The next morning turned out to be a nice cold and bright sunny day; we took a taxi and went for sightseeing to the Lingyin Temple and the Peak Flying From Afar. The place is around 2o minutes drive from the downtown area and tucked away in a secluded valley northwest of West Lake.

As soon as we stepped out of the cab, we had to decline offers from a group of unauthorized tour agents who were trying hard to persuade us to join with them. Leaving these people behind us, we dashed over to the ticket booth and purchased the admission ticket to the Peak Flying From Afar (RMB 35 for adult / RMB 17.5 for children).



The Peak Flying from Afar ( Feilai Feng) is a limestone cliff over 209 meters in height and stands next to Lingyin Temple. We appeared to be particularly in a jovial mood as we sauntered casually around the place and we had a wonderful clicking-photo session.



It has caves and hundreds of Buddhist rock carvings, making it the largest group of sculptures in Zhejiang Province. Most of them were created over 600 years ago during the Yuan Dynasty. The stone figures are spreading on the rock along the creek and appear in a variety of poses from sitting to standing, squatting and sleeping. There are inscriptions nearby on the ground. They are now national cultural heritages which are under the protection of the national government.




One the caves of Peak Flying From Afar known as Longhong Cave also called Cave of Goddess of Mercy or Cave of leading to the Sky. In the vault of the cave, looking upwards towards the north, one can see a crack through which a thread of skylight penetrates.


On the way to the Lingying Temple, at last we could see the most famous carving known as the Laughing Buddha with exposed large belly at the side of the long and narrow cliff, who is said to be able to keep all of the world's troubles. It was carved in the year A.D. 1000.


We didn't try climbing up the steep trail since there were no handrails and fences. We were afraid that it would be extremely slippery because of the intense humidity.