Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone
8 min readIn ancient China，besides Buddhism and Islam believers，there were also Taoism believers who had got strong senses on the longevity.Taoism is a Chinese religion，and the believers who pursuit for longevity will find a tranquil area to pray for it.Nanshan is the ideal spot for that.So，many Nanshans in China are listed as their pilgrimages，such as the Nanshan in Sichuan Province，Shaanxi Province，Guangdong Province，Shandong Province and Fujian Province，etc.But Nanshan in Sanya is an area difficult to reach.According to the 3rd and 4th national census of China，Hainan has got the largest population of longevity and the hundred-year-old persons in the tropical seashore villages around Nanshan in Sanya got the top proportion.There are hundreds of people who are more than 100 years old here in Nanshan area.
Today we are going to visit the Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone which is located forty kilometers to the downtown area of Sanya City，with a coveragearea of 34.7 square kilometers.Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone is not only the largest of the kind in Hainan，but also one of the largest cultural tourism zones in China.The zone is divided into three theme parks besides the magnificent statue of the Bodhisattva on the small island，such as the Buddhism Culture Park，the Park of Felicity and Longevity and the Park of Local Culture and Social Customs.
Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone is one of the country’s first 5A-rated scenic spots. It is also a multi-functional culture tourism area for leisure, holidays and academic communication, as well as culture inspection. It is the biggest and the only resort that has passed the ISO14001, the international standards of quality control on the environmental management and is honored as the “Ecological Environment Recovery and Protection Sample Project”by the provincial government.
Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone is attractive and mysterious for its mountains, seashores, parks, religious cultures and legends. Nanshan in Chinese means the Southern Mountain, and was called Ao Mountain in ancient times With a height of 270 meters, the mountain, standing by the sea with its meandering ridges full of green forests, has been regarded by Chinese as the best place to pray for blessing and longevity.
Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone relies on the natural terrain, and its unique and rich history and culture. It is approved to be the largest Buddhist cultural theme tourist area. Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone has restored planning area of 50 square kilometers, sea area of 10 square kilometers, and has organized the implementation of the Buddhism Culture Park, as well as hotels, resorts and other projects. Nanshan Buddhism Culture Park, which was built in 1995, finished and opened in 1998. It consists of a Temple(Nanshan Temple),a Court(Nanshan Sea Guanyin Court),2 Parks (Bodhisattva Garden, Lucky and Happy Garden),a valley(Longevity Valley) and a Bay(Moon Bay). There are series of national treasures which have been put into the world Guinness such as “Golden and Jade Guanyin”, and the more remarkable “Nanhai Guanyin”.
Nanshan Buddhism Culture Park
The Buddhism Culture Park is the most important one among all the parks in the zone, which covers a great area and displays the traditional culture of Buddhism. The major architectural structures in the Buddhism Culture Park are the Bu’ er Archway Gate, Bodhisattva Garden, Nanshan Temple, etc. Standing against the mountain and facing the sea, the Buddhism Culture Park is really alarge picturesque one with different structure styles of China, Japan and some western countries and forms a unique style of large-scale tropical garden of Hainan.
Bu’ er Archway Gate
Facing the Buddhism Culture Park, you will first find the Bu’ er Archway Gate with two Chinese characters “Bu’ er”or the “only one”on the lintel.
Bodhisattva Garden
It is said that there are 3 steps in the Buddhist education, which are implied in the Buddhism Culture Park, with the first to enter the Bu’ er Archway Gate second to learn in the Bodhisattva Garden, and then the last to enjoy the result in the Lucky and Happy Garden.
After the Bu’ er Archway Gate, comes the second step of the Bodhisattva Garden. On stonewalls of the garden, there are groups of well-known inscriptions written by the famous calligraphers and Buddhists. In this green world, this calligraphy represents the Chinese gardening style with the Buddhism culture.
The Bodhisattva Garden is a typical Chinese garden with its streams, mall bridges, winding yard and long corridors. Its difference from the mainland parks is that most of its plants are tropical and evergreen. Besides, the holy and pure lilies, and tall kapok trees have all something connected with Buddhism.
Nanshan Temple
Nanshan Temple is the central scenic spot of Nanshan Buddhism Culture Park. The temple is built on the top of steps, following the temple structure of the Tang Dynasty, and is the biggest temple ever built since the founding of the People’s Republic of China to commemorate the famous monk Jianzhen who originally built the temple 1,500 years ago.
