One of China's four sacred mountains, Putuo Mountain's reawakening temples, spectacular scenery and quiet make it an alluring weekend escape from Shanghai, writes Tina Kanagaratnam.
Wide, long beaches, hilltop temples, clean air and an absence of cars and shopping malls make the island of Putuo Mountain an ideal antidote to buzzing Shanghai.
Ringed by craggy rocks and a crashing milk-tea colored sea, Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang Province is a natural cloister. For centuries, only monks were allowed to live here - over 2,000 at the peak.
"The little island is literally covered with temples, arbours and monuments. The summit commands a panorama of great beauty, consisting of the blue sea studded with green islands," according to a 1924 guidebook, and aside from a change in the color of the sea, that remains an accurate description.
Accessible only by ferry, the island manages to retain a mystical quality, even as religious tourism brings Chinese tour groups by the busload.
The island's excellent minibus system shuttles visitors between the ferry station and the island's main tourist sites, but in between, there are plenty of solitary paths and forested copses.
The fairyland of the immortals has been a holy site since the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), when Japanese monk Hui'e, on his way home with a Guanyin statue, miraculously found shelter on Putuo Mountain during a violent storm. Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, came to him in a dream, saying that he would be able to return home safely, if only he would leave her on the island. Hui'e erected a shrine on the spot that is now Guanyin Leap, the storm abated, Hui'e went home, and the island has been associated with Guanyin ever since.
Putuo mountain is particularly crowded on the three days sacred to Guanyin: her birthday (February 29 on the Chinese lunar calendar), the day on which she began studying Buddhism (June 19 on the Chinese lunar calendar), and the day she became a nun (September 19 on the Chinese lunar calendar). On these dates, there are all-night ceremonies and chanting, and the temples are packed, cheek to jowl.
Today, the 33-meter tall bronze-plated statue of the goddess, gazing over the harbor, is the first sight that greets visitors to the island. The steering wheel she holds in her left hand symbolizes her protection of the island's fishermen as she steers them away from danger. The platform upon which she stands houses 400 statues, representing different Guanyin incarnations, while a pavilion at the base features a series of carved wooden murals depicting scenes of Guanyin coming to the rescue of local villagers and fishermen, for whom she is a patron saint.
The gateway at Purple Bamboo Temple, directly north on the coast, leads the visitor directly to Chaoyin Cave, near the coast where Hui'e had to leave Guanyin behind. The sound of the waves crashing on this rocky outcrop sounds so much like the call of the Buddha that suicidal monks would gratefully leave the world behind here. A walkway leads to the older temples, tucked picturesquely into the cliffside, and the chanting of black-robed monks floats above the water into the pine-covered forest.
One of the delights of Putuo Mountain, especially while the weather is still warm, is the wide sandy beaches. The aptly named Thousand Step Beach and Ten Thousand Step Beach, north of Chaoyin Cave, which were crowded on summer weekends, were virtually empty when we visited in September.
West of the beaches is one of the island's three main temples, Puji Temple, fronted by three lotus ponds with pavilions, arched bridges and enormous, ancient camphor trees hanging over the water.
The temple's ocher-hued buildings were first built in 1080, but the building has been expanded and rebuilt considerably since then, with the current buildings dating from the Qing era (1644-1911).
Still, Puji Temple remains one of the few temples on Putuo Mountain untouched by modern renovations. The main hall is dominated by a gilded seated Buddha, and flanked by colorful Taoist gods, while the secondary hall features the fat, laughing Maitreya incarnation of the Buddha, with a Guanyin statue at the rear of the temple.
Next to the temple, a medieval, cobbled street is lined with colorful shops filled with religious paraphernalia, from giant origami paper lotuses to an array of joss sticks and rows and rows of porcelain and gilt statues of the deities. Saffron bags - similar to the ones carried by monks - made of coarse cotton or silk may be purchased and stamped at each temple, sort of a religious passport.
The yuan Dynasty-era (1271-1368) Duobao Pagoda, which dates from 1334, stands just east of the lakes. Despite its prime location, weeds are growing from the five-storey pagoda and its gated grounds are unkempt and overgrown - it almost seems abandoned, certainly by the tour groups, all of which adds a certain mystique. Constructed with stones from Lake Tai in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, the pagoda has faded inscriptions from the sutras on each side.
The ming-era (1368-1644) Fayu Temple to the north is a spectacular sight, with its 200-odd halls, constructed amongst ancient trees, along the slope of the mountain in layers. The temple is set against the backdrop of Foding Mountain, which rises behind the complex.
Fayu temple is noted for its exquisite beamless, domed Dayuan Hall, where nine dragons, carved from wood, curve auspiciously around the interior dome. Originally a Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu Province) temple hall, Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty is said to have ordered Dayuan moved to Putuo Mountain in 1689, and it has been the centerpiece of Guanyin's birthday celebrations ever since. Life imitates art when monks, nuns and worshipers come to pray before the temple's statue of Guanyin.
For hundreds of years, pilgrims have been climbing Foding Mountain, to the northern Huiji Temple, stopping every three steps to prostrate themselves. Now they can take the cable car between 6:30am and 5pm every day, with its remarkable vistas of farmers tilling the land directly below and foliage-covered hills, accompanied by the loud quacking of ducks.
A tree-lined path leads to the temple, the moss-covered walls adding to the ancient aura, even though several of the halls were reconstructed in 2002. The temple's vegetarian restaurant serves "mock meat" versions of standard Chinese dishes, for lunch only from noon to 2pm. Up a short flight of stairs, past the kitchens, is a quiet open air courtyard tucked against the flanks of Foding Mountain.
On a clear day, Heaven's Lamp on Foding Mountain's summit, a five-minute walk north of the temple, makes a perfect ending to a Putuo Mountain trip.
High above the island, the views of the sea, the waves beating against the rocks and the surrounding islands are nothing short of spectacular.
How to get there: Ferry tickets can be purchased from travel agents; the fast ferry takes three hours to get to Putuo Mountain from Shanghai, while the overnight ferry takes 12 hours, leaving Shanghai at 6pm and arriving at Putuo Mountain at 6am every day. Visitors can also fly into Shenjiamen on the neighboring island of Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, a 30-minute flight from Shanghai, and then take a 10-minute ferry ride to  Putuo Mountain.