Wutai
Mountain
The Wutai Mountain, situated in the northeastern corner of Wutai County
, is one of the fourmajor Buddhist  mountain
sanctuaries in China. As the legend says, this mountain was the place
where Buddhist ceremonies were held in as early as the Han Dynasty (206
BC - 220 AD). During the years that followed, a large number of buildings
were constructed in this area. One can still find more than 40 temples
and monasteries scattered in the mountain area.
The Wutai Mountain is famous for its beautiful surroundings, with trees
covering ancient temples and monasteries. The buildings look exceptionally
impressive, and the stone carvings are of superb craftsmanship. The painted
sculptures are of various shapes and types and no two sculptures are of
the same kind.
The Grand Hall of the Foguang Temple on the Mountain are wood structures
built during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD); as the earliest of their
kind in this country so they share an important position in world and
Chinese architecture history.
Mt.
Putuo
The scenic spot is on an island at the southeast end of the Zhoushan
Archipelago, on which there is a mountain called Mt. Putuo. The island,
12.5 square kilometers in size, has been a famous tourist attraction because
of the dense wooded forest, golden sands, rugged reefs that cover it and
particularly to Mt. Putuo which is one of the four well-known Buddhist
mountains in China.
It is said that in the second year ( 916 AD) of the reign of Emperor
Zhenming of Later Liang of the Five Dynasties Period, Hui'e, a Japanese
monk built the Temple of Avalokitesvara on the mountain and Mt Putuo has
become the place for people to worship Avalokitesvara ever since. Later
many other temples were successively built here, and in the peak of its
development there were as many as 200 temples and convents with more than
4000 monks and nuns. Most of the temples existing were the structures
built in the Qing Dynasty, of which Puji, Fayu and Huiji are the biggest.
Besides, there are more than 20 other places of interest, such as Qianbusha,
Chaoyin Cave, Fanyin Cave, Southern Heavenly Gate, Western Heavenly Gate,
and so on. This has lead to Mt. Putuo's fame as the "Buddhist Country
of Sea and Heaven".
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