山) by Emperor Qianlong (qán long dì 乾隆帝).

There are Mirror Lake (míng jìng hú 明镜湖), Qixia Temple (qī xiá sì 栖霞寺), the Thousand-Buddha Cliff (qiān fó yán 千佛岩), the Sheli Tower (shě lì tǎ 舍利塔), the Stone Carving for tombs of Southern Dynasty (nán cháo shí kè 南朝石刻) and so on.

Located at the west side of Qixia Mountain, Qixia Temple is an ancient temple with thousands years. It is regarded as the ancestor of Buddhism “three theories” and one of the “four sections” of Buddhism. Together with Lingyan Temple (líng yán sì 灵岩寺) in Shandong (shān dōng 山东), Yuquan Temple (yù quán sì 玉泉寺) in Hubei (hú běi 湖北) and Guoqing Temple (guó qīng sì 国清寺) in Zhejiang (zhè jiāng 浙江) were taken as the Four Sections of Buddhism (fó jiào sì dà cóng lín 佛教四大丛林). It was originally built in Southern Dynasty (nán cháo 南朝), and was called Gongde Temple (gōng dé sì 功德寺) during Tang Dynasty (táng cháo 唐朝). During the reign of Emperor Xianfeng (xián fēng dì 咸丰帝) in Qing Dynasty (qīng cháo 清朝), the temple was destroyed by fire, and was reconstructed during the reign of Emperor Guangxu. The main constructions of the temple are the Gate, Tianwang Hall (tiān wáng diàn 天王殿), Bharhut Hall (pí lú diàn 毗卢殿), Shecui Pavilion (shè cuì lóu 摄翠楼) and Sutra Collection Pavilion (cáng jīng gé 藏经阁) etc..With lingering chanting, morning bell and dawn drum, Qixia Temple just like the worlds wonderland.

On the west side of the Qixia Temple, there is the Mirror Lake, covering an area of about 3000 square meters. There is a pavilion in the center of the lake, which is connected to the bank by a zigzag bridge (jiǔ qū qiáo 九曲桥) that looks like a rainbow over the lake.

Sheli Tower is to the north side of Qixia Temple. It was constructed of white stone, with five storeys and in octagon shape. The tower is 18 meters high. On the outside wall of the tower, there are relief sculptures which are vivid and dramatic. On the base of the tower, there engraved the story of Sakyamuni. To the east side of Sheli Tower, there is the Thousand-Buddha Cliff. There are five levels of the cliff, on which there are 294 Buddha niches and 515 Buddha statues, which are delicate and in various shapes. The biggest one of the statues is the Amitayus Buddha (wú liàng shòu fó 无量寿佛), with a height of 11 meters.

QiXia Temple is famous not only for the structure, the stone sculptures and the pagoda, but also for the clear spring, luxuriant plant life; especially the red leaves of maple trees. These are in full bloom in spring and autumn making these times very popular.

Qixia Mountain
Location: 22 kilometers north-east away from Nanjing
Admission fee:
RMB 25 (October 22 to December 11)
RMB 10 (December 12 to October 21)
Opening hours: 6:30 a.m. – 6:20 p.m.
Transportation: You can take Nanlong Line (nán lóng xiàn 南龙线) or Nanshang Line to Qixia Mountian Station from Nanjing Railway Station.

Tips:
1. It is best for the tourists during autumn for the red leaves of maple trees.
2. You can taste special vegetarian foods in QiXia Temple; in addition, there are several restaurants for the tourists if you don’t like them.
3. Various souvenirs like bookmarks, decorations are purchasable.