Thousand Buddha Mountain

Thousand Buddha Mountain lies on the southern outskirts of Jinan as a natural screen, is the south branch of Mt. Taishan. With a height of 285 meters, the mountain is one of three top attractions in Jinan. It was called Mt. Lishan in ancient times and named Shungeng Mountain because legend said that Shun, a legendary monarch in ancient China, once ploughed at the foot of the mountain. In Sui Dynasty (581-618), with the wide spread of Buddhism, thousands sculptures of Buddha were carved on the mountain, hence the name Thousand Buddha Mountain.

Wanfo Cave

Situated at the north side of the mountain, Wanfo Cave collects elite of the four famous grottoes in China including Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Yungang Caves in Datong, and Maiji Caves in Tianshui. There are almost 30,000 pieces of statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Disciples and Heavenly Kings, among which the largest sleeping Buddha has a total length of 28 meters. These statues reflect the development of Buddhism in China and reveal the superb workmanship of sculpture in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Xingguochan Temple

Xingguochan Temple was originally called Thousand-Buddha Temple. According to the records, the temple was destroyed by the wars after Song Dynasty (960-1279), and rebuilt in Ming Dynasty. Located at half way of the mountain, the temple takes an area of 3,000 square meters. There are the Great Buddha’s Hall, Kwan-yin Hall, the Laughing Buddha Hall and Duihua Kiosk that covers statues of Sakyamuni, Avalokitesvara, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, eighteen arhats and Four Heavenly Kings.

Thousand-Buddha Cliff

Located on the northern flank of the hill behind the Xingguochan Temple, the Thousand-Buddha Cliff takes a length of 65 meters from north to south. Over 130 statues of Buddha were carved from 587 to 595 of Sui Dynasty, making it a rare material of learning Buddhism during that time. The cliff is pierced by nine caves with Jile (Extremely Happy) Cave ranking the No.1. The statue of Amitabha sits in the middle with a height of 3meters flanked by Bodhisattva of Great Power in the right and Arya Avalokiteshvara in the left.

Maitreya Garden

The buildings in the garden are in architectural style of Qing Dynasty (1638-1912), along with trees and grass, making it a simple, elegant and tranquil world. The garden is an architectural combination of China and Japan. The splendid archway at the main gate is 9.9 meters tall and 12.5 meters wide. The main statue in the garden is a happy Maitreya with a height of 20 meters. People made the statue with a smile face, describing the real figure of Maitreya in Buddhist stories and also reflecting the pursuit of happy life and optimistic mentality. The relievo behind the statue covers an area of 126 square meters telling the life stories of Maitreya.