Travel Notes丨Jinan Lingyan Temple Day Tour

Sunny-Cloudy-Sunny

Pray for blessings

Considering... due to... various reasons, I chose to go to Changqing Lingyan Temple to burn incense, pray for blessings, and climb mountains to see the distance.

 

After searching a lot on Du Niang, I couldn't find a reasonable bus route that was recently replied to.

transportation:

Outbound trip: Take a ride from Dida to the parking lot of the scenic spot - 50 yuan.

Return trip: The scenic area bus costs 30 yuan to be sent to the nearby station, take the Tai'an-Jinan Railway Station bus (10 yuan/person), and then transfer to other buses.

If you don’t drive by yourself, the transportation is still very inconvenient; the direct bus to and from urban scenic spots reported online has been canceled for more than a year after verifying with the scenic spot employees.

Tickets: After receiving the "Jinan Travel Consumption Voucher" discount through the ticketing applet, the total price is 23 yuan per person.

Arrived at 8 o'clock in the morning. After coming down from the parking lot, the sun was very bright and the video warned of glare. Although it only lasted a few seconds, I could still feel a kind of aura from outside the city😂. Then walk a few steps and there are some vendors selling small walnuts, gourds and crickets. After climbing a few steps along the road, you can reach the main entrance of Lingyan Temple. Although it is the main entrance, it is not as grand as imagined. After all, the explanation in Du Niangzhong is the first of the four famous temples in the country.

But when I go to Lingyan Temple to burn incense, I still have a sincere heart.

If you buy group tickets online, you need to go back to the tourist service center to exchange for a paper ticket. It is a very simple machine-printed square ticket without any text such as posters or promotions.

I haven’t visited this place in Jinan for almost 10 years, and I haven’t even heard of it. During the mountain climbing, I saw the dirt on the mountain road, which really made me feel sad. It can be seen that there are not many people visiting. Perhaps due to the remote location, it may not be vigorously promoted. Such a "profound" ancient temple can be regarded as a place for a weekend outing in Jinan.

Food rations: I thought the food at the scenic spot was very expensive, so I carried peaches, cherries, apples, snack biscuits, spicy snacks, and plenty of drinking water. But in fact, the fruits and eggs on the mountain are quite cheap, which is normal. The market price is 1 yuan for boiled eggs.

But the food on the way was very happy, and several uncles looked at me with envy of happiness.

Burn incense and pray for blessings: After checking in, there are several halls where incense is burned and praying for blessings. Everyone is solemn and silent.

The big brother who hitchhiked carefully reminded us that there are incense for tourists to use in the temple, so there is no need to buy incense on the roadside. After entering , this is indeed the case. If you can't find where the incense is stored, you can ask everyone in a low voice. ( I don’t know why, maybe everyone is in awe, no one is making any noise, they are all solemn serious🙏) This temple The great master inside will also remind everyone not to use incense from outside for worship.

But big You can still prepare a little Take three or more During the climbing process There is also a place for worship Sometimes there is no Excess incense.

In the process of praying, you can pray three times in the east, west, south and north, or you can kneel down and pray. Sincerity leads to spiritual success, and I did not study any special rituals. Offer/donate money to , can choose to offer money or food (peaches, etc.). You will also meet some masters on the road, so please do what you need. The worshiping process seems not suitable for taking pictures, and there are no photos of each hall.

When we went there, we caught up with the Thousand Buddhas Hall for maintenance and were not able to visit it up close. You can call to check before going.

There were really a lot of birds that day.

After saying goodbye, you can choose to take a nap, eat some snacks to replenish your strength, and start preparing for mountain climbing. It is next to Mount Tai, and the steps feel a bit steeper than those on Mount Tai, in my impression. Along the way, you need to rest many, many times. It may be a combination of factors such as hot weather, steep stairs, and advanced age. If you plan to climb mountains, you should protect yourself from the sun and wear long pants. Will you be troubled by mosquito bites on the way, especially gadflies? This big fly keeps following people around and its sting is said to be very painful.

There are not many people climbing the mountain. They are only in groups of twos and threes. If you just burn incense and pray for blessings, you don’t need to choose mountain climbing as a fitness item. Or after checking into Tomb Tower Forest, go down the mountain.

The tomb pagoda forest consists of the tomb pagodas and tombstones of the eminent monks who have been abbots of Lingyan Temple for generations. Jet Li's version of the movie "Shaolin Temple" was filmed here. There is also a place for praying, and a small peach is pressed here.

After I came back, I checked the information and found out that in the relief on the east side of the tomb tower forest, there is a person pushing the door open and trying to enter, and a person on the west side opening the door and trying to get out. There is a saying that Buddhism believes that life is a long journey, and death is just a door in it. It does not mean the end of life. Opening the door is entering another stage. Regardless of past or present life, do more good deeds.

There is also a place behind the tomb tower forest where you can tie red ropes to pray for blessings. The prices are 20 yuan a piece and 10 yuan a piece, with different contents. After writing the name and content, the uncle can help hang the tree.

On the way to the top, you will probably encounter 3-4 tea breaks or snack points with walnuts, eggs, and ice cream for you to choose to rest and replenish your energy.

There is a "red door" at the top of the mountain, and you need to pay a fee to burn incense/touch the Buddha's body to seek good wishes. There were a few aunties on the top of the mountain charging fees, but there were no masters, so I didn't choose to pay and bowed around.

On the way down the mountain, you can choose to go back the same way or go to the Yixiantian scenic spot. I don’t know if it’s because of the new path, but it’s really steep. My whole legs are shaking as I go down.

After coming down, you will encounter a green pond, where many beautiful aunts and uncles record TikTok. But I was already shivering from exhaustion, so I chose to watch the energetic aunts and uncles in the small pavilion and finish eating the dry food I brought.

On the return trip, you can choose to ask the big brother at the scenic spot to help you call a taxi to the nearest stop where you can take a ride, but it is actually quite expensive, 30 per trip. You can try a taxi app.

If you arrive at 8 o'clock in the morning, you can finish the tour around noon. You can choose to eat at a nearby farmhouse, or go home if you are too tired.

I was really hungry halfway through, so I came down to the city for a meal.

         

To sum up, it is said that Lingyan Temple is very effective in making wishes, so you can go there. It is not recommended to go hiking on very hot days. If you go there because of its reputation, you may be a little disappointed with the whole thing. Let's go and appreciate it again when it is better maintained!

emmm, those who have the conditions and cultural heritage can do more research. I think the cultural heritage of Lingyan Temple is still very profound. You can listen to the tour guide when you meet him!