Jinshan Hill, with an altitude of 43.7 meters, is situated in the northwest of Zhenjiang City, 3 kilometers from the city center. It was originally an islet situated in the middle of the river. Later, because of the constant deposits of mud and sand, it has been connected to the land.
The picturesque scenery of Jinshan Hill Park is made up of over thirty scenic spots on Mount Jin. Throughout history, the park gained its fame for its beautiful landscape, its important status in relation to Buddhism as well as having soul stirring legends. Jinshan Temple, Spring Zhongling (praised as the First Spring under the Heaven), and Jintian Garden are among the most famous scenic spots in Jinshan Hill Park.
Jinshan Hill is noted for its enchanting sceneries. The temple on the hill is said to be built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. As the temple is built along the hill with one layer over another, there is a common saying that "the temple covers the hill". In the mythical tale of "Legend of the White Snake", the story of the white snake Bai Suzhen inundated Jinshan Hill was happened there.
Jinshan Temple is indispensable to the renown of Jinshan Hill Park. This temple can be traced back as early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), and has had a history of more than 1,600 years. The temple was known as Zexin Temple or Longyou Temple; however, people have been calling it Jinshan Temple since the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Jinshan Temple was built according to the mountain features. All the pavilions, terraces and towers are in harmony with their surroundings. Jinshan Temple is also a Buddhism holy land. It is amongst the four most famous Buddhist temples in China. The temple was visited by many emperors who left their calligraphy as praise for this temple; for example, the tablet at the entrance of the temple was written by Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Besides the beautiful scenes, many legends are associated with this park, too. A widely spread legend, the White Snake', happened in the temple. This story mainly tells about the love story between Bai Suzhen, who was a magic snake and changed herself into a beautiful girl, and Xu Xian who was forced to be a monk in Jinshan Temple at the latter part of the story. It is this story that makes most Chinese people get to know Jinshan Temple.
Besides Jinshan Temple, many other places of great interest can be found. Cishou Pagoda is in the northwestern area of the park, on top of which you have a bird's eye view of the park and surroundings from different directions. Spring Zhongling is to the west of Jinshan Temple. Many poets and articles were written to praise its water because the flavor of tea is more scented when people boil it with the water in this spring.
In this tale, Fa Hai, a monk of Jinshan Temple, demolished the marriage between white snake and her husband. Failed in asking the monk for her husband, the white snake, making use of her theurgy, inundated the temple. Today, two caves separately named Fahai Cave and White Snake Cave existed relate this story to people.The Buddhist pagoda at the top of the hill was built in the Qing Dynasty and of the brick and wood structure in imitation of the style of the Song Dynasty. It has seven stories. Zhongleng Spring which is to the west of Jinshan Hill is also called "No.1 Spring under Heaven".
Opening Time:
07:30-16:30
How to get there:
You may get there by taking bus route 2 and 104.