[Photo from tylyhy.cn]

This scenic spot is located in Lingjing Township, Yangqu County, 28 km to the northwest of Taiyuan. It’s connected with a special road from the 2nd Reservoir of Fenhe and Taigu Railway, which is convenient for traffic. The scenic spot has got many beautiful and unique natural sights, as well as a gleaming gem in Chinese history and culture – an ancient temple which boasts thousands of years of history.

This place enjoys picturesque scenery, extraordinary views of mountains and rocks as well as mist and clouds. You can enjoy not only the natural mountainous cliff, caves, waterfall, misty pond, trees, flowers, plants, birds, animals, fish and insects, but also have a good view of man-made landscapes of bridges, sheds, towers, dams and temple halls. 　　

The ancient Xuanquan Temple is situated right on the cliff in this scenic spot. According to tablet inscriptions, “the temple was made up of different scales and conditions in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.” It’s also recorded in the tablet inscriptions that “the place had become a tourist attraction already in the third year of the reign of Emperor Xianping, Song Dynasty (1000), which was taken as ‘a land of charcoal belonging to the Mansion of King of Jin’ by Zhu Feng, King of Jin. This place became the ‘Private Temple of the King of Vassal State of Jin’ in the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Yingzong, in the Ming Dynasty (1433). The private temple was returned to the public in the third year of the reign of Emperor Chenghua (1467) under public pressure.”

Xuanquan Temple has a rock cliff and stone eaves, and has the Fenhe River running 100 feet below. Ancient people praised the scenic spot through the poem “birds fly and live here, fish jump out of the river, the woodman carries firewood while an old fisherman is fishing. Fenhe River runs through this place which is surrounded by beautiful mountains. The architecture built next to the deep valley and on the rock cliff is a dream place as good as a mountain of the Immortals.”

The temple has the Great Buddha's Hall, the Hall of Ksitigarbharaja, the Hall of Avalokitesvara Buddhisatva, Depositary of Buddhist Sutra, Avalokiteshvara Temple, Cave of Seven Buddhas, the Hall of the Dragon King and the Hall of Arhats in it. It also has many natural sights, such as Fairy Cave, Fairy Island, Safety Trench, Blessing from Avalokitesvara, Chengxian Cave, Wooden Club Stone, Dragon King Cave, Tongxin Stone and Dear Cave. The 1000 m ancient wooden walkway on two levels, the waterfall, temple gate with amazing stones, blossoming flowers, mountain in the clouds, scarlet autumnal leaves, rain like a beaded screen and other exotic landscapes really allow tourists to enjoy themselves.

You can have a panoramic view of the 2nd Reservoir of Fenhe from the wooden walkway on the 2nd floor (mountain top of the Dragon King Cave). Motorboats are driving fast on the beautiful lake, while the lawn at the back of the mountain top is just like a carpet laid out by a celestial being. Mountains and grotesque rocks are both forbidding and amusing, some like a black bear, some like anelephant, and yet others like a monkey, turtle and so on.

The scenic spot has a thousand outlooks, and one cannot take ones eyes off it. The distant mountains penetrate clouds and only reveal peaks, and staying there gives tourists the feeling of getting into a fairyland of clouds and fog. It makes tourists linger on without any thought of leaving.

Address: Guanshan, Xilingjing Township, Yangqu County

Tel: 0351-2819425