[2025 Tongchuan Attraction] Travel Guide for Daxiang Mountain Temple (Updated Mar)

Daxingshan Temple in Tongchuan is located in Zhaozhen Town, Yaoxian District, Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province. It is a Buddhist temple with a long history and cultural background, suitable for a day trip. Here is a simple one-day itinerary suggestion: • Departure: Start from Xi'an in the morning, drive along Baomiao Expressway for about 2 hours, and arrive at Daxingshan Temple Scenic Area in Zhaozhen Town, Yaoxian District, Tongchuan City. • Morning: • Visit Daxingshan Temple: Daxingshan Temple has a long history and is one of the three major temples in Shaanxi Province. It is also one of the earliest Buddhist holy places in China. The temple has a unique architectural style and is very popular. You can burn incense and worship Buddha here, and experience the solemnity and mystery of Buddhist culture. • Appreciate the natural scenery: Daxingshan Temple is surrounded by mountains and has beautiful scenery. You can stroll along the mountain trails, admire the autumn leaves, breathe fresh air, and enjoy the beauty of nature. • Lunch: Enjoy local specialties at the restaurant in the scenic area, such as Tongchuan Roujiamo and Yaoxian Wowo Noodles. • Afternoon: • Continue exploring: You can choose to take a cable car or hike to the Guanyin Hall on the top of the mountain, overlooking the magnificent scenery of the entire scenic area. • Shopping and leisure: Buy some souvenirs at the shops in the scenic area, such as Buddhist beads and Buddha statues. You can also enjoy a cup of tea at the teahouse and take a break. • Return: Around 4 pm, end the day's tour and return to Xi'an. Notes: 1. Learn about the opening hours and ticket prices of the scenic area in advance, and arrange your itinerary reasonably. 2. Pay attention to the weather conditions and choose appropriate clothing and shoes. 3. Respect Buddhist culture and comply with the regulations and etiquette of the scenic area. 4. Pay attention to safety, especially when hiking or taking a cable car.

❶The Tongchuan Museum is a national second-level museum with more than 6,000 cultural relics in its collection and more than 1,500 cultural relics on display, witnessing the long history of Tongchuan since the Neolithic period. Its Yaozhou porcelain masterpieces, the Tang Dynasty black-glazed tower-shaped covered jar, the lost and recovered Tang Dynasty tri-color heavenly king figurines, and the bronze Yin Gui are all national treasures. ❷Yaozhou Confucian Temple integrates the architectural features of various periods since the Song Dynasty and has extremely high ornamental and scientific research value. The courtyard is laid out along an axis, with the Lingxing Gate, Ji Gate and Dacheng Hall from south to north, arranged in a rigorous and symmetrical manner. The system follows the regulation of "temple on the left and school on the right". This is the fifth batch of national protection. Yaozhou District Museum is also here. ❸Yaowang Mountain is the place in China where the largest number of statues and steles from the Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties are preserved. Yaowang Mountain was originally named Wutai Mountain. It was named after the famous Tang Dynasty medical scientist Sun Simiao who lived in seclusion for a long time and was revered by the people as the "King of Medicine". The stone carvings are scattered all over the mountain and are rich and colorful. The Yaowangshan Stone Carvings are the first batch of national protected sites. ❹Dazhaojin was formerly known as Shimen Pass. It has been a strategic location since ancient times. During the Qin Dynasty, the Qinzhidao, an important military road, led to the north and was famous all over the world. The scenic area has five major attractions: "Zhaojin Red Tourism Town, Xuejiazhai, Xishan Scenic Spot, Chenjiapo Conference Site, and Daxiangshan", and is a large comprehensive scenic area. Daxiangshan Temple is one of the famous Buddhist holy sites in my country, known as "Putuo in the South and Xiangshan in the North". ❺The Yaozhou Kiln Museum is a special museum of ancient ceramic sites built within the Yaozhou Kiln Site in Huangbao Town (the third batch of national protection). It integrates site protection and display, cultural relics and specimens display, and simulation of ancient porcelain making technology demonstration. The glaze color of Yaozhou Kiln porcelain is mostly green with a hint of blue, which has a unique artistic style. It is also one of the bases for firing Tang Sancai. ❻ Chongxing Temple Pagoda, which is a hexagonal, seven-story, dense-eaves brick pagoda from the Song Dynasty, also known as Tongchuan Pagoda, was a landmark building of old Tongchuan and was once the landmark tower of the ancient city of Tongguan. It was first built in the Sui Dynasty, rebuilt in the Song Dynasty, and has been renovated many times in later generations. The tower is about 16 meters high and covers an area of ​​about 7.96 square meters. This is the 7th batch of national security ❼Chenlu Ancient Town is famous for producing blue, white, black and brown-glazed porcelain, and enjoys the reputation of "Porcelain Capital of Weibei". For more than a thousand years since the Tang Dynasty, Chenlu has been the most important porcelain production base in the northwest region and the only ancient Yaozhou kiln that has continued production to this day. Tongchuan·Shaanxi Chenlu Ancient Town Yaowang Mountain Yaozhou Kiln Museum

