[2025 Suzhou Attraction] Travel Guide for Yonghui Buddhist Temple (Updated Jul)

The sunset at the small fishing village is peaceful, and the night sky is filled with stars. Aircraft with bright lights fly through the starry array, looking from afar like a star escaping, caught by me relaxing by the lake. 🏨 Cling Homestay (Taihu Fishing Port Branch) 🚗 Weekend leisure trip around Shanghai, 2h30m drive > A romantic and bright lakeside cottage, booked the "One Color" 270° starry sky lake view room. Initially attracted by the wide view and sunset scenery, it met expectations. The balcony is perfect for photos. Enjoying dinner on the balcony at dusk, accompanied by the sunset and gentle afterglow. The homestay also provided coffee and soft drinks. After sunset, continue stargazing. > A great place to watch stars, over 70 visible to the naked eye. Occasionally, planes pass through the starry array, like 0.5x meteors, creating a very romantic night sky. It reminds me of Mr. Ba Jin’s "Stars"— “I look at those many familiar stars, as if they are winking at me. I seem to hear them whispering softly.” “Although starlight is tiny to our naked eyes, it makes us feel that light is everywhere.” 🍚 Food Recommendations: Taihu Noodle House Shiba Jiao (p8, in the same Fishing Port Village as the homestay, good to go for breakfast at 8:30, fewer people) Cuiping Mountain Farmhouse Restaurant (key point! Located in Fuli Village, Guangfu Town, the chicken soup is super delicious! Highly recommended!) Large parking lot at the entrance 🎫 Nearby Attractions: Muke Bookstore · Full Lake View Cloud Cafe Restaurant Next to it is the red-billed gull check-in hotspot, but it’s only available from December to February. The sunset scenery is very beautiful. Shibi Yonghui Zen Temple (p7) About a 2 km round trip hike from the foot of the mountain to Yonghui Zen Temple stone carvings. You can overlook Fishing Port Village from the mountain. The century-old ginkgo trees in the temple are beautiful in autumn. Yuyang Mountain Scenic Area Two ways to explore: take the cable car into the scenic area to hike and enjoy the sunset, or hike the famous Yuyang Mountain Bat Trail, about 10 km. Tips: 1. The homestay is inside Fishing Port Village. On weekends and holidays, volunteers at the village entrance may not allow outside cars in. Showing the homestay booking allows entry, but parking is difficult. Communicate with the homestay in advance; the housekeeper can help arrange parking. 2. Homestay breakfast starts late, at 9 am. Early risers can find food in the village. Near the market, there is a dim sum shop and a small stall, or you can go to Taihu Noodle House Shiba Jiao where there are fewer people in the morning.

Yonghui Zen Temple is located on the top of Shibi Mountain. It is said that in the third year of the Longqing period of the Ming dynasty (1569), Master Hanshan came here to build a hut, and it gradually became a famous scenic spot. Today, there is still a huge stone on the top of the mountain, with the words "Hanshan Platform" engraved on it, because there was a place where Master Hanshan meditated and practiced beside the huge stone. This is a small mountain range protruding into Taihu Lake, with a winding shape, extending into Taihu Lake, like an island on the water. There is a depression on the east side of the mountain top, surrounded by stone walls like a knife, more than ten meters high. Yonghui Zen Temple is built in the "stone wall nest". The inscriptions of celebrities add a strong historical and cultural flavor to the scenic spot. The plaque of "Daxiong Hall" signed by Zhao Puchu (Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) is hung high in the temple. At the back door of Yonghui Zen Temple, there is an 800-year-old photinia tree, rooted in the cracks of the stone wall, with half of its roots in the cracks and half exposed outside. Because the tree trunk and roots are clearly presented to tourists, and they are close to the steep stone wall, like a dragon lying down, like a giant python circling, with an advantage, it stretches straight to the top of the cliff, showing a piece of green. As soon as you enter the temple, two ginkgo trees one zhang apart are very eye-catching. These are two ginkgo trees from the Ming dynasty. The one on the right is female, and the one on the left is male. Two people hug each other. The "marriage" of this pair of male and female ginkgo trees has lasted for more than 500 years, and they should have many descendants. On the water-viewing platform in front of the temple, you can look at Yugang Village. Now there are many red-billed gulls. These elves on the sea often appear here. Order a cup of tea and watch the red-billed gulls quietly. The sunset is beautiful, and I really love the life here.

There is a treasure temple hidden on the edge of Taihu Lake - Yonghui Zen Temple. The place is small but has a square layout, making it a lot of fun to visit. There are many historical relics and natural landscapes in the temple, including ginkgo trees from the Ming Dynasty, heather trees that are more than 800 years old🌲, and cliff carvings. This is not only a place to feel Zen, but also an excellent place to watch seagulls🐦 in winter👍🏻. The platform outside the tea room of Shibi Yonghui Zen Temple is a good place for bird watching. Not only can you see the "Lonely Lighthouse of Taihu Lake" not far away, but you can also see the setting sun and red-billed gulls. In early winter, many red-billed gulls arrive by the Taihu Lake. Here, you can enjoy the poetic and beautiful picture composed of the setting sun, the floating light and the shadows of birds. 🚗Transportation guide: The address is right next to Taihu Lake in Suzhou. If you are driving by yourself, just follow the navigation. The scenery along the way is also very good. 💰Price: Free at the temple🆓, 68/person at the tea house.

Yonghui Zen Temple is located on Panchi Mountain on the east side of Taihu Lake in Guangfu Town, Wuzhong District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Panchi Mountain is commonly known as Nanshan, and is located south of Danshan. Panchi Mountain is named because it looks like a hornless dragon. There are more than 20 halls in the temple. The entire temple is built along the mountainside, and the gate is simple in shape like a home. One has to turn east after entering the gate to enter the hall, which is in line with the painting concept of "the entrance to a mountain residence is secluded". The main hall faces Taihu Lake and is backed by the mountain. Although the halls and courtyards in the temple are not large, their furnishings and arrangements are elegant, solemn, beautiful and dignified. At the back door of the "Daxiong Hall", next to the stone wall leaning against the mountain, the Stone Wall Jingshe is located in the backyard of Yonghui Zen Temple. The cliffs are steep and straight, and the stone wall, which seems to be cut by a knife, is eight or nine meters above the ground. The wall is covered with inscriptions and travel notes of famous officials, literati and poets. These are the famous 26 cliff carvings on Panchi Mountain. There is also a thousand-year-old ancient heather tree between the rocks, rooted in the cracks of the stone wall. Half of its roots are in the cracks of the rocks, and half are exposed outside the cracks. Because the tree trunk and roots are clearly presented to tourists, and the tree trunk is close to the steep stone wall, like a crouching dragon or a coiled python, winding along the cliff. After climbing up about eight meters to the top of the cliff, a lush green area unfolds, which is the crown of the tree. There are many cliff carvings on the stone wall, all of which are inscriptions made by celebrities during the Qing Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China when they visited the mountain.