Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong si)

Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong si)

Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong si)
4.5
Historic SitesPoints of Interest & LandmarksArchitectural BuildingsReligious Sites
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
The monastery was built on the cliffs of Mt. Hengshan, one of the five most sacred mountains in China. The caves and halls are connected by winding corridors and bridges.
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  • LongXM8
    Yangzhou, China39 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Incredible👌🏻
    The Hanging Temple of Mt. Hengshan is truly worth visiting and a Must-See Experience during your stay in Datong. This 247 meter high monastery seemingly "hangs" on the cliff, offering an imposing sight. I absolutely recommend purchasing the boarding ticket, which allows you to actually walk on the temple and take some magnificent pictures from there, alongside with the standard ticket, which only gives you the opportunity to visit the viewing area from below. It is quite meaningless to travel all the way to Mt. Hengshan and not being able to feel the complete experience. The views from above are breathtaking, as well as the temple itself, captivating visitors. I I definitely recommend it⛰️.
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written August 6, 2024
  • merc8989
    1,437 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Temple on the cliff
    Amazing sight and unbelievable structure. We were lucky as the weather was perfect with less crowd. The queue to climb up the temple was a reasonable 45 minutes. View from the top was beautiful and the temple structure was solid and was built by solid wood without nails, 1400 years ago. Only about max 80 people could be on the temple at any one time for safety reasons. Definitely worth a visit.
    Visited September 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written September 15, 2024
  • Allan & Amy T
    Edmonton, Canada390 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    this temp le is unique hanging off from the cliff
    It is one of the highlights in my bucket list. Surely I was not disappointed. It has a history of 1500 years. It is well known by its architect with 27 wooden beams supporting this temple which were anchored into the cliffs of the Cuifeng Mountain It is a temple combined Buddhism,Taoism and Confusicism.. Please be advised buy your tickets online and booked a confirmed appointment prior to your visit to avoid disappointment. Due to safety issue the local officials only allow 30-40 people to go up for visiting,so there is a lineup of people waiting to go up in spite your have appoinment and tickets. The view was amazing and if you are afraid of height,dont look down. It is a one way traffic with no stopping on the way up. I am glad to say "I was there!"
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written September 23, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


4.5
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Alice f
6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Couples
It is a fabulous monastery, to get there from Datong is a 1.5 hour drive, it is worth taking a taxi, we arranged with the hotel.
The taxi driver took us to the parking lot of the buses that commute to the monastery forecourt as cars are not allowed to climb. Then continue on foot .. it is not a long walk. You climb to 75 meters high with a staircase, thanks to the queue you do not feel fatigue, as you proceed slowly. Once inside you can feel the peace, despite the people around you breathe the strength that transmits to you. Exciting!
Automatically translated
Written August 22, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

merc8989
kuala lumpur1,437 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2024 • Friends
Amazing sight and unbelievable structure. We were lucky as the weather was perfect with less crowd.
The queue to climb up the temple was a reasonable 45 minutes.
View from the top was beautiful and the temple structure was solid and was built by solid wood without nails, 1400 years ago.
Only about max 80 people could be on the temple at any one time for safety reasons.
Definitely worth a visit.
Written September 15, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Allan & Amy T
Edmonton, Canada390 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Friends
It is one of the highlights in my bucket list. Surely I was not disappointed.

It has a history of 1500 years.

It is well known by its architect with 27 wooden beams supporting this temple which were anchored into the cliffs of the Cuifeng Mountain

It is a temple combined Buddhism,Taoism and Confusicism.. Please be advised buy your tickets online and booked a confirmed appointment prior to your visit to avoid
disappointment. Due to safety issue the local officials only allow 30-40 people to go up for visiting,so there is a lineup of people waiting to go up in spite your have appoinment and tickets.

The view was amazing and if you are afraid of height,dont look down. It is a one way traffic with no stopping on the way up.

