Lingyin Temple Hangzhou China

 

 

A had a quick visit to Hangzhou so I decided to go visit Lingyin Temple, for the morning. A lot of temples and parks in China are extremely disappointing. They advertise that they are hundreds or thousands of years old, but the truth is that a lot of them were rebuild in in the 1980s. So when I go to a park or temple in China, I always have the question in my head, just how old is this really?

 

 

LingYin Temple was awesome, it was old, really old and I loved it. The weather was terrible but the park was had so much to see and do in it. The old Buddhist carvings were really old and I enjoyed walking around and watching all the Buddhist people paying their respects at the statues.

 

 

 

The surrounding around the temple was completely overgrown with huge bamboo forests and trees, making everything feel ancient. I am not sure how old the temples are though, my best guess is that have been rebuilt in the last 20 years.

 

 

 

 

I really want to go back to the temple one day when the weather is better and the smog is not turning the sky into a dull grey color. The inside of the temples in Lingyin park were similar to most temples of in China. They are dark, quiet places with lots of signs that say, NO PHOTOGRAPHY. When I see those signs, I mostly respect them and I do not shoot photos. I shoot one photo from the outside the door, looking into the temple, and even that was difficult because of the low light. I was shooting at ISO 6400 and a very slow shutter speed to get the correct exposure. But that is life, you cannot always control the light. You got to work with what you’ve got and make the most out of it.

 

 

 

One benefit of going to a park in China during bad weather is that not many people will go there. Normally if the weather is good during the weekend, I would never go to a tourist spot, as it would be over crowded with thousands of people.

 

 

The only thing I did not like about the park were the fake candles. They just looked so out of place at the temples. Most temples still use traditional wax candles and this is the first time I have seen these electronic candles. Maybe they are using them as they are good for the environment, but I am not sure, and all I can say is that I dont like them. Sometimes tradition is a good thing.

Besides the candles, I would say that Lingyin park is probably the best best park and temple in China that I have visited so far. If you go to Hangzhou, I highly recommend going here. It is not far from West Lake, and really worth working around and exploring.

Shaun.