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Mountain Putuo

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Overview

Putuoshan Island is one of the larger islands belonging to the Zhoushan Archipelago, a group of in all some 1400 islands located at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay, not far from the city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

Putuoshan Island covers an area of some 12 square kilometers, most of which is pristine nature. There are fantastic vistas of the surrounding seascapes from Putuo Mountain, which is one of the Four Sacred Mountains of Chinese Buddhism. It is also home to the most famous Guanyin Temple in all of China (Guanyin is the Goddess of Mercy and the patron saint, as it were, of seafarers).

Features

1. It has many beaches among which Hundred Step Beach (600 meters long) and Thousand Step Beach (1700 meters long) are the two major ones with facilities such as deckchairs, parasols and water activities.

2. 33m tall statue of the Guan Yin at Zizhulin 

3. Putuo Mountain is located on the island, one of the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism. There are a number of temples on Mount Putuo. During it heyday, there were 3 main temples, 88 monasteries, and 128 thatched houses for various other persons engaged in work in support of the temples and monasteries on the island, and more than 4000 monks were in active service on the mountain. Mount Putuo was understandably a place of great reverence, being referred to as the "First Buddhist Kingdom in Zhendan".

4. It is a tourist site for those in search of rare mountain beauty and tranquil walks among historical and religious relics. There are luxuriant trees everywhere on the island - especially a large number of ancient camphor trees - filled with a host of singing birds. The ground below is covered in season with fragrant flowers. Putuoshan Island has been aptly called "A Botanical Garden on a South Sea Island".

Putuo Mountain

Located in the Putuoshan Islands, Mountain Putuo is one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains, particularly oriented toward the Buddhist deity Guanyin, the goddess of mercy and compassion. Legend has it that Guanyin once showed her bodily presence here and left a number of historical sites. The temples and shrines on the island are full of colorful sculptures depicting the deity in her various forms, from the common-seen South Sea Guanyin at her welcoming perch overlooking the sea, to various depictions of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, whose tangle of limbs represents her ability to offer a helping hand to anyone in need.

The Mountain was originally called Mountain Meicun for a man named Meifu in the Han Dynasty had once lived here. It got the sacred spirit after a Japanese monk who came to China to seek for help. The monk planned to carry a Guanyin sculpture obtained from Mountain Wutai back to Japan. But unfortunately he was stopped by a storm at this area. he believed that the Guanyin was reluctant to live, so he landed and built the "Unwilling to Leave Nunnery" to host the sculpture. Since ever, the mountain has been heavily visited by pilgrims.

Saturated with the fragrance of incense and strains of Buddhist chants, Mountain Putuo now offers a spiritual sanctuary contrast to the wafting, exhaust fumes and the din of auto horns that haunt many cities we live.

Travel Essentials

Location: It is located about 150 km (100 mi) southeast of Shanghai, in the west of the island prefecture of Zhoushan, Zhejiang province.

Transportation: Putuo Island can be reached by boat from Shanghai and Ningbo.

Ferries from Shanghai:

1) Ferries are available at Wusong Pier in Pudong District: departure at 20:00, arrival at 07:30; return ferry for Shanghai departs at 16:30, and arrives Shanghai at 06:30.

2) Visitors can also take speedboats. Special buses pick up at Nanpu Bridge (take public bus No 65, 43, 868 or 869), and drive to Luchao Pier to board the speedboat. Departure times from Nanpu Bridge are at 07:30 and 08:00. It takes about 2 hours from Nanpu Bridge to Luchao Pier, and another two and a half hours to Putuoshan.

Speedboats from Ningbo:

Reference departure time from Daxie Pier: 07:35, 07:55, 08:15, 09:50, 09:45, 10:45, 11:15, 12:05, 13:50, 14:30, 14:50, 15:50, 16:15. It takes about 70 minutes to Putuoshan.

Tips & articles

2011-05-23
Open hour 8:00- 20:00 Ticket The ticket costs 3 yuan. Note: Entered and charges 3 yuan by the south main entrance of Putuo temple, but if come down from five olds peak (need advanced person to enter Xiamen garden Botanical Garden, go out of the garden from ...Read More
2011-05-23
Putuo zongcheng Temple Putuo zongcheng Temple is the biggest and the most magnificent building in Eight Outer Temples of Chengde city. It was modeled after the Potala Palace of Tibet, the old sanctuary of the Dalai Lama built a century earlier, so the Putuo ...Read More
2011-05-23
The Putuo Zongcheng Temple of Chengde, Hebei province The Putuo Zongcheng Temple of Chengde, Hebei province, China is a Qing Dynasty era Buddhist temple complex built between 1767 and 1771, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796). It is located ...Read More

forum discussion

Recent posts

by Leilani 2011-05-23
Zhejiang Province faces the East China Sea and has a long coastline. After watching the Qiantang tide at Hangzhou Bay, we took a speedboat to the Zhoushan Archipelago. Many sacred Buddhist sites are located in southeastern Zhejiang, among which Putuo Mountain is the most famous. It is the only scenic area in China featuring a Buddhist mountain on a sea ...
by Thorleifr 2011-05-23
"Putuo" is a Chinese name for "Potalaka," the place where Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) resides according to the BuddHism. Putuo Mountain is known as 'Buddhist country amidst sea and sky'. It is also referred to as 'Oceanside paradise and Buddhist realm' and as 'The first sacred place in the world'. In addition, Putuo Mountain is not only the national center of ...
by Quentin 2011-05-23
Traffic Take the bus of special line of north Putuo at Qianmen; Take No. 926 to the north Putuo in Yongdingmen; Gongzhufen take No. 901 to to the Huang s to change to the mini-bus Introduce Beijing Putuo more training base Co., Ltd. of movie & TV Also call north Putuo TV & Film City) ,Lie in the intersection of Beijing and south the intersection of Nangong ...