I am glad to say "I was there!"
Written September 23, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LongXM8
Yangzhou, China39 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
The Hanging Temple of Mt. Hengshan is truly worth visiting and a Must-See Experience during your stay in Datong. This 247 meter high monastery seemingly "hangs" on the cliff, offering an imposing sight. I absolutely recommend purchasing the boarding ticket, which allows you to actually walk on the temple and take some magnificent pictures from there, alongside with the standard ticket, which only gives you the opportunity to visit the viewing area from below. It is quite meaningless to travel all the way to Mt. Hengshan and not being able to feel the complete experience. The views from above are breathtaking, as well as the temple itself, captivating visitors. I I definitely recommend it⛰️.
Written August 7, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bettybooo
Birmingham Uk80 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
Amazing place. Like wandering around a dolls house for 10 year olds! Very small inside, not maybe for those who don't like heights, or under 5s who might go over the low barriers. Incredible they built managed to build this! Some debate about how long ago amongst our group! Visit soon, Numbers will have to be restricted, its so small and engineeringly precarious! May become a virtual tour at some point!
Written July 15, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BigFamily78
Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse, France543 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2024 • Couples
These temples suspended 60 m above the ground clinging to the side of the mountain are definitely worth the trip from Datong. We were dazzled by the place. The surrounding natural setting is sumptuous, and the visit is worth it. 45 minutes in line to access the first step that leads to the temples. Seen from below it is impressive, one wonders by what miracle it holds together. And seen from above, we ask ourselves the same question. There we find representations of the 3 majority religions in China: Taoism, Buddhism and Confusianism.
Google
Written June 12, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Geralt
Springe, Germany9 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2024 • Solo
One of the worst places I have visited so far. As a foreigner you can't buy tickets online in advance and once you arrive there, their tickets to enter the temple are sold out. So you come all the way to thia remote place only see it from far away. Ridiculous. Stay away.
Written July 13, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rob586
London, UK54 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2015 • Couples
First things first, this is really a must see if you're in the area. If you can stomach the dizzying walk through a temple clinging to the side of a cliff, it's a real treat. I'd say the only downsides are that it takes a while to get there and costs 130Y.

Now, the cheap way to do it. From WeiDu Avenue (near the train station) you can take the number 70 bus to the Dong Guan bus station for 1Y. It's about a 20-minute journey and - as always in China - bring something with the name of the bus station in Chinese so you can ask the driver or a local where to get off. I think you can also go from the main Datong bus station, which can be reached using the number 15 bus.

From either bus station, you pay 30Y for a journey of around 90 minutes to get to a bus station near the monastery. From there, they put you in a taxi for the remaining 3.5km stretch, which should cost you nothing as it's included in the price of your bus ticket.

Be aware that these cab drivers will try to sell you other trips to see nearby attractions and will also catch you on the way out to try to take you back to the bus station 3.5km away. If you want to save money, you can walk this stretch of road in about 40 minutes. The first bit isn't so nice, by the side of the road. But after that, you can walk on a fairly nice path parallel to the road.

That'll take you back to the bus station, from where you can catch a bus back to Datong for 25Y. BEWARE...we expected this bus to go back to Dong Guan bus station but it went to the main one instead. However, we worked out that we could get the number 15 bus (other side of the road from the bus station) back towards the train station/WeiDu Avenue for 1Y.

All in all, the day cost us 57Y each. That's not a huge saving on the 80Y our hostel was offering for a car but it's considerably better than the hundreds of yuan i've seen people quoting for guided tours.

Hope that helps.
Written July 22, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LorraineHongKong
Townsville, Australia150 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2011
Hanging Monastery is located at the foot of Mt.Hengshan 65 kilometers from Datong City, hanging on the west cliff of a hill with over 50 meters above the ground, hence it is called the Hanging Monastery. The Hanging Monastery was first in 491. The present monastery was mainly rebuilt and maintained in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Since it hangs on the west cliff of Jinxia Gorge , a unique mechanical theory was applied to building the framework. Crossbeams were half-inserted into the rock as the foundation, while the rock in back became its support. Seen from below, Hanging Monastery appears to be a tumble-down castle in the air. Inside, Hanging Monastery provides the same scene as other temples. Construction experts from countries including Britain, Germany, and Italy, come to see the monastery.

Location is the reason for its survival. Building a monastery on the cliff shields it from floods. In addition, the mountain peak protects it from rain and snow; and the mountain around it also diminishes damage from long-time sunshine. The second reason is that the builders followed a principle in Taoism: no noises, including those from rooster crowing and dog baying; so from the upper ground, all noises drop away.
The second attraction of Hanging Monastery is that it includes Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Inside the monastery, the sculptures of Sakyamuni, Confucius and Laotzu appear together, which is unusual. There are 40 halls and cabinets, which contain about 80 sculptures made of copper, iron, terracotta, and stone. The features are vividly carved.

Admission Fee: CNY 130 (CNY125 in low season)
Opening Hours: 9:00 to 17:00
Recommended Time for a Visit: one-two hours
Taxi will cost CNY 300 for round trip
Written April 25, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Soo_Han
Seattle, WA26 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Datong is a side trip from Beijing that I took on my way to Xian. I took a flight on Air China, they have a daily early morning flight at 7am which is reasonable and we arranged a day tour with Bo Trip (a very large and reputable company in addition to being the only one I found who does both the Hengshan Hanging Temple & Yungang Grottos in a one day tour). And I am so glad I chose to visit. It's a decent drive away from the city center and you pass some remote very poor villages to get there. Once there, it's a quick litle walk up to the entryway of the temple. You're allowed an opportunity to explore the temple which though simple is nonetheless awe inspiring to imagine the process it must have taken to build. It's not terribly high up, but if you're afraid of heights, may be a problem since the walkway is not wide and the railing a little low. All in all, a beautiful temple with great views and totally worth the detour.
Written December 17, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong si), Datong

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