★ Tourist location: Lingyan Mountain, Mudu, Suzhou

The first time I came to Mudu was in the afternoon, and I was rushing to Shanghai, so I only walked around the ancient town and didn't go to Lingyan Mountain next door. This time, while my parents were shopping, I took my friends to exercise.

Walking into the gate, you will see that the hibiscus planted on the lawn are really beautiful and charming. They are red, pink, and white. You can find three colors on a hibiscus tree. But we didn't spend too much time enjoying the flowers. After all, our goal was to climb mountains, even though the mountain was not really high.

Lingyan Mountain is full of strange stones, shaped like Ganoderma lucidum, hence its name. It is also called Xiangshan because when viewed from a distance, the mountain is turning to the right, like a giant elephant looking back. Because the slate produced at the western foot is the material of stone carving products such as Suzhou's famous handicraft collection Lingyan Mountain Stone Inkstone, it is also called Yanshi Mountain. The cliffs in the south of the mountain are like a city, so it is also known as Shicheng Mountain. It is also called Shigu Mountain because there are stone shooters and stone drums in the south of the mountain. Count it, Lingyan Mountain has many aliases. These aliases have merits, either because of their shape or because of their production. Lingyan, I think this name is the loudest. The word Ling itself is not a name for ordinary mountains. Rock is also a feature of their mountain.

We found a hiking path and started climbing. There were stone steps along the road, which were not steep, so the physical requirements were not high. However, we didn't expect too much time. After all, there were still two old people walking around the ancient town at the foot of the mountain. Therefore, even if I saw little squirrels jumping from tree to tree on the mountain road from time to time, I didn't stop.

There are almost no forks along the way. Even if you occasionally deviate from the established route, you will soon meet up with your friends in front. Until reaching the top of the mountain is Lingyan Mountain Temple. There is a team running uphill very fast and also supplying drinking water along the way.

Standing in front of the temple, you can see Mudu Town, where the terrain is relatively high. However, there is nothing to see about the city scenery.

After contacting my parents on the phone, we figured that we still had time to go around Lingyan Mountain Temple, so we bought tickets. This ticket is really cheap that is rarely seen in Jiangnan. It's only one yuan per person, which means that you don't want tickets! It is estimated that these tickets are also sold to count the number of tourists? Anyway, from the perspective of economic value, it does not seem to be very practical.

Lingyanshan Temple is one of the Buddhist Pure Land Taoist temples in my country. It is also known as Chongbao Temple. It was named Xiufeng Temple during the Liang Dynasty. It was called Lingyanshan Temple in the Tang Dynasty and is still in use today. This temple was built in the Western Jin Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,600 years. It was destroyed during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, rebuilt during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and then destroyed in the war during the Xianfeng period. The temples we see now were mainly rebuilt by Master Yin Guang in the 1930s.

The temple has three palaces. The first entrance to the Hall of Kings is dedicated to Maitreya with the crown of heaven. Behind it is the sitting statue of Wei Tuo holding a pestle. The four major statues of kings on both sides are colored sculptures and are all more than four meters high. Most of the Wei Tuo statues we see in ordinary temples are standing, but the sitting statues here are quite different.

Walking along the stone bridge, you will find the Daxiong Hall, which is 25 meters high and 20 meters wide. What is more peculiar is that everyone hangs the "Daxiong Hall", but what is hung here is the "Daxiong Hall". The Buddha statue of Sakyamuni is dedicated in the middle, which is six meters high. On both sides are the statues of Kasyapa and Ananda disciples. It is said that this group of statues is carved from camphor wood. There were actually not eighteen arhats on both sides, but sixteen arhats. On the back wall is the Nanhai Guanyin statue, with Shancai and Long Li standing there. This is a clay sculpture statue.

The Buddhist Reading Hall is the last entrance. This is the place for monks to recite Buddha and practice. The four words "Pure Land Taoist Hall" are hung at the main entrance, which is Master Yinguang's calligraphy. In the hall are the three sacred statues of Amitabha, Guanyin, and Shizhi West, surrounded by Zen benches. There is a Buddhist scripture library upstairs, but tourists are not allowed to climb the building. It is said that there are more than 7,000 volumes of the Qing edition of "Dragon Zang" collected here. It can't help but make people speechless. When will this book be finished? Not to mention the Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist scriptures from past dynasties, which have a total of more than 47,000 volumes!

There are many pagodas in the east, which should be regarded as the landmark building of Lingyan Mountain Temple. Also known as Lingyan Pagoda, it is the most distinctive ancient building in the temple. The tower is thirty-four meters high, has seven levels and eight sides, and is in the style of a pavilion. It was built on Liang and has been hit by fires many times in the past. Nanning Shaoxing was rebuilt in the 17th year. The tower is hollow inside, the tower body is entirely made of bricks, and there are stone Buddha windows on each floor. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the tower was struck by lightning, leaving only the brick tower body. In 1989, the tower was completely restored. The tower base, platform and eaves were restored in accordance with the Song Dynasty's construction rules. The tower does look very new.

The earlier history of Lingyanshan Temple can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. The Guanwa Palace built by King Fuchai of Wu was here. It was also the place where the State of Yue offered Xishi. Now there are also relics and monuments of King Wu in the park, such as King Wu Well, playing flower pond, playing moon pond, etc. A palace was built here during Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty during their southern patrols, but it was destroyed in the war during the Xianfeng period.

Because there was not much time, we didn't have time to enjoy them one by one. We could only take a general look and get familiar with them. Then we returned the same way, went down the mountain to meet our parents, and ended our trip to Suzhou.