LingYan Shan

 The opening of the Subway has made it much easier to travel to the far West side of Suzhou.  Back in February, I took the city bus over to Tian Ping Shan.  It took about an hour and a quarter.  Now, it's just a 30 minute subway ride to the Mudu Terminal.  From there, it is just a short bus or taxi ride to Tian Ping Shan or the old section of Mudu or any of the other attractions in that area. 

 LingYan Shan is another one of the "shan", or big hills, that form the Western limit of the Suzhou metropolis.  (In Southeastern Indiana, these rocky hills would be called "knobs") LingYan Shan sits just to the South of Tian Ping Shan and is but a 10 minute walk from Old Mudu.  The top of the hill is about 600 feet above sea level....which means it rises about 590 feet above the surrounding countryside. The tree- covered knob and the encircling strip of green space provide a place for local folks to escape from the city and enjoy some hiking.  During the summer months, the cool shade of the trees provides a little relief from the heat of the concrete and asphalt.

 LingYan Shan also attracts some tourists and religious pilgrims

At the top of the hill is an old Buddhist temple and along the paths upward are several shrines and such.  The name - LingYan Shan - translates to something like "Spirit Rock Hill".  It seems that the people of China have considered mountains to be sacred places since the dawn of their civilization.  Over the last 2500 years or so of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, just about every hill higher than a speed bump has had some type of temple or shrine built upon it.  The most famous of these are the Sacred Mountains of China, of which there are five...or four...or eight...or thirteen. (Depending on who is counting.)

The temple on LingYan Shan was founded sometime around 500 A.D.  I don't know how old the current buildings are but I doubt they are nearly that old.  The structures are made mostly of wood.  The Buddhist tradition for the faithful is to burn offerings in cauldrons out in front of the buildings.  Temple fires, in my understanding, were quite a frequent thing over the years.

 From the foot of LingYan Shan you have two choices for going upwards.  You can take the paved path or you can take the stairs.  The stairs are the most direct way to the top, but require more exertion to climb.  The paved pathway is no picnic, but takes a longer, winding route to reduce the incline.  The stairs and the path intersect each other at a number of points along the way.  You can see the stairs above and the paved path below.

 The paved path features several prominent shrines and seems to be the more traditional way for pilgrims.  You can see a monk in his yellow robes in the photo above.   I saw one woman coming up the path wearing knee pads.  She would take four steps, and then clasp her hands in a prayerful gesture to heaven.  Then she would get down on her knees and prostrate herself in the direction of peak.  She would rise to her knees with clasped hands and then low low again for a total of three times.  Then she would stand up and walk four more steps, and then repeat the whole ritual. From the bottom of the hill to the top.  Four steps at a time.  It must have been a long day for her.

For those who have more to spend and less to atone for, there are easier options for getting to the top.

 At the top, or nearly at the top of the peak is LingYan Temple.  (By the way, there is another LingYan Temple, a much more famous one, near Mount Tai in ShanDong province.)  The temple complex features a the main temple and a number of smaller side ones and a fairly impressive pagoda.  The most interesting thing, though, is that seems to be a fairly large and active contingent of monks there.  Most of the buildings seem to be dormitories and other living quarters.  And you can see the monks out working on the hillside, tending to their gardens or trimming back the encroaching trees.  LinYan Temple seems to be an active Buddhist community and much less of a tourist attraction than some of the other temples we've seen.

 If you climb a little further from the temple, you can get a pretty good view of the surrounding city.  That is what most people come for, I think.

The people will go anywhere and do anything to get a perfect view.  I don't know if it is a fearlessness in the Chinese spirit or a lack of personal injury lawyers, but the local folks seem to have no problem to perch on the edge of cliff, as far out onto the rocks as they can go.  It reminds me of the old photos of Civil War soldiers perched on Lookout Mountain.  I think, maybe, the perfect view that the daredevils are looking for is one without 50 other people in front of them.

 The photo below shows one of the shrines along the pathway to the top.  It is difficult to see, but this small building covers images of the Buddha and some animals that have been carved into the natural rock.   It's a grotto, I guess, though not a natural one in a cave or a cliff side.

 The photo below is another shrine.  Actually, it seems to be a small temple unto itself.  This small shelter is surrounded by a walled courtyard.  There is not room enough inside for more than 4 or 5 persons at a time.

 Normally, I've sworn off photography inside of temples where people are actually worshiping.  I'm following the rules of the Cathedral of Strasbourg; It's generally ok to snap photos, but none allowed during times of actual Mass.  The problem, though, is Buddhist don't do a scheduled Mass.  The temples are open to active worship at all times.  So if there a lot of people around praying (and there usually are) then I try to be respectful. 

 This temple was small enough that there were no other people inside.  So I figured fair game for photos.  Also, the statue inside was remarkable in that it was so small - only about 10 to 12 inches high.  With a very unusual gold statue involving a god of some sort and a fish.  I'd guess there is a good legend which explains all this, but I don't know what it is.

 You can tell the significance of a temple by the quantity of stuff burning in the offering pits outside.  This small shrine must be a significant one, because there was a great fire pit of about 8 feet by 40 feet and a candle shelter that must have been 40 or 50 feet long.  Much more was being burned here than at the temple at the top of the mountain.

This small temple is located in a midst of a large bamboo grove.  The bamboo in the photo above are probably 5 or 6 inches in diameter and tower 50 feet or more into the air.  Since bamboo groves are not that common in Indiana, I'd never realized that the plants create a fairly good canopy with their leaves.  A bamboo grove is a rather cool and comfortable place to spend some time on a hot, sunny day.  Especially after the equivalent of climbing the stairs to the top of a 50 story building.