Suzhou, China- 8/5/2023

Train to Suzhou & Hanshan temple

To get to Suzhou we took the train from Hongqiao railway station in Shanghai, a highly modernized railway station and is one of the largest hub in Asia.  So many people there.

We are staying in line to get into the train platform . There are a lot of people but it is really well organized and we pass through very quickly.

Getting on the bullet train.  Suzhou is about 62 miles from Shanghai and about a 30 minutes high speed train ride from Shanghai.

We are about 10 minutes into our trip and there are so many skyscrapers along the way.

We stop at 1 station before getting to Suzhou.

Landscape view from the train during our trip.

View of Suzhou from the train station.

I did not realized how huge the city of Suzhou is.

Buildings right next to the train station.

We are now headed to Hanshan temple

Entrance gate to Hanshan temple

Traditional house on our way to Hanshan temple.

Walking toward the temple.

Rooftop of Hanshan temple view from the street.

Hanshan temple is a famous Buddhist temple in China’s history. It is known to most Chinese because of a poem written by Zhang Ji, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. The poem is both taught in the primary schools in China and Japan. There are many historical buildings and tablet inscriptions written by calligraphers and it is also a popular place to pray for peace.

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Entering the temple.

The first thing you see is a vast court yard with lots of trees.

Gate to enter the main temple

Here is the main temple.  Hanshan Temple literally meaning Cold Mountain Temple.

The temple was built in the reign of the Liang Dynasty from A.D 502-519, and has been rebuilt many times and the present structure dates to the Qing dynasty from 1644 to 1911.

 During the Republic of China era (1912–49), the temple was deserted for a long time. Then in 1941, the politician and military leader Gao Guanwu rebuilt the Sutra Library.

The temple’s newest building is the Tang dynasty-style Puming Pagoda was built in 1995. At 138 feet tall, the five-story pagoda offers a panoramic view of the temple complex and the city beyond.  Unfortunately it was not open to tourists so we were only on the 1st floor

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