[2024 Gangu Attraction] Travel Guide for Great Buddha Mountain Grottoes (Updated Nov)
Grottoes
Address:
Gangu, Tianshui, Gansu, China
Opening times:
Open today at 08:00-18:00Opening Soon
Recommended sightseeing time:
2 hours
Phone:
0938-5622481,0938-3328811
Gangu Daxiang Mountain: A hidden gem of grottoes in Gansu.
Grottoes are treasures carved by time and culture. The 3,000-year-old art of grottoes is a corridor of art, with sculptures blooming like flowers on the cliffs, giving life to the cold cliffs. Gansu is a treasure trove of grotto art in China, and in Gangu County, Tianshui, there is a sky-high pavilion - Daxiang Mountain.
Built on the cliff, you can climb up the steps and be amazed by the magnificent scenery of the Buddha Kingdom and the beauty of Gangu.
💐 Travel Guide:
✨ Daxiang Mountain is a national 4A-level scenic spot, with ancient temples and stone carvings scattered all over the place, such as the Great Buddha Cave, the Thousand Buddha Cave, and the Arhat Hall. Here, you can immerse yourself in the profound and vast Buddhist culture and enjoy the panoramic view of Gangu.
🔔 The core area is the Great Buddha Cave, which houses a 23.3-meter stone clay sculpture of the Great Buddha, standing proudly among the northern grottoes, and is the best preserved. Its solemn demeanor and majestic aura are visually stunning and reach deep into the heart.
‼️ Travel Tips:
📍 Located in Wulipu Village, Daxiangshan Town, Gangu County, Tianshui City, Gansu Province.
⏰ Open from 8 am to 6 pm.
⛳ Tickets are affordable, with adults at CNY 30 and half-price at CNY 15.
✅ Tickets can be purchased at the visitor center or ticket office at the entrance. Seniors over 60 years old can enjoy free admission with their ID card.
🚌 Bus No. 2 or taxi can take you directly to the site.
✨ Warm tip: The scenic area has many stone steps, so flat shoes or sneakers are recommended.
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The Gangu Daxiangshan Buddha is the highest in the country in terms of relative height
Gangu Daxiangshan is located on Wenqi Mountain at the western end of the Qinling Mountains, which is a typical Danxia landform. From the foot of the mountain to the top, it is 1.5 kilometers long and is one of the important cultural relics that integrate the ancient Grottoes and ancient buildings in the southeastern part of Gansu on the ancient Silk Road.
Entering the scenic area, the first thing you see is the Daxiangshan archway. After the archway, there is a stele of 'Xihuang's hometown'. It turns out that Fuxi was born here. Going up the steps, there is the Jiangwei Temple first. The couplet on the door says, 'The ambition is in the Central Plains and the life is exhausted, the Shenlou Xiangshan will shine for thousands of years', which fully shows Jiangwei's dedication to the cause of Shu Han.
Next is the Wenchang Pavilion, the combination of the inner and outer pavilions is exquisite, and it is the only hexagonal building with double eaves on the whole mountain.
Then there is the Luban Temple, with a unique Bagua lotus flower caisson roof, without a nail or a rivet, fully demonstrating the wisdom of the carpenters. Inside the temple is a statue of Luban. On the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, it is Luban's birthday. On this day, the masters of the construction industry will lead their apprentices to drink industry wine here, indicating that there are successors to the ancestor Luban. Next to the temple, you can overlook the whole view of Gangu County.
Continuing upwards, there is the God of Wealth Temple, also known as the Guan Saint Temple. Inside the temple is a statue of Guan Gong, stroking his beard with his right hand and holding the 'Spring and Autumn' in his left hand, meaning 'Guan Gong reads the Spring and Autumn at night, with a broad vision'.
Walking a short flat road forward, you come to the Great Buddha Temple. The Great Buddha Temple is located in a cliff cave with a relative height of 200 meters at an altitude of 1516 meters. Inside the cave is a Tang Dynasty Buddha carved from the mountain, with a mud statue in the stone womb. The Buddha is 23.3 meters high and 9.5 meters wide. This Buddha is the only Tang Dynasty Buddha in the Wei River Basin, and the only one in the Longdong Grottoes. It is also the highest of the same kind of Buddha carved relative to the ground in the country.
After the Great Buddha Temple, there are Baiyun Pavilion, Wuji Palace, Maitreya Temple, Queen Mother Palace, and Tianye Temple, etc. I didn't look carefully and started to go down the mountain.
The downhill road is basically a slope, which is relatively easy and good for knee protection. Halfway down the mountain is Yongming Temple. The layout is arranged along the central axis in order, including the mountain gate, the Heavenly King Hall, the dining hall, the guest hall, the bell tower, the drum tower, the Thirteen Ancestor Hall, the Jialan Hall, the Daxiong Treasure Hall, and the Sutra Pavilion. Because I was a little tired, I just took a quick look.
Next to the exit of Yongming Temple is Yongming Nunnery, which is not open. Continue to go down the mountain and leave the scenic area, which takes about an hour and a half in total.