For those of you who don’t know what a stupa is, it’s a dome-shaped monument, used to house relics of Buddhism or Jainism. Having said that, I can’t really remember seeing anything particularly dome-shaped here…
Jiuhuashan – or Jiuhua Hill (or Mountain, it’s the same in Chinese), is an area of Buddhist history and worship, complete with the obligatory areas dedicated to candle and incense burning en masse, populated by bowing civilians, wandering monks, and Buddha effigies.
According to one source of information I found, Japanese invaders found the “skull cap” (whatever that is) of the Tang dynasty monk Xuanzhuang in a temple in Nanjing. They sent part of it to Japan, and left the rest in the stupa that (presumably) resides here. I say “presumably” because the main pagoda here is, according to the Chinese characters, a storage area of some sort, but to be honest it’s a bit unspectacular.
The actual pagoda also has the very curious optical illusion-esque trait of looking much bigger from a distance. Not far away is a bell tower, which is certainly more colourful, and all around you there’s fantastic views of Xuanwu Lake and the city itself.
In all, it’s a really nice area, but more than this, here’s my personal recommendation for a good day out…see this place, then Jiming Temple, and then the Nanjing Historical Museum of Ming Dynasty City Wall all in the same day, because they’re all within walking distance of each other (providing it’s a nice day and/or you like walking, lazy people need not apply!)
Entry is 20 yuan.
