Explore the region
About Chishan Scenic Area
The scenic area opened on 28 April 2005, covers about 12.8 square kilometres in ten zones and has forest cover above 95 per cent; it was named a national forest health base in 2019 and is rated a national 4A site. It sits directly beside Shidao harbour, one of the larger fishing ports of northern China, so hill, sea and working port are all in view from the same place. Besides the monastery, its named components include the Chishan Daming Shen sea-deity statue, the Rongcheng Folk Museum, a biographical hall for Jang Bogo and the Chishan Chanyuan hall devoted to the Japanese monk Ennin.
Fahuayuan was founded in 824 by Jang Bogo, a man of the Korean kingdom of Silla, and became one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in the Jiaodong region under the Tang; it took its name from the Lotus Sutra recited by the Tiantai-school monks first brought there. Ennin, who arrived in Tang China in 838, lodged at the monastery for nearly three years and described it in the travel record he wrote after returning to Japan. The monastery was burned during Emperor Wuzong's suppression of Buddhism. Its site was identified in 1987 using Ennin's account, rebuilt in 1988 and opened in May 1989, so what stands today is a modern reconstruction on the historic ground rather than Tang fabric.
What to look for
- The Fahuayuan halls: the Daxiong Baodian, the Guanyin Hall, the Dizang Hall and the Sanfo Baodian
- The site stele south of the Dizang Hall, erