Qixia Temple

Introduction

Located in the Qixia Mountain 25km (16 miles) east of the city is the 5th century Qixia Temple. This temple is one of the most important monasteries in China. It was one of the earliest established monasteries and is still a very active center for worship. As the headquarters of the Jiangsu branch of the Chinese Buddhist Association, the temple has an extensive library of more than 7,200 volumes of Buddhist scriptures. Behind the temple there are over 500 Buddhas carved into the niches of the Thousand Buddha cliff and there is also a stupa with beautiful carvings depicting the life of the Sakyamuni Buddha.