Fenghuang Temple
Fuyong, Bao’an District
Legend has it that a phoenix resided in a cave on Feng-huang (phoenix) Mountain during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and people named the mountain after the auspicious bird. The nearby village was also called Fenghuang Village.
Later, Wen Yinglin, grandson of Southern Song general Wen Tianxiang, migrated there and settled down. He had a tower built on the mountain, from where he observed his neighbors during dinnertime. If smoke did not rise from a household, it meant that family did not have rice to cook and Wen would send them food.
The general went hiking on the mountain one day and returned with a dream, in which the Guan Yin (Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara) asked him to build a temple near the cave. The temple, dedicated to Guan Yin, attracted a flood of believers after completion.
How to get there:
Bus 651, 301
Free entrance
Hongyuan Temple
Shiyan, Bao’an District
Harbored in the hills behind the picturesque Shiyan Lake Resort, the temple was first built some 200 years ago and rebuilt in 1999. It is said that wishes and prayers are answered at the temple, which draws big crowds.
How to get there:
Bus 315, 532, 635
Entrance ticket:
15 yuan
Longyan Temple and
Dongshan Temple
Dapeng, Longgang District
On Longtou Mountain near Dapeng Bay to the east of the city, the Dongshan Temple was first built in 1394 and then rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
There are four main halls, three dedicated to the Buddha and one to Guan Yin. The temple was used as a training center for local guerrilla troops during the anti-Japanese war in the early 1940s.
The present temple was refurbished in 1994 with donations from villagers and overseas Chinese.
Not far from this temple, on the northern slope of Longshi Mountain, is the Longyan Temple, renowned for a spring in the cave underneath the hall dedicated to Guan Yin. The spring, spouting water for more than 100 years, not only quenches thirst but is said to facilitate health as well.
How to get there:
Bus 312, 360, 364
Free entrance
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