StChin

2018-02-16 12:59:16

The attraction is a collection of grottoes carved into a mountain wall high above the ground.It is located far from town, approx. 90 min from Handan city. We hired a car.RMB 25 for adults and RMB 15 for children. Don't lose the tickets because you need them at the second entrance to the grottoes.Near the main entrance of the attraction, there are several temples and pagodas. Then, begins a 700-step climb to the grottoes. The gradient is comfortable and there are rest areas along the way.Stalls selling refreshments, joss sticks and firecrackers can be found dotting the path. You will also meet some fortunetellers offering their services.The grottoes are numbered but do not follow any sequence. The signage provides scarce information. You only know in which dynasty it was built. Not all the grottoes are found here and the people manning the area do not seem to know where the others are located! Perhaps at the "temple peak", which goes all the way up the mountain, which we did not try!The Buddha statues are mostly defaced, possibly due to the Cultural Revolution - almost all of them have had the faces and hands broken off. The main "tallest Buddha" appears to have been restored from a similar damage.There are some modern additions (new statues of gods from the Taoist/Buddhist pantheon) but the original stone statues certainly show the styles of religious statuary across time. The locals here do not speak or understand foreign languages, so a guide will be helpful. The exhibits all provide the opportunity for visitors to pray (and leave a donation).The Fairy People cave is not included in the main grotto collection and a wizened old lady will charge RMB 3 for a "guided" tour of the small cave dedicated to creatures from folklore, such as Lady White Snake. Provided that is, you can understand her: she speaks only the local dialect, not even Mandarin!

VivFraser

2018-02-08 07:43:46

The Xiangtang is also known as Xiangtangshan Grotto. It has been named the national AAAA tourist scenic spot in 2009. From Handan you can catch the 604 local rural bus which goes the back roads but takes 1.5 hours. From FengFeng you need to try and get a taxi or the no 5 bus. Dont recommend eating at the Grotto - take your own snacks but you can buy drinks. Entry was 25yuan. The place is magic - a decent climb past a huge pagoda - there are steps but give yourself an hour to amble and enjoy the scenery behind you. Walking through the arched wall entranceway you will be greeted by a series of caves with breathtaking buddha carvings. There is reputed to be almost 5,000 buddha carvings on Gushan Mountain. So worth the effort of getting there. Note. Lower ground beside the pagoda and behind a closed off temple is a series of stunning beheaded statues.