💡 Shaanxi's Tongchuan Zhaojin Daxiangshan, although sharing the magnificent natural scenery with Beijing's Xiangshan, has a different cultural and historical background. The Zhaojin Xiangshan Temple was founded during the Fu Qin dynasty (351-394 AD) and flourished during the Yao Qin dynasty (384-417 AD), with a history of over 1600 years, whereas Beijing's Xiangshan Temple was built during the Tang dynasty (1186 AD). 🔥 'Zhaojin Daxiangshan' is as famous as 'Zhejiang Putuoshan', known as 'North Xiangshan, South Putuo'. Both are regarded as the bodhimanda of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, and Zhaojin Daxiangshan is the only place in China where the Bodhisattva Guanyin's nirmanakaya and physical body are enshrined. 👑 Although it might be an exaggeration to call Daxiangshan 'one of the eight great Buddhist holy sites in China' or 'one of the three major temples in Shaanxi Province' as some local introductions claim, the site indeed carries profound and irreplaceable historical and cultural value. The title is not unwarranted. 📚 Legend has it that the founding master of Xiangshan Temple, Princess Miaoshan, was an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin. She was the third daughter of King Miaozhuang, a vegetarian from a young age, intelligent and compassionate. Princess Miaoshan devoted her days to devoutly chanting Buddhist scriptures and seeking enlightenment. King Miaozhuang, however, did not support her and, in a fit of anger, even attempted to have her executed. Later, Bodhidharma rescued her to Daxiangshan. King Miaozhuang subsequently fell ill with an incurable disease, and no medicine in the kingdom could heal him. Princess Miaoshan, without holding any grudges, cut off her own hand and gouged out her own eyes to cure her father. After his recovery, King Miaozhuang went to Xiangshan to express his gratitude, only to see a statue sitting in the main hall, missing a hand and eyes. King Miaozhuang then realized that Princess Miaoshan had attained enlightenment. Suddenly, Princess Miaoshan grew countless eyes and hands and slowly ascended to the sky, her face beaming with a serene smile. Since then, the Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin of Daxiangshan has become famous overseas, and the temple's incense has never ceased for thousands of years. 🗺 Daxiangshan, also known as 'Sanshishan', consists of three peaks: east, west, and middle, standing tall like a giant penholder, or like three sticks of incense in an incense burner, hence the name Xiangshan. Many also say that because Daxiangshan Temple is located on the sunny side of the mountain, the sea of flowers that covers the mountain in spring and summer creates an overwhelming fragrance, leading people to call these three stone peaks Xiangshan. The most enchanting time is probably autumn with its mountains of red leaves, or winter with its pure white snow. However, spring with its burgeoning life and green mountains dotted with fresh flowers, and summer with its rolling pine waves and refreshing breezes, are all worth visiting... Unfortunately, my visit was at an awkward time, and I missed this grand spectacle, which was somewhat regrettable. 🚗 Transportation 🚙 If you're driving, you have to park at the parking lot at the entrance of the scenic area (if you know someone inside the scenic area, you can drive to the top of the mountain). 🛺️ To enter the scenic area and climb the slope for two to three hundred meters, you can take the scenic area's sightseeing car (10 yuan per person), which only goes to the 'God of Wealth Temple' on the west peak. The way down the mountain is relatively gentle, so if you have plenty of time, there's no need to take the car~