In the Tang Dynasty, the eminent blind Chinese monk Jianzhen was invitedand sailed to Japan for the fifth time to preach the Buddhist sutra, and unfortunately he and his disciples met typhoon and was drifted to Nanshan region. Jianzhen stayed here for over a year and preached the Buddhist sutra among the local residents. He finally got the permission and supports from the local government to build a Buddhist temple on Nanshan Hill. Therefore, theregion began to develop as one of the pilgrimage areas for ancient China.
Behind Nanshan Temple on the north, there is a high ridge like a Buddha with very gentle slope on both sides, and the temple is just set up in the bosom of the Buddha, which indicates that the temple has a very powerful supporter. on the south there is the spacious South Sea, which means a promising futureWhat’s more mysterious is that there is a giant tree shaped like a dragon in the east of the ridge, and a huge stone in the west like a tiger. Having a supporter,a promising future,a green dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right, no better temple can be found than this.
Park of Felicity and Longevity
Park of Felicity and Longevity highlights the atmosphere of peace, felicity and auspice. In the park, groups of sights are going to be constructed and arranged along the hillside, including Happiness Lawn, Gourd Palace, the Altars, Red Bean Valley, Bower Hermitage for Origin, Longevity Hall, Congratulation Hall, Longevity Stairs and so forth.
Golden and Jade Guanyin
Golden and Jade Guanyin is currently the world’s largest Buddha statue with gold and jade. It is evaluated to be worth 192,000,000 Yuan. It is 3.8 meters high, and consists of four parts. It costs more than 100 kilograms of gold, more than 120 karats of diamond from South Africa, more than 100 kilograms of jade, as well as thousands of red sapphire, emerald, coral, turquoise, pearls and other valuable treasures. It wears a crown and a necklace. The crown is decorated with more than 400 grains of diamond and the necklace is surrounded by crystals, turquoises, red corals and natural pearls. It is created by so many masters in about two years. In 1998, the Shanghai Great World Guinness Headquarters confirmed it as the world’s largest Buddha statue of its kind, and put it into Guinness Record in 1999.
The Lucky and Happy Garden
The Lucky and Happy Garden is a garden with different structure styles of China，Japan and some western countries.In a pavilion of the Lucky and Happy Garden，a lucky bell is hung for people to strike，to drive away all the troubles，to realize all ideals and to get more happiness.In the garden there is a bamboo grove and 18 supernatural Arhats.The 18 Arhats are usually displayed in the hall of the temple，but here all the Arhats return to the nature in the grove and stand leisurely and vividly.
Guanyin Bodhisattva in the South Sea
According to legend，Nanshan was named Ao Mountain，because it was changed from Guanyin’s horse Jin Ao when touring the South China Sea Guanyin Bodhisattva hoped to stay here.In order to promote the Guanyin culture and fulfill Guanyin’s wishes，China’sState Council Bureau of Religious Affairs and the Hainan’s government approved to build in Hainan Nanshan Temple in 1993 and then the Guanyin statue.Such a construction is 108 meters high，2，600 tons heavy and is regarded as the most magnificent statue in theworld.The statue conveys typical creative meaning and even 15 meters higher than the Statue of Liberty.It has three sides with one holding a lotus flower，one a golden book，and one Buddha beads.In China，Guanyin is a Bodhisattva that represents mercy and good wishes.
On September 19th，1999，a ceremony was held in Nanshan to start the building.The whole work has cost six years and the first phase of the project ended in 2005.On March 16 of 2005 in the lunar year，the birthday of one of the six prospective incarnations of Guanyin Bodhisattva，a grand opening ceremony was held.108 senior monks from Buddhist community at home and abroad and 20，000 people from all over the world came to participate in this Buddhist event.Just at this point，the sun in the sky suddenly sent out bright colorful aura，like the appearance of the Bodhisattva，which is called an everlasting wonder.
Nanshan Longevity Pines
In the Nanshan Valley，besides the colorful flowers and trees，Nanshan Longevity Pines with big trunks and hanging leaves are the unique ones Without any twigs，the Nanshan Longevity Pine or Longxue Tree in Chinese that is said to be grown out of the blood that was shed from Pan Gu，the demiurge in Chinese history.Pan Gu was once cut by thorns when he created the world and wounded himself.In China，the Longevity Pines are only grown in two regions，Sanya in Hainan and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province.And in Sanya，they are only growing on Nanshan Hill and Yalong Bay.The oldest Longevity Trees in Nanshan area have got 6，000 years of history，which are regarded as the pandas or living fossils of the plants on the earth.
Dear friends，with the development of society，more and more people get lost in the materialistic expansion and impetuous arrogance.If you can be kind，content and grateful，life will be colorful and the whole world will be more harmonious！
Finally，I would like to deliver my sincere wishes to you and wish you can live a happy and better life like the Nanshan Longevity Pines.
