Xichan Ancient Temple

Xichan Ancient Temple is one of the five temples in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. It is located in Yi Mountain in the west suburb of Fuzhou. It is said that in ancient time, a man named Wang Ba lived in the mountain and cultivated himself according to the Taoism doctrine. Later he became a divinity. Thus, people believed that Yi Mountain was a place where immortals lived. An official of Tang Dynasty, who was named Li Jingwen, established a temple in 867 A.D in the mountain. And this temple was named Xichan Temple. But later it was destroyed in wars. After several times of renovation, it now takes on the original look.

The temple takes up an area of more than 13 acres. It consists of Tianwang Hall, Daxiongbao Hall, Buddha Dharma Spreading Hall, Sutra Collection Pavilion, Monastic Reception, and Meditation Hall, etc. It has many subsidiary temples abroad, such as Shuanglin Temple in Singapore, Shuangqing Temple in Malaysia, and the South Putuo Temple in Vietnam. Each year, a lot of foreign monks and Buddhists come to the temple to worship Buddhism. Besides, the temple is famous for its quiet and antique atmosphere. Wandering in the temple, you will get completely relaxed and feel that you were visiting the ancient China. You can easily come across litchi trees for there are thousands of such trees in the temple.