Xi’an Ancient Guanyin Temple and thousand-year-old ginkgo tree, be sure to bring your favorite person with you

According to historical records, the ancient Guanyin Temple, built during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, was already quite large at that time. The mountain gate, main hall, bell and drum towers, and Yunshui Lao are all available, covering an area of ​​more than 300 acres. It is grand and popular until the Cultural Revolution.

There is a ginkgo tree in Guanyin Temple with a history of more than 1,400 years. It is said that this ginkgo tree was planted by Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. It has been listed as an ancient and valuable tree by the state. There is an ancient spring under the tree, which is inexhaustible all year round. It nourishes the towering ancient tree and makes it full of vitality over the years.

Before I woke up that day, I was asked to go to the ancient Guanyin Temple to visit the famous thousand-year-old ginkgo tree, wash my face, and get on the bus bound for the ancient Guanyin Temple at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain. Other friends arrived early to wait.

For three consecutive years, I have been going there every year during this season. In addition to practicing meditation, I have gone to Gu Guanyin Temple no less than a dozen times. To be honest, I have no motivation for the ginkgo tree in Gu Guanyin Temple. I have no motivation for it. The earliest sense of freshness. Because my friend asked me, I went anyway; after returning from shopping, I didn’t really want to write any travel notes. But after posting it on WeChat Moments, more people asked, so I wrote this travelogue that has been delayed for so long.

In the past, I went to Guanyin Zen Temple more for meditation and participated in the Ten Thousand People Zen Meditation Camp (Free Zen Meditation Camp). Due to the arrival of the epidemic this year, the temple has not held any more; I am still relatively interested in Zen Meditation Camp. I’ve been to the Famen Light Summer Camp in Baoji Famen Temple before. In people’s eyes, people may think that going to such a place means chanting sutras, meditating, being brainwashed, etc., so there have always been many misunderstandings. I don’t think so. Normal or about to become a monk. It can only be said that those who think this way are just ignorant.

And often this kind of activity can indeed allow us to learn a lot of knowledge that we have no access to in society. For example, last time (also the last time we participated in the Zen retreat), we invited Professor Li Lian of Northwest University; the previous Light of Dharma Door Not only did we invite traditional culture professors from the Normal University to tell us and interpret the process and stories of marrying a wife in ancient times; we also had the richest male and female richest man in Shaanxi Province tell us how they worked hard until this year and how they repay the society, and the causal relationship between good and evil. etc.

You may not believe in Buddha, you may not worship him, but you have to learn, you have to believe in cause and effect, you have to believe in blessings, you have to believe that good will be rewarded with good and evil will be rewarded with evil. I often go to the monastery to study. I may not be a good person, but I am definitely not a bad person. Waiting for the epidemic to end, waiting for the first meditation camp in 20 years.

Back to the topic, let’s continue talking about the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree in the ancient Guanyin Temple; there are too many ginkgo trees under Zhongnan Mountain, and there are more than this one, but only the ancient Guanyin Temple is popular. There is a ginkgo tree planted by Laozi 2,500 years ago in Louguantai, which is farther, larger and more spectacular than this era. There is a ginkgo tree planted by Wang Wei, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, in Lantian Wangchuan. There is a ginkgo tree in Chongyang Palace in Huxian County (not far from the Tomb of the Living Dead). Ma Danyang, the great disciple of Quanzhen Patriarch Wang Chongyang, personally planted ginkgo trees. There is also a 1,700-year-old ancient ginkgo tree in Baita Temple in Zhongnan Mountain.

Why is only the ancient Guanyin Temple popular? And it is still quite popular, attracting countless people to come and check in; it shows that marketing and publicity are still very important, and we do the same when starting a business. If the marketing and publicity are done well, it will be much easier to get started, you say right?

Some people may say that because the ginkgo tree in the ancient Guanyin Temple not only has a history of 1,400 years, but was also planted by Li Shimin, the most outstanding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Tian Khan, then I can only tell you two words "it is said", is it true? I really don’t know, and I can’t test it, so I can only believe it or not; maybe it’s just for better publicity and better marketing power to include Li Shimin, right?

Let’s briefly talk about the guide. If you drive by yourself, you can directly navigate to the Ancient Guanyin Temple, which is about 30 kilometers away from the center of Xi’an, and the whole journey takes about an hour and a half; if you take the bus, you can navigate to Nanshi Village or the Ancient Guanyin Temple, but You have to get off at Nanshicun Station, and then walk about 200 meters for about ten minutes to reach the temple entrance.

If you want to take the bus, you can first take the subway to Taibai South Road, Line 3, and take Line 734 or 333 to reach the Ancient Guanyin Temple. You can also take the subway to Line 2, go to the Weiqunan terminus, and take Line 332 to reach the Ancient Guanyin Temple. It depends on which one you are closest to. The subway entrance is closer and more convenient.

You must make an appointment in advance to go to the Ancient Guanyin Temple. It is not recommended to go on weekends. You will have no sense of gaming experience at all because it is so popular and there are too many people going there. If you squeeze to see a tree, you will still be pushed forward. It's not worth it to rush out without taking a few blockbusters; besides, if you don't make a reservation on the weekend, it's basically out of the question. It's hard to make a reservation and it's almost impossible to get one. There are relatively few people during the week, so you can try to go there.

The reservation is in the "Zhongnan Zen Yun" article. It implements time-scheduled reservation. What does it mean? It means that for today's 12:30 show, reservations will not start until 12:30, and the rush will not start until 12:30, so you can go in early to watch. All reservations are fully booked when arriving. In fact, reservations have not started yet. If you are in the week, you can go to the temple gate first or open the article when it is almost there and wait to grab the place you want to enter. The speed is faster and the Internet speed is better. Basically Not a big problem. Oh, by the way, remember to have the health code for epidemic prevention. Without the health code, everything is in vain, don’t you think?

This is the same strategy on weekends, but there are indeed many people on weekends. If you grab one, you can’t get a game experience even if you make a reservation. But if you go all the way to get two, if you can’t make a reservation, why don’t you think it’s not worth it? So it is really not recommended that you go on weekends, because there is a high probability that you will not be able to make an appointment, really; and starting from November 3, the daily reservation limit has been adjusted from 3,000 people to 500 people per day on weekdays, and 1,000 people per day on weekends and holidays; year-on-year It has dropped a lot in previous years, a lot.

You can also consider driving to make an appointment. If you can't make an appointment, go to Louguantai Zongsheng Palace. Admission is free. I planted the ginkgo tree by hand 2500 years ago. It is big, yellow, beautiful and spectacular.