Niushou Mntn Park
This expansive park consists of several temples, pagodas, ponds and parks scattered around Niushou Mountain, Nanjing. This has been a holy Buddhist site since the Tang dynasty (618 – 907), but the original Usnisa temple was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s.
Later, when a fragment of the Buddha’s skull was allegedly found here, China went all out and spent about US$ 600 Mio to construct a new temple complex.
The Chan State Scenery is an enormous hall, almost the size of an airplane hangar, where the magic really starts:
Once your eyes have adjusted to the dimmed lights and you have told yourself that this is not a dream, you will be awed by the gigantic interior. The immense size together with the colors and textures are straight from an acid trip.
The focal point of the Chan State Scenery is the large reclining Sakyamuni statue that slowly rotates 360 degrees. Admire the latticed ceiling, alcoves filled with buddhas, bronze trees, and LED lights.
When you have either reached Nirvana or sensory overload, follow the curved porch hugging the giant durian.
The Great Usnisa Hall, or 1.000-Buddhas Hall, the highlight of the Nanjing Niushoushan Cultural Park, is where buddhists circumambulate the relic of the Buddha's skull bones:
Just as you wrap your head around all the trippy colors, different kinds of marbles, shiny orbs, crystal inlays and Buddhas serenely smiling down at you, remember that all of these are SIX FLOORS UNDERGROUND!
The Zheng He Cultural Park is the burial site of Zheng He. The tomb, restored in 1985, retains traditional Hui and Muslim burial customs. It features a horseshoe-shaped stone mausoleum made of bluestone, with a tomb cover carved with yunjin and lotus patterns, along with Arabic inscriptions. A stone tablet embedded in the rear wall bears the inscription “Tomb of Zheng He” in carved clerical script:
