Niushoushan is probably one of the most incredible places you’ve never heard of; find out why it is worth visiting this Buddhist park in Nanjing.
One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about China is the number of incredibly beautiful and developed places I’ve never heard of. For example, I visited the gigantic tombs of two Han dynasty kings built inside two hills during a recent trip to Xuzhou. The tombs are magnificent, and the parks built around them are beautiful, yet before heading there, I had never even heard about them.
The Usnisa Palace in Nanjing is probably the best example. Maybe by the time you read this article, this place has somehow become famous outside of China, but at the time of writing this article, not many people have written about it.
Located in Niushoushan Park in Nanjing, it’s probably as grandiose as the White Mosque in Abu Dhabi. They are both relatively new, and no money has been spared to build these structures.
Niushoushan Cultural Park (牛首山)
Niushoushan (牛首山) is a newly developed park in the southern suburb of Nanjing. It has been a holy Buddhist site since the Tang dynasty (618AD-907AD), although the original temple was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s.
After the alleged discovery of a fragment of the Siddhārtha Gautama skull, the government spent over 600 million USD to create a tourist spot worthy of the Buddha himself, and they did.
The palace, the garden, the pagoda, and the decorations are nothing but incredible. They didn’t spare any money to complete this structure.
The park is pretty big and is built around “Ox Head Mountain,” a hill that reminds people of the shape of the two horns of an ox.
The park’s main attraction is the Fuoding Palace (Usnisa), which is six stories deep underground. Unfortunately, the park closes quite early, at 5:30 p.m.
Visiting the Usnisa Palace (佛顶宫)
The heart of Niushoushan Park is, without any doubt, the Usnisa Palace. Built to resemble the Buddhist head covering, it’s located over an ancient iron mine, and the actual relic of the Buddha is displayed only once a year.
The whole Palace covers an area of 136,000 square meters. Most of it is built underground.
Chan State Scenery (禅境大观)
As soon as you enter the main door, you’ll find a gigantic room with a vast 7.5-meter rotating statue of the reclining Buddha made of jade and an artificial misty fog to get you into the right mood.
Besides the statue, you’ll find several alcoves with other Buddha statues and some fake trees. From time to time, this hall is also used to perform Buddhist rituals. This area of the palace is called the Chan State Scenery.
Great Usnisa Hall (舍利大殿)
Before getting into this new area, you’ll have to wear some shoe covers to protect the marble used for the floor. To say that the area is gorgeous is an understatement.
Just follow the escalators taking you several floors down, and you’ll get to the Ten Thousand-Buddha Corridor. Right after that, you’ll enter the magnificent Great Usnisa Hall. I honestly didn’t do any research about this place since I didn’t plan to visit Niushoushan, so I had no idea about its scale.
Take all the time you need to appreciate the beauty of this Palace. Remember that this has been built six floors underground, making this Palace even more incredible. To get a better view of the Hall, look for one of the doors leading to the small balconies overlooking it. One of the doors is usually open.
Usnisa Pagoda (佛顶塔)
Pagodas in China are among the most recognizable symbols of the country’s cultural and religious heritage. Originally introduced with the spread of Buddhism from India, they evolved from the Indian stupa and gradually took on unique Chinese architectural styles. Typically built as multi-tiered towers with upward-curving eaves, pagodas served both as places to enshrine sacred relics and as landmarks within temples and cities.
The Usnisa Pagoda, with its 88 meters, will give you a great aerial view of the park.
How to get to Niushoushan Park
You can get a taxi from downtown, and it will take about 40 minutes to get to the park entrance. From there, it is quite a long walk to the actual palace. If your time is limited, you can pay an extra 20RMB to get one of the electric cars that will take you to the palace. A cheaper option would be to take the subway and then the bus n° 755 to 牛首山风首区. The ticket to visit the park costs about 100RMB.
Nanjing is well connected to the rest of the country via high-speed trains and regular flights. As always, I recommend using Trip to book your tickets. It’s the best app to use while traveling in China since Booking.com and other aggregators don’t have many options.
Final considerations
Is it worth visiting Niushoushan Park? This is a legitimate question, considering that your time in China may be limited, and there are plenty of ancient and interesting places to visit.
I think it’s worth it, especially if you plan a trip to Nanjing, a city with a lot to see. I always have mixed feelings when I travel around China because most of the “Old Towns” you’ll see are not old and have been recently rebuilt. But this is different. This place doesn’t pretend to be ancient. It’s a brand-new Park with all the modern amenities you’ll need, built using top-notch materials.
I do not doubt that in future generations, people will visit Niushoushan and consider this park a place that can’t be missed. We just happened to be early.
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Here you can find my travel guide to China. If you are planning a trip to Jiangsu Province and are looking for other places to visit, don’t miss my guide. Here’s my travel guide to the best water towns in Jiangsu and Shanghai.
