James Baquet

    THE day after my visit to Hefei, I returned to Anhui, this time to Langya Temple in the Langya Mountain Scenic Area near Chuzhou.

    Entrance to this tourist trap was a whopping 95 yuan, plus another five yuan for the shuttle bus up the mountain. This was by far the most I had ever paid to visit a temple from my list, even though entry into the temple itself was technically free.

    When I arrived, though, all complaints melted away. It was paradise.

    In addition to the magnificent natural setting, there were some unusual features. The topmost hall contains 1,000 jade Buddhas from Burma, each about a foot high.

    Behind that hall is a Snow Goose Cave, and it has a rather unusual inhabitant. The keepers were happy to waive the 1 RMB fee to let me see a giant salamander living in the cave. It must have been at least 50 centimeters long! (What this has to do with snow geese escapes me.)

    On the upper terrace of the temple, a kindly old monk tended a small hall with an unusual set of murals on three of its walls. In a fairly primitive style, they purportedly showed the 500 Arhats — although nowhere near that many were present.

    At lunchtime in the main compound area, that same old monk invited me into the monks’ dining room. Kind indeed.

    Back near the temple gate is the Beamless Hall, in fact a building with a barrel vault made of brick. The lay attendants assured me this one dated to the Tang Dynasty (when the temple was founded); in fact it was “only” from the Ming. Back down the mountain to the train station, and on to another temple east of Nanjing.