Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou

Is Lingyin Temple free? Tickets and booking

Yes. The whole Lingyin–Feilai Feng scenic area is free: the carved peak, Lingyin Temple itself and the smaller Yongfu and Taoguang temples up the hill. It used to take two tickets — ¥45 at the scenic-area gate, then another ¥30 ‘incense ticket’ at the temple gate inside. Both have been scrapped, so ignore any guide that still quotes ¥75.

What you need instead is a free timed reservation. In Alipay or WeChat, search for the mini program “杭州灵隐飞来峰”, pick a date and a slot — morning (7:30–12:00, enter by 13:00) or afternoon (12:00–17:00, not before 11:00) — and enter your passport details. Foreign passports are accepted. Booking opens at 8:00 seven days ahead and closes the day before; one phone can book up to five people, children under 14 are added by an adult, and each adult can bring up to three.

If your day is full, join the online waitlist in the same mini program by 20:00 the day before. Plans changed? Cancel by 17:00 the day before: a no-show blocks you from booking for 30 days, longer for repeat offences. Visitors aged 70 and over don’t need to book. Third-party sites selling ‘e-tickets’ are charging you for a reservation that is free.

To use the mini program you need a working Alipay or WeChat account; link a foreign Visa or Mastercard before you fly, and the same app pays for the bus and lunch. Keep some small yuan notes as a backup.

What is Lingyin Temple?

Lingyin Si (灵隐寺), the ‘Temple of the Soul’s Retreat’, is Hangzhou’s oldest temple and one of China’s best-known Chan (Zen) monasteries. According to the temple’s own history, the Indian monk Huili founded it in 328. Looking at the neighbouring peak, he asked when this mountain from India had flown here — hence Feilai Feng, the ‘Peak That Flew Here’.

The monastery has been rebuilt many times, and most of today’s halls are late restorations, but the layout is old: halls climb the slope one behind another among camphor trees, with a stream along the cliff. In 1689 the Kangxi Emperor wrote the characters ‘Yunlin’, Cloud Forest, for the temple; that plaque hangs over the first hall.

It is a working monastery with resident monks, daily services and a constant stream of worshippers with incense. Expect devotion as much as sightseeing.

What to see at Feilai Feng and the temple

• Feilai Feng — a limestone hill riddled with caves and paths. The Lingyin management office counts more than 390 surviving sculptures in 115 niches, carved between the 10th and 14th centuries; the oldest dated group, the Three Sages of the Western Paradise, is from 951.
• The laughing Budai at the foot of the peak — one of the biggest and most photographed carvings, the pot-bellied Maitreya surrounded by arhats.
• Yuan-dynasty carvings — the largest group, including figures in Tibetan Buddhist style, unusual this far east.
• The caves — in the main Guanyin cave a crack in the roof lets in a single shaft of light, known as ‘a thread of sky’.
• Hall of the Heavenly Kings — the first hall, with the Kangxi plaque and a camphor-wood statue of the guardian Weituo.
• Mahavira Hall — about 34 m tall, housing a seated camphor-wood Shakyamuni Buddha of about 19.6 m, almost 25 m with its pedestal.
• Two 10th-century stone sutra pillars in front of the main hall.
• Medicine Buddha Hall and the Hall of 500 Arhats — further up the slope; the arhat hall is lined with larger-than-life bronze figures.
• Yongfu and Taoguang temples — quieter, higher up the forested hill, on the same reservation.

How long do you need at Lingyin Temple?

Allow 2.5–3 hours for the Feilai Feng carvings and the main halls at an easy pace. Add the climb to Yongfu and Taoguang temples and it becomes a half day — the path goes uphill through forest, with steps.

The natural order: from the gate, follow the path along the carved cliff first, then go through the temple gate and up through the halls, and carry on uphill if you have the legs for it. You come back the same way, so a morning slot with lunch afterwards works best.

Is Lingyin Temple worth it?

Yes, if you have more than half a day in Hangzhou. It’s the one place in the city where serious medieval sculpture, a living monastery and forest come together, and now that it’s free the only cost is planning. The carvings on Feilai Feng are the real highlight — don’t rush past them on the way to the temple.

It’s less rewarding if you only turn up at midday on a weekend, when the paths are packed, or if you can’t book in time. With only a few hours in the city, stay by West Lake instead.

What one reservation covers

Time for each part is YesGo’s estimate. Free entry and what the area includes are from the temple’s official notice.

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How to do it right

• Book as soon as your dates are fixed: slots open at 8:00 seven days ahead, and weekends go fast.
• Bring the original passport, not a photo or a copy — the reservation is in your name and checked at the gate.
• Can’t make it? Cancel by 17:00 the day before, or you’ll be locked out of booking for a month.
• Start with the Feilai Feng path, not the temple: the carvings get the morning light and fewer people.
• Afterwards, take a taxi to Longjing tea village or the China National Tea Museum — same hills, short ride.
• No smoking anywhere on site, and no flash in the halls.
• Bring an umbrella for rain or sun — most of the visit is outdoors.

Questions