Jingci Temple, Buddhist temple at Huiri Peak of Nanping Hill, Hangzhou, China

Jingci Temple is a Buddhist sanctuary situated at Huiri Peak on Nanping Hill near West Lake, arranged across multiple courtyards with traditional Chinese architecture. The complex features a grand entrance gate, halls containing large gilded statues, pavilions housing sacred relics, and gardens with walking paths connecting the different sections.

The monk Yongming Yanshou founded the temple in 954 as Huiri Yongming Temple, built under Qian Chu, king of Wuyue. In the Southern Song dynasty it was renamed Jingci Temple and a 500 Luohan Hall was added, and it became one of the five mountain monasteries of Chan Buddhism. Destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly through the Ming and Qing, the present buildings date from the 1980s.

The temple's name comes from a Southern Song renaming; it was first called Huiri Yongming Temple. The poet Yang Wanli wrote "Leaving Jingci Temple at Dawn to See Lin Zifang Off" here, describing West Lake's lotuses in summer. A stele in the bell tower records that in 1707 the Kangxi emperor ordered Sun Wencheng to rebuild it, with donations of 500 taels each from Cao Yin, Li Xu and Sun Wencheng.

The temple opens daily to visitors and is accessible by local transportation, though parking nearby can be limited during peak times. Arriving earlier in the day helps you experience the spaces with fewer crowds and appreciate the details more easily.

The bronze bell cast in 1984 replaced a Ming-dynasty bell from the Hongwu period that disappeared in the late Qing wars. Forged with help from Eihei-ji, head temple of Soto Zen in Japan, it weighs over 100 kilograms and carries the Lotus Sutra in 68,000 characters. A 1986 ceremony with hundreds of Chinese and Japanese Buddhists marked its completion.