GUSHAN MOUNTAIN

This picturesque site is a privileged destination since the Jin dynasty (265-420), celebrated at all times as one of the two most beautiful places of the Fujian by many poets and men of letters.

The peak of the mountain, a drum-shaped rock, resonates as a musical instrument when the damp showers strike the region: hence the name of the place, Gushan meaning "the mountain of drum"… Gushan is one of the sacred mountains of Fujian Buddhism and consists of four peaks: the Lion, White Cloud, Jarre and Lize.

The Dazzling Source Temple (Yongquansi) is one of the largest in the province and includes no less than 25 major halls. It houses 30,000 volumes of sacred texts. Three millennia grow in the temple hall and flower the season. The three characters that make up the name of the temple at the entrance are the hand of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing. In front of the temple are two pagoda of 9 m high, erected under the Song, in 1082: they are fully carved out of 1,038 performances of the Buddha, 72 warriors and monks and many bells.

To the east of this important place of worship, on the slopes of the mountain of the Drum, you can visit the 18 Buddhist caves, including the famous Cave Ling Yuan Dong (cave of the Spiritual Source), where some 400 rocks are covered with Buddhist sentences over the centuries.