Day 1 Hangzhou → Tiantai → Xiake Ancient Trail → Hangzhou
07:30
Gather, sign in, and depart
【Meeting time】07:00-07:30
[Meeting Place] Meet and sign in at Exit F of Huanglong Sports Center Subway Station
Depart for the rooftop at 7:30
10:30
Guoqing Temple Autumn Harvest Season
Arriving at Tiantai Guoqing Temple, the ancient temple was built in the 18th year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (598 AD), and was originally named Tiantai Temple. Later, it was renamed Guoqing Temple with the meaning of "If the temple is built, the country will be peaceful."
Around the beginning of October, when the rice fields are golden and it’s time to harvest rice, we went to the Sui Pagoda to watch the autumn rice harvest!
In the 18th year of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang, the Prince of Jin, built the Baoen Pagoda to repay Master Zhizhe for receiving the Bodhisattva precepts. The pagoda has six sides and nine levels. Except for the intricately carved Buddha statues on the brick walls, there is no usual pointed tower top.
Suggested tour route: parking lot - observation deck (view rice fields and Sui Dynasty pagoda from a distance) - Seven Buddha Pagoda - Hanshi Pavilion - Teaching and Observation General - Twin Streams Returning to the Water - Here the Water Flows West - Sui Dynasty Temple - Mountain Gate - Maitreya Hall - Yuhua Hall - Main Hall - Plum Pavilion - Dharma Milk Pavilion - Medicine Buddha Hall - Guanyin Hall - Memorial Hall of the Patriarchs of the Sino-Korean Tiantai Sect - Sutra Pillar - Three Sages Hall - Miaofa Hall - Cultural Relics Room - Arhat Hall - Three Saints Hall - Anyang Hall - Single-stroke Goose-shaped Stele - Jialan Hall - Fish Joy Kingdom - Exit.
Note: If you do not want to join the afternoon hike, you can choose to play around Guoqing Temple at your own pace and wait for the hikers to come down the mountain before returning by bus.
12:00
Everyone can arrange their meals freely and try to save time to reserve enough time for hiking.
Grab your supplies and start your hike. Follow the road to the mountain pass at the foot of the ridge. The ancient stone path winds through the mountains until you reach the Zhizhe Pagoda, also known as Zhenjue Temple and commonly known as Pagoda Head Temple. This is where Zhizhe Dashi (538-597), the founder of the Tiantai School of Chinese Buddhism, first built his temple. Construction began in 597 AD, the 17th year of the Kaihuang Emperor's reign in the Sui Dynasty, and the existing structure was renovated during the Qing Dynasty. Within the courtyard, a seven-meter-tall stone pagoda, the Zhizhe Dashi Flesh Pagoda, features elegant and intricate carvings. A lifelike statue of Zhizhe Dashi sits in a niche on the first floor. This is the site of Zhizhe Dashi's actual body, and religious figures from Japan, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries who visit Tiantai Mountain Guoqing Temple to pay homage to the "ancestral temple."
We continue to Gaomingjiang Temple, which was founded by Master Zhizhe (Zhiyi, 538-597), the founder of Tiantai Sect. Because the temple is located halfway up the mountain and is surrounded by green lotus peaks with sharp tops and broad bases, the sun and moon always shine on it, and it is high and bright, so it was named Gaomingjiang Temple.
After bidding farewell to Gaoming Temple, we continued down the mountain and returned to Guoqing Temple along the Xiake Ancient Trail.
Guests who are unable to walk can descend directly from the Pagoda of Wisdom.
5:00 PM
We returned to the bus and gathered for the return trip. We will arrive back at the starting point in Hangzhou at around 20:00. Goodbye, tourists!
