The Living Mountain: A Pilgrimage Through Qingshuiyan's Ecological Sanctuary

#discoverchina #quanzhou #historical #temple Qingshuiyan isn’t merely a temple—it’s a thriving ecosystem where faith and nature intertwine. My hike through its protected forests revealed whispering bamboo groves sheltering 800-year-old inscriptions, and hidden clearings where monks still cultivate medicinal herbs using Tang Dynasty manuals. The temple’s ingenious water system—a network of stone channels and hollowed logs—still functions perfectly, carrying sacred springs past moss-covered Buddha carvings to a celestial-view teahouse. Scientists recently discovered three rare orchid species thriving in the temple’s microclimate, their roots tangled with relics in the archaeological layer. As I sipped tea brewed from mountain herbs, watching fog curl around the "Echoing Blessings Bell" (cast in 1123 AD), I understood why emperors and biologists alike make pilgrimages here.