Travel Guide to Longshan Temple in Anhai, Jinjiang

Longshan Temple in Anhai is located at No. 242, Haibazhong Road, Jinjiang City, Quanzhou, Fujian Province. It was founded during the reign of Emperor Tai of the Sui Dynasty (618~619 years), originally named Puxian Temple, also known as Tianzhu Temple, and commonly referred to as Guanyin Hall. On March 5, 2013, Longshan Temple in Anhai was announced by the State Council of the People's Republic of China as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Longshan Temple in Anhai is known to house three treasures. The first is the Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin enshrined in the temple, which is said to have been carved from a whole camphor tree originally in front of the temple. The statue wears a floral crown, with a seated Buddha carved in the center of the crown, surrounded by many small Buddha heads in a hat-like arrangement; the main hands are clasped together, with a thousand and eight hands on either side, each palm carved with an eye, arrayed like a fan, each with a unique posture. Today, the Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin is considered a national treasure. The second treasure is a pair of green grass stone pillars standing in front of the temple hall, with carvings of dragons coiling around the pillars, appearing to ascend through the clouds. A pair of dragon claws, each holding a chime and a drum, produce their respective sounds when lightly tapped with a thin iron rod, representing a unique stone carving craft of Southern Fujian. The third treasure is the large camphor wood door panels of the main hall and the hollowed-out large drum in the bell tower, both made during the Sui Dynasty.