[2025 Dali Attraction] Travel Guide for Gantong Temple (Updated Apr)

🌵The sky is blue, clouds are white, and flowers are beautiful 🌞The sunshine is warm, and the breeze is gentle 🍀Life slows down, and we find healing ✈️Visit the windy place|Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture^, 🈶When you think back, you'll probably miss it 👍🏻This is a perfect place for honeymoons, Trip Moments, vacations, recuperation, relaxation, and creative inspiration 🌸Erhai Lake isn't actually a sea, but I'd like to call it one because it has all the romance of the ocean. Just walking along Erhai, cycling around the lake, or sitting quietly with a coffee - without thinking about anything - is incredibly therapeutic.🌸 💡For photos at Erhai Lake, make sure to go on a clear day. Every casual shot becomes a stunning picture - just watch out for overexposure, and you can use photos straight from the camera. 💡There are several routes up Cangshan Mountain - you can take the cable car or hike. ❶Drive or take a taxi to the ticket office. The cable car and the path to Gantong Temple and Jizhao Temple are in different directions. You can hike up to Gantong Temple and Jizhao Temple first - it's quite a long climb, and Gantong Temple offers vegetarian meals. ❷Further up is the beautiful Jizhao Temple. Remember to buy a meal card first and queue for food. There aren't enough seats, but it's nice to eat while admiring the succulents. The vegetarian food is delicious👍🏻 and portions are very generous - if you have a small appetite, ask for a smaller portion to avoid waste. The romance of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake💯 begins the moment you arrive - it's a soul-healing experience drawn from nature!🌞

👍Gantong Temple, also known as Dangshan Temple, is situated at the southern foot of Shengying Peak in the Cangshan Mountains, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. It is a Buddhist temple with a long history, dating back to the Nanzhao Kingdom period, over a thousand years ago. It is one of the most important Buddhist cultural relics in the Dali area. 🌈The history of Gantong Temple can be traced back to the Nanzhao Kingdom (738-902 AD), when King Quan Fengyou ordered the construction of the temple to promote Buddhism. The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout history. During the Ming Dynasty, Gantong Temple once became the center of Buddhist culture in the Dali area, attracting many eminent monks and virtuous scholars to preach Buddhist scriptures. 📍When traveling to Dali, Jizhao Temple is almost a must-visit. Follow the signs in the Cangshan Mountains. Note that you don't need to take the cable car. You will first arrive at Gantong Temple. The temples here in Dali are all dedicated to flowers and plants. When you see the banner "One Thought Blossoms," it's probably a tea house. There are several stone benches and tables for visitors to use. It's a very pleasant and Zen-like place.

📸 Dali Cangshan Mountain | The magnificent scenery is too vast to capture in a single frame. Every shot is a wallpaper. Preparation • Check the weather: The weather in Cangshan Mountain is changeable. Check the weather forecast in advance and prepare appropriate clothing. • Clothing: If you choose to hike or take the cable car up the mountain, prepare comfortable sports shoes or hiking boots. Sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses are essential in summer. Bring down jackets, windbreakers, and other warm clothing in winter. • Items: Prepare an appropriate amount of water and food, such as bread and chocolate. Bring sunscreen, sun hats, sunglasses, and other sun protection products. Transportation Guide • External transportation: You can fly to Dali Airport or take a train to Dali Station. • City transportation: From Dali Ancient City, you can take a taxi or take bus No. 4 to Gantong Temple Station, or take a direct bus to Cangshan Mountain. Ticket Information • Mountain entrance fee: Cangshan Mountain Scenic Area ticket is CNY 40. • Cable car ticket: Gantong Cable Car round-trip ticket is CNY 80. Cangshan Mountain Cable Car one-way ticket is CNY 182, round-trip ticket is CNY 282. Zhonghe Cable Car one-way ticket is CNY 65, round-trip ticket is CNY 95. Travel Routes • Half-day tour: Take the Gantong Cable Car up the mountain and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Dali Ancient City and Erhai Lake. After getting off the cable car, visit Zhenlong Chess Game, Qingbi Stream, and other attractions. • One-day tour: Hike up the mountain. The route is Gantong Temple - Jizhao Nunnery - Qingbi Stream - Yudai Cloud Tour Road - Gantong Cable Car. You can pass by many attractions. • Two-day tour: Hike up the mountain on the first day and enjoy the scenery along the way. Take the cable car up the mountain on the second day and visit Ximatan, Qilongnu Pool, and other attractions. Attraction Introduction • Gantong Temple: A thousand-year-old temple at the foot of Cangshan Mountain. The environment is quiet, with many Buddha statues and cultural relics. • Jizhao Nunnery: A special nunnery where incense is not burned, but flowers are offered. You can taste vegetarian meals. • Qingbi Stream: The most beautiful stream among the eighteen streams of Cangshan Mountain. The stream is clear to the bottom. • Yudai Cloud Tour Road: A hiking route in Cangshan Mountain, with a total length of 18 km, connecting three cable cars. • Ximatan: An alpine lake on Cangshan Mountain. The lake is clear and the scenery is beautiful. • Qilongnu Pool: There are seven pools of different sizes, and the pools are clear to the bottom. Food Recommendations Taste local specialties such as water lily soup, Dali sauerkraut fish, Xizhou Baba, cold chicken rice noodles, carved plum, roasted milk fan, and rice cakes. Accommodation Suggestions • Dali Ancient City: Convenient transportation, diverse accommodation options, and convenient dining and shopping. • Shuanglang Ancient Town: Facing Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake, the scenery is beautiful, quiet, and leisurely. Precautions • Cangshan Mountain is at a high altitude. Pay attention to safety during the tour, avoid strenuous exercise, and prevent altitude sickness. Prepare oxygen equipment if necessary.

