Tianlong Temple Statues

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The Tianlong Temple statues consist of 11 Buddhist statues built around 965.They inherited the style of Tang Dynasty Buddhist statues，and are representative of the sculpture style of Wuyue Kingdom.

Looking for Immortals

Who hasn’t daydreamed about immortality？

Arguably，it’s the Chinese Daoists who made the most substantial（if at times misguided）attempts to achieve it.They experimented with alchemy and took pills that were supposed to counteract the process of dying；trained themselves with qigong，meditation，and fasting；studied how yin and yang worked，both in the universe and in their own bodies；and explored the ultimate wisdom of wuwei（inaction）.

Daoist scripture left numerous tales of how their masters became immortal.Some became feather-light and flew away on a wind to a heavenly place that floats in the clouds with gorgeous palaces，unearthly trees and plants，and graceful cranes.

For us mortal beings，Jade Emperor Hill is the place closest to such a Daoist heaven.

The whole mountain is full of mysterious，surreal Daoist designs.The road swirls up the mountain like coiled incense，while under the foot of the mountain is a field in the shape of the Daoist eight trigrams.Mists float about in the woods，especially on rainy days，sometimes so thick that you might lose your partner if you’re not careful.The forest looks ancient and is growing in a wild，unruly manner；the stone path is often blocked by monstrously thick vines over 100 years old，emerging out of nowhere and vanishing into the woods downhill.Daoist temples，huts，and relics from various historic periods stand gloomily in the depth of the forests，with their walls peeling and the Daoist monks showing an unattached air to everything around them.Face it，if there were a 600-year-old Daoist immortal in town，this is where he’d be.

The Jade Emperor Hill first became renowned for its uncanny powers around 1725.At that time Li Wei，the governor of Zhejiang Province，was vexed by incessant fires throughout Hangzhou.After the divining of feng shui，he put seven iron water tanks in Fuxing Temple，the Daoist temple on the top of Jade Emperor Hill，to overpowerthe ferocious fire dragon.The tanks were known as“Big Dipper Tanks”，as they were laid out in the shape of the Big Dipper.Today，there is a replica of the tanks above Zilai Cave.