Just visited the Buddha Palace at Niushou Mountain
The complete guide.
🌈Attractions: Niushou Mountain Scenic Area in Nanjing is a Buddhist cultural art palace built with a huge investment. Whether it's the reclining Buddha in the Zen landscape, the 21-meter-tall Relic Pagoda, or each Buddha sculpture and even every decorative piece, they all reflect exquisite luxury. Whether you are a Buddhist believer or an art lover, you will be amazed by the beauty here.
🎟️Ticket Information: The ticket for Niushou Mountain is 160 yuan, but if you purchase it on Ctrip one day in advance, it's 140 yuan. Half-price tickets are 80 yuan, and free tickets require reservation and registration at the ticket window. The park's shuttle bus is 20 yuan for unlimited rides, or 10 yuan for a single ride.
🕐️Opening Hours: The scenic area is open daily from 08:30 to 17:30; ticket inspection is from 08:30 to 16:30; shuttle bus operation is from 08:30 to 18:00.
💗Other tips:
1. Niushou Mountain Scenic Area includes the Buddha Palace, Relic Pagoda, Buddha Top Temple, Zheng He Cultural Park, and other attractions. If you want to visit all of them, it is recommended to take the shuttle bus. However, the main attractions are still the Buddha Palace and the Relic Pagoda.
2. If you mainly want to visit the Buddha Palace and the Relic Pagoda, it is recommended to enter from the west gate of the scenic area. First, there are fewer people at the west gate, mostly individual visitors, which makes it convenient to enter. Second, it's only a few hundred meters from the west gate to Tianque Station (shuttle bus station), a 10-minute walk, which saves the trouble of taking the shuttle bus.
3. Niushou Mountain Scenic Area is relatively far from the city center, and it is not directly accessible by subway. There is relatively more public transportation at the east gate, but the transfer time is longer. From Nanjing South Station, you can take the subway S1 line to Hohai University. Focheng West Road Station, then take a taxi for about 10 yuan to the east gate of the scenic area, which takes about 30 minutes in total. I chose to go from Nanjing South Station to the west gate, taking the subway S3 line to Jiaxi No.2 exit, then a taxi for about 17 yuan to the west gate of the scenic area, which takes about 40 minutes in total.
4. There are four levels of elevators from Tianque Station (shuttle bus station) to the Buddha Palace, which are very friendly for the elderly and children. However, you need to walk down the mountain.
5. The best spots for taking panoramic photos of the Buddha Palace are at the edge of the pool in the entrance square, where you can capture the reflection, and from the top of the Relic Pagoda looking down.
6. The first thing to visit in the Buddha Palace is the reclining Buddha in the Zen landscape. From the exit of the reclining Buddha, turn right along the corridor to the entrance of the underground palace. Put on shoe covers, take the escalator down, and you will reach the Relic Pagoda exhibition hall. Walk clockwise around the pagoda, then you can come out to visit the Thousand Buddha statues. Take the escalator up to the 5th floor, where the visit is counterclockwise. This floor is the filming location for the popular 'push the door to see Buddha' videos. There are many places where you can push the doors open; you need to observe carefully. Some doors open to reveal fire equipment, some doors are small and don't look good in photos, some doors don't face the Buddha statues directly, and there are long queues in front of some doors while others have no one. So, if you want to take good videos and photos, you need to spend more time experimenting.
7. The elevator in the Relic Pagoda is usually not open, and you need to walk up. Although it's said 'to stand at the top and overlook all the smaller mountains,' the scenery isn't much different in reality. If you can't climb, just climb fewer floors, as the photo effect is almost the same.
8. Everyone recommends taking the shuttle bus down the mountain to the east gate and then transferring to public transportation, which is relatively more convenient and relaxing. I chose to walk from the west gate to the bus station and then transfer to the subway, which was indeed a bit of a forced march
9. The Buddha Palace will allow you to take many nice photos, and I've also selected a few to post. But no matter how you take photos, they are not as shocking as seeing it in person. After all, an art landscape built with 4 billion yuan is supposed to shock you