Address: Located on the southern foot of Shengying Peak of Cangshan Mountain, between Dali Ancient Town and Xiaguan, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, about 5 kilometers from Dali Ancient Town The existing temples were all rebuilt successively after the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, and have been gradually restored since 1981. Gantong Temple is called 'the most famous mountain in Cang'er' not only for its beautiful natural scenery, but also for its series of relics associated with famous people, events, and flowers, as well as many vivid and touching stories and legends. One of them is the everlasting story of 'famous scholars and high monks sharing one building', where the site of 'Xieyun Tower' and the stupa of Monk Dandang still exist. The 'famous scholar' mentioned here refers to the well-known Ming Dynasty scholar Yang Sheng'an (1488—1559). In the third year of the Jiajing period (1525), he angered Emperor Jiajing because of the 'Great Rites Controversy' and was exiled to Yunnan forever. In the ninth year of Jiajing, Yang Sheng'an and Li Yuanyang traveled together to Cangshan Mountain and stayed in the Banshan Building of Gantong Temple for more than twenty days, where they proofread the 'Six Scripts' and transcribed the phonetic rhymes of a thousand characters. Li Yuanyang then named this building 'Xieyun Tower', and its site can still be faintly discerned today. The 'high monk' refers to Dandang, a prominent poet, painter, and calligrapher from Yunnan, who lived more than 100 years after Yang Sheng'an. Dandang, from Jinning, originally named Tang Tai (1593—1673). During the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty, he went to the capital for the imperial examination but failed. Since then, he traveled extensively through famous mountains and rivers, and later returned to Yunnan to serve his elderly mother. After his mother's death, he went to Jizu Mountain to become a monk, where he practiced Buddhism and devoted himself to the creation of poetry, calligraphy, and painting. Dandang's poetry, calligraphy, and painting were unique; his calligraphy flowed like clouds and water, his paintings conveyed meanings beyond the brushstrokes, and his poems contained paintings, while his paintings contained poetry. He was very famous, known as 'the crane in the clouds' and 'the noble scholar of the south'. In his later years, he often lived in Gantong Temple and admired Yang Sheng'an's character and learning, so he rebuilt 'Xieyun Tower' as his own residence. Since then, the story of 'the dragon maiden's extraordinary flower passing through the ages, and the famous scholar and high monk sharing one building' has become an everlasting tale. Gantong Temple

I got up early to hike Cangshan, starting at the foot of the mountain at 8:30 am, with only myself along the clear Biqi Creek. Accompanied by various birds and small animals all the way, the view of the creek and the forest was breathtaking. The route is: Take a taxi to the Gantong parking lot - Gantong Temple - Jizhaoan - Clear Biqi Creek - Qilongnu Pool - Zhonghe Temple cable car down the mountain. The total hike involves an elevation gain of less than 500 meters, with a moderate difficulty level. I walked very fast, starting at the Gantong parking lot at 8:30 in the morning, and by 2 pm, I had already descended the mountain to the Zhonghe Temple parking lot.