Wannian Temple
万年寺
One of the oldest temples on Mount Emei. Inside its beamless brick hall is a Song-dynasty bronze statue of Samantabhadra riding a white elephant, 7.85 meters tall and weighing 62 tons. It is the mountain's treasure.
Wannian Temple sits at about 1,020 meters in the central section of Mount Emei. It was first founded in the Eastern Jin dynasty as Puxian Temple, renamed Baishui Temple in the Tang dynasty, and rebuilt in the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty, when it was given the name Shengshou Wannian Temple. It is the oldest and most important of Mount Emei's eight great temples. Its core building is the Ming-dynasty beamless brick hall, a square structure with a dome built entirely of brick, without a single wooden beam. Inside stands a bronze statue of Samantabhadra riding a six-tusked white elephant, cast in the fifth year of the Taiping Xingguo era of the Northern Song dynasty (980). It stands 7.85 meters tall, weighs 62 tons, and is a national key cultural relic. It is also a symbol of Mount Emei as the sacred site of Samantabhadra. The four corners and the top of the hall roof each carry a small pagoda, shaped like a mandala. The temple also has the Magnificent Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Xingyuan Tower (which houses the 'Three Treasures': a Buddha tooth relic, palm-leaf scriptures and the golden seal from the Wanli era), and Baishui Pond. According to legend, Li Bai listened to the monk Guangjun play the zither here in the Tang dynasty, and the pond holds zither-playing frogs.
How to visit: take a sightseeing bus from the foot of the mountain to the Wannian Temple station, then take the Wannian cable car (65 yuan up and 45 yuan down in peak season, about 10 minutes), or walk for about 1 hour to the temple. Allow about 1 hour to tour the temple. Vegetarian meals are served inside. A trail behind the temple leads to Qingyin Pavilion, about 2.5 km and 1 hour downhill. Admission is included in the Mount Emei ticket, and the temple itself is free. Opening hours follow the scenic area, roughly 7:00 to 18:00.
Note: photography is prohibited inside the beamless hall. Monkeys roam near the temple entrance, so keep food secure. If the cable car stops due to weather or maintenance, you can only walk, and the steep, stepped path is demanding.
Opening hours
Approx. 07:00–18:00 (follows Mount Emei scenic area)
Nearby sights
- Qingyin Pavilion & Yixiantian Gorge
- Emei Ecological Monkey Zone
- Hongchunping
- Huayan Peak
- Fuhu Temple
- Xianfeng Temple & Jiulao Cave
- Baoguo Temple
- Mount Emei Museum