China Guide
Jiangsu and Zhejiang
Linggu Si
Opening time: Daily 8am–5pm
Price: ¥15
Address: On Zijin Shan (bus #9 from Xinjiekou)
Starting from the eastern side of the hill, the first if least interesting sight on shady Zijin Shan (Purple Gold Mountain) is the collection of buildings around the temple complex of Linggu Si, among them the so-called Beamless Hall. Completed in 1381, and much restored since, the hall is unusual for its large size and particularly for its self-supporting brick arch construction, with five columns instead of a central beam. It was used to store Buddhist sutras before the Taiping rebels made it a fortress; now it's an exhibition hall.
The Linggu Si itself is a very much smaller and much restored version of its original self – and still attended by yellow-robed monks. North of the hall stands a small pavilion surrounded by beautiful cypresses and pines, and north of this again is the Linggu Ta, an octagonal, nine-storey, sixty-metre-high pagoda, dating back to the 1930s and built, rather extraordinarily, as a monument to Guomindang members killed in the fighting against insurgent Communists in 1926–27. It's well worth climbing up for the views over the surrounding countryside.
A delightful footpath runs through the wood to Zhongshan Ling, leading northwest from the Linggu buildings. On the way, you'll pass one or two more buildings, including the Zangjinglou (Buddhist Library) at the top of a grand stairway, which now houses the rather dull Sun Yatsen Museum, a collection of pictures with explanations in Chinese.