A trip to Mangshi, fiery and scorching hot

The Menghuan Great Golden Pagoda is located on the top of Leiyarang Mountain in the southeastern part of Mangshi, at an altitude of 1079.6 meters. Legend has it that 'Sakyamuni' in one of his previous lives reincarnated as a golden rooster (A Luan) and lived here. Hundreds of years after the Buddha's nirvana, a Buddhist disciple 'Zhao Han Da' (an Arhat) came to this mountain to practice and spread the teachings of the Buddha. To provide 'Zhao Han Da' with a good environment for cultivation, the wild grass and thorns gave way, hence the mountain was named Leiyarang, meaning 'the place where the wild grass yields'. Later, a Buddhist pagoda was built on this mountain, which has been recognized as one of the sacred places of Buddhism since ancient times. The Menghuan Great Golden Pagoda is the first golden Buddha pagoda in China and the first hollow Buddha pagoda in Asia.