Hangzhou, a Heaven on Earth

Southwest of Shanghai lies one of the beautiful city by the name "Hangzhou". We (I & my husband along with our Indian colleagues who stay in Yangzhou & Shanghai) started our journey to this city which has more than 2200 year old history in it. Heading the Zhejiang province, Hangzhou is considered to be one of the beautiful cities in Mainland China with its lakes, mountains and islets. We were very much excited about our trip to Hanghzou as we had heard & seen a lot about this place from the internet.

Our first spot to stop was the “West Lake”. We decided to park our car along the banks of the “West Lake”, for which Hangzhou is famous world-wide

West Lake

Surrounded by vast mountains and lush, misty forests on three sides and the flourishing city on one side, the lake provide an elegant mixture of wilderness, serenity, and modernization. Bai Di causeway runs on the east west side of the lake and the Su causeway to the north south. In the north side of the lake, the nine storey Baochu Pagoda can be seen on top of the Baoshi Hill. The pagoda can be reached by streamer boats but we decided to cut short our trips to few of the islets fearing the blazing sun rays. Each of the small islets adds more beauty to the West Lake vastness. It spreads across a circumference of 15km. One can take the six seater vehicle and can go around the entire lake watching the sparkling light effects on the water besides us. We boarded on to one of the Chinese ferry which is operated across each islet. The West Lake otherwise called as Xi Hu has ten scenic spots out of which we made our visit to the following.

‘Moon over the Peaceful Lake in autumn’, ‘Leifeng Pagoda in the Sunset’, ‘Orioles Singing in the Willows’, ‘Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon’, ‘Fish Viewing at the Flower Pond’. We were quite transfixed on hearing the legend behind the "Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon" which is worth mentioning here.

Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon

On the south side of the West Lake, one can see three hollow stone pagodas, each of which are 2 meters high and have five equally spaced hollow openings. These pagoda which dates back to the 11th century is famous for its illusion of moon that gives the lake its name. During the nights of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the full moon is shining high above in the sky, locals of Hangzhou would light candles in the pagodas and seal the holes with thin paper. Shining through the holes, the candlelight is reflected on the surface of the water as if there were many little moons, producing a marvelous scene of "one moon in the sky, three silhouettes in the water", and so it’s named as "Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon".

Our Hunger made our ferry trip faster and we returned back to the car to have our Indian lunch. The chicken curry prepared & packed early in the morning was yummy and the curd rice served as a cool platter for the scorching sun was a much needed one. It was start of autumn but the sun was out shining very bright.

Fossil Museum

The fulfilling lunch rejuvenated our body and mind for the next visit. We spotted the Fossil Museum close by the parking lot which spreads out a huge miniature of the picturesque West Lake. We were taken aback by seeing the intricate details which had been captured into the small moulds.

Lingyin Scenic Area  

It was 3 pm in the afternoon when one of our colleagues seeing the travel guide suggested that we should make it to the nearby Lingyin temple, one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist temples in Mainland China, before we pack our bags to Shanghai. Lingyin located in the northwest of the West Lake, is known as “Buddhist kingdom in the Southeast” with pretty hills, clear springs and streams as well as beautiful green trees, many historic relics and caves.

The Feilai Feng grottos

One is just struck by the limestone grottos on the left on entering the Lingyin Scenic Area. Feilai Feng, or "the Peak that Flew hither", also commonly translated as "Flying Peak", is located in front of the temple proper. The peak is so-named because it is made of limestone, giving it a craggy appearance very different from the surrounding mountains. But the legend says Peak Flying from Afar is also known as Vulture’s Peak or the Number One Hill in the southeast. Early in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 - 420), the Indian Monk Hui Li climbed the hill and said that it was the vulture's hill at Mid-Tianzhu flying here, hence the peak got the name, In the peaks' main caves and its steep slopes along the stream are 345 well preserved stone carvings, dating back from the Five Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty, most of them begin left from the Yuan. On mentioning Peak Flying From Afar, one may often hear many beautiful legends, such as the stone bed, hat and fingerprint of the Monk Ji Gong, Three-Life Stone, etc. All these have added some mystical colors to this legendary peak. Besides, there are many pavilions and caves scattered among the tall ancient trees. The hilly path leads us to such scenic spots as the Northern Peak, Taoguang Temple, Three temples of Taianzhu and Nine Miles of Pines.

Lingyin Temple

In this natural scenic area nestles the oldest temple in Hangzhou - Lingyin temple, which is also called Yunlin temple. It was first built in 326 AD by the Indian eminent monk Hui Li.

 With its imposing and magnificent architectural structures, the Temple has remained one of the ten largest Zen Buddhist temples in China. At the center of the hall is the statue of Sakyamuni, 24.8 meters in height which is China's largest sitting statue of Buddha.

There are in total five halls which run along the axis of the hills each separated by a series of steps. We young bees decided to do the venture of climbing all the five halls and to the top to see the Monastery, but the elders wisely stayed down. The first one is called the Hall of Heavenly Kings.

Maitreya Buddha manifested as Laughing Buddha welcomes us all. Atop the hill we found the second of the five halls named as the Grand Hall of the Great Sage also known as the Mahavira Hall. Here stands the 24.8 meters high statue of Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha with his serene and mighty appearance. We were just spell bounded by his charm and grace which made us difficult to depart from the hall. The golden statue of Sakyamuni stands the central part of the Hall of Mahavira, surrounded by the statues of 20 Buddhist gods, 12 students of Sakyamuni, and 150 various Buddha. Gyuanin- the Lady Buddha stands the back side of this statue. Further up the hill is the hall of Medicene Buddha. The final hall houses the three sages of Avatamsaka Sutra, known as the Huayan Sutra in Chinese - Shakyamuni, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra. By this time, we were quite exhausted by the continuous walking and climbing process but were filled with a feel of joy and peace on seeing the tranquility prevailed in the whole atmosphere. We reached the final destination and it’s the “Monastery of Soul’s Retreat” atop the Lingyin Mountain. We were greeted by two Buddhist monks over there and we managed to take a snap shot with one of them for the other was a little shy to pose for the photo.

Our weariness made us to take some rest for a while before retreating to join the elders waiting at the foothill.

Approaching dusk, we drove our car back to Shanghai. We were anxiously looking out for a Western or an Indian food outlet as we could hear the sounds of our growling stomachs. Our smart driver Zhang was the first to spot the KFC outlet. Our bowls were full in not more than a couple of minutes as our plates were empty in a flash. Packing up heavily for the dinner we rested back in our nine-seater SUV for a nap and the vehicle started to speed up at not less than 120km per hour. Behind the closed eyes, the mind started to recapture the beautiful scenes of the West Lake, grottos, Lingyin and the serene faced Sakyamuni.

I believe that by sharing our experience, I had given you an insight on beautiful Hanghzou. Please do not miss it if you happen to travel to China.

                                                                                                     Madhini Balaji  ( Meenakshi)