Discover Hangzhou
Faxi Temple (Upper Tianzhu)
上天竺法喜寺
A tenth-century temple up the Tianzhu valley behind Lingyin, said to be the origin of the White-robed Guanyin cult in China. Young Chinese visitors come for the temple's vegetarian noodles and its 'wish-granting' reputation; it keeps a working-monastery feel that Lingyin has lost.
The story
What makes this place special
Faxi Temple, also called Upper Tianzhu, sits in the Tianzhu hills west of West Lake and is the uppermost of the Three Tianzhu temples strung along a single valley road - Lower Tianzhu (Fajing), Middle Tianzhu (Fajing Chan) and Upper Tianzhu (Faxi), the lowest of which is the oldest at a reported 1,600 years. Faxi is itself over a thousand years old and is traditionally held to be a seat of Guanyin, with a claim to be the origin point of the White-robed Guanyin cult in China. In front of its refectory stands an ancient magnolia planted in the Ming, which flowers white around March.
What you’ll discover
A working temple up a wooded valley, with halls climbing the hillside in terraces, far smaller and plainer than Lingyin but in much the same landscape of bamboo, tea slopes and stream. It has become extremely popular with young Chinese visitors who come to pray for a relationship and to buy the temple's embroidered charm bags, so the courtyards can be full of people in their twenties queueing rather than tour groups. The valley road up from Lingyin passes all three Tianzhu temples in turn.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- Walk up the Tianzhu valley road from Lingyin and do all three temples in sequence. It is a couple of kilometres uphill through woods and tea, the lower two are nearly empty, and the walk is the best part.
- Know why it is busy. This is one of the most talked-about temples among young Chinese visitors as a place to pray for love, and the charm bags sell out. If you want a quiet temple, go to Middle or Lower Tianzhu, or to Yongfu, instead.
- The Ming magnolia in front of the refectory is the thing worth timing - it flowers around March and is five hundred years old.
- Go on a weekday morning. Weekends, and especially around Chinese New Year and Valentine's-type dates, bring long queues at the gate.
- In midsummer evenings the valley below the temple is known locally for fireflies, which brings a different crowd entirely.
When to come
Weekday morning. March for the old magnolia; summer evenings in the valley for fireflies. Avoid the lunar new year period and weekends if you want the temple quiet.
Getting around
Poor. The temple is terraced up a hillside with flights of stone steps between halls and no lift, reached from a valley road that climbs steadily. A taxi or bus can get you to the gate, but the compound itself cannot be done in a wheelchair, and the Tianzhu valley walk is a continuous uphill. With a bad knee, take a taxi to the gate and expect the halls to involve steps.
Worth knowing before you go
Walk the Tianzhu valley road and take in all three Tianzhu temples (Faxi, Fajing, Fajing's upper neighbour Fajing/Fayu) in one go - the walk up through the bamboo is the point. Go on a weekday morning; weekends now draw large young crowds.
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