Miyin Temple (Mount Wei)
沩山密印寺
An ancient Tang dynasty temple on Mount Wei in Ningxiang. It is the ancestral temple of the Weiyang school of Chan Buddhism, and the Thousand Buddha Hall is spectacular, with walls covered in gold Buddha statues.
Miyin Temple is in Mount Wei Township, Ningxiang City. During the Tang dynasty, Chan Master Lingyou founded the Weiyang school of Chan Buddhism here, and the temple is its ancestral temple. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang granted it the name “Miyin Chan Temple.” The Ten Thousand Buddha Hall has walls covered with more than 10,000 small gold Buddha statues, and outside stands a thousand-year-old ginkgo tree. Mount Wei is high and cool in summer. The grounds include a Thousand Buddha Pagoda, the pagoda of Master Lingyou, and tea gardens. Admission is free or charges a small fee. It is about 95 km from downtown Changsha, around 1.5 hours by car, and can be combined with Huitang Hot Spring and Tanhe Ancient City in a two-day Ningxiang trip.
Opening hours
08:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- Tanhe Ancient City
- Huitang Hot Spring
- Qiaokou Fishing Town
- Jinggang Ancient Town
- Lei Feng Memorial
- Tongguan Kiln Ancient Town
- Meixihu International Culture and Arts Centre
- Xiangjiang Happy City (Snow World)