Atlas of China
Niushoushan 牛首山Niúshǒu Shān
4A scenic area · Nanjing, Jiangsu
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Nanjing
- Region
- Jiangsu
- Type
- Culture
- Listed as
- 4A scenic area
About Niushoushan
A twin-peaked hill south of Nanjing, a Buddhist centre since the Southern Dynasties and the birthplace of the Niutou school of Chan, redeveloped as a Buddhist cultural park that opened in 2015 to enshrine a relic venerated as part of the Buddha's skull, found in 2008 in the crypt beneath the old Bao'en Temple. The relic is kept in the Usnisa Palace, a vast domed building set into a pit left by iron mining on the west peak, with a hall holding a jade reclining Buddha and a thousand-Buddha hall inside, beside a new nine-storey Tang-style pagoda and the old Hongjue Temple pagoda. Paths also lead to stone ramparts linked to Yue Fei's victory over the Jin here in 1130 and to the tomb of the Ming admiral Zheng He on the southern slopes.
How to get to Niushoushan
In Jiangning District about 15 km south of central Nanjing, by taxi or by bus from the metro.
Nearby
- City Wall of Nanjing 南京城墙 10 km
The Ming capital's brick ramparts, anchored by the vast fortress of Zhonghua Gate - Fuzimiao and the Qinhuai River 夫子庙—秦淮风光带 10 km
Nanjing's lantern-lit Confucius Temple quarter, beside painted boats on the Qinhuai - Purple Mountain & Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum 南京钟山风景区 20 km
A forested mountain on Nanjing's edge, crowned by a blue-roofed hilltop tomb
Also within 20 km: Two Mausoleums of the Southern Tang 南唐二陵 (under 10 km), Tomb of the King of Boni 浡泥国王墓 (under 10 km), Nanjing Science and Technology Museum 南京科技馆 (under 10 km), Yuhuatai (Rain Flower Terrace) 雨花台 (10 km), Nanjing Eye Footbridge & Hexi Riverside 南京眼 (10 km), Meishan Steel Industrial Culture Tourism Area 梅钢工业文化旅游区 (10 km).
On the map
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