Lingyin Temple 🧘‍♂️

We entered Lingyin Temple as the morning mist curled through the valley, wrapping the ancient pines and temple roofs in a hush that felt almost sacred 🌫️🧘♂️🌲. The scent of sandalwood hung in the air, carried by the slow spiral of incense rising from stone burners. Bells tolled softly in the distance, their echoes folding into the mountain silence like a breath drawn and held. Walking past carved guardians and moss-covered steps, it felt less like visiting a place and more like entering a state of stillness. Inside, golden Buddhas sat in deep meditation, surrounded by flickering candlelight and whispered prayers 🕯️🙏🏯. Monks moved quietly through the halls, their robes rustling like wind through bamboo. Outside, between halls and courtyards, pilgrims paused to bow, to light incense, to look inward. Lingyin Temple “Temple of the Soul’s Retreat” lived up to its name: not loud, not grand in gesture, but vast in feeling. A place where the mountain holds the temple, and the temple holds the quiet you didn’t know you needed 🕊️🍂🌄. #chinatravel #myitinerary #travel