Jinshan Hill Park

Jinshan Hill Park is in the northwest of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province. It is on Mount Jin which is about 44 meters (about 144 feet) high and covers an area of 102 acres.

The picturesque scenery of Jinshan Hill Park is made up of over thirty scenic spots on Mount Jin. Throughout history, the park gained its fame for its beautiful landscape, its important status in relation to Buddhism as well as having soul stirring legends. Jinshan Temple, Spring Zhongleng (praised as the First Spring under the Heaven), and Jintian Garden are among the most famous scenic spots in Jinshan Hill Park.

Jinshan Hill Park

Jinshan Temple

Jinshan Temple is indispensable to the renown of Jinshan Hill Park. It can be traced back as early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), and has had a history of more than 1,600 years. The temple was known as Zexin Temple or Longyou Temple; however, people have been calling it Jinshan Temple since the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The temple was built according to the mountain features. All the pavilions, terraces and towers are in harmony with their surroundings. It is also a Buddhism holy land, amongst the four most famous Buddhist temples in China. The temple was visited by many emperors who left their calligraphy as praise; for example, the tablet at the entrance was written by Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Besides the beautiful scenes, many legends are associated with this park, too. A widely spread legend, ‘the White Snake', happened in the temple. This story mainly tells about the love story between Bai Suzhen, who was a magic snake and changed herself into a beautiful girl, and Xu Xi'an who was forced to be a monk in Jinshan Temple at the latter part of the story. It is this story that makes most Chinese people get to know this temple.

Jinquan Bridge

Well in the Temple

Besides Jinshan Temple, many other places of great interest can be found. Cishou Pagoda is in the northwestern area of the park, on top of which you have a bird's eye view of the park and surroundings from different directions. Spring Zhongleng is to the west of the temple. Many poets and articles were written to praise its water because the flavor of tea is more scented when people boil it with the water in this spring.

Jinshan Hill Park may be visited during any season of the year. On every New Year's Eve, from midnight of December 31st to the early morning of January 1st, people usually come to toll the bell in Jinshan Temple to pray for good luck in the coming year. The Jinshan Hill Park Tourism Festival is held yearly from September to October.

 Video of Jinshan Temple
 

Admission Fee:	CNY 50 (including Cishou Pagoda and White Snake Hall) Notice: CNY 65 is charged during the garden party held from August 22 to November 22, 2013.
Bus Route:	take bus no. 2, 8, 17, 29, 34, 35, 40, 49, 60, 92, 102, 104, 115, 133 or 216 and get off at Jinshangongyuan Station
Opening Hours:	06:00-18:00