West Garden Temple

Suzhou


This magnificent temple, with its mustard-yellow walls and gracefully curved eaves, was burnt to the ground during the Taiping Rebellion and rebuilt in the late 19th century. Greeting you as you enter the stunning Arhat Hall (罗汉堂; Luóhàn Táng) is an amazing four-faced and thousand-armed statue of Guanyin. Beyond lie mesmerising and slightly unnerving rows of 500 glittering luóhàn (arhats; monks who have achieved enlightenment and passed to nirvana at death) statues, each unique and near life-size.

Luóhàn usually only appear in two rows of nine on either side of the main temple, equalling 18 in total, but on occasion – and in noteworthy temples – they can appear in a huge multitude. A vegetarian restaurant at the temple serves noodles and other simple meat-free fare. The temple is 400m west of the Garden to Linger In. Take Y1 or Y3 from the train station.

Transportation

  • bus: Y1, Y3

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "china/jiangsu/suzhou/attractions/west-garden-temple/a/poi-sig/473314/356023",
      "destination": "Suzhou",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "China",
      "city": "Suzhou",
      "position": "superzone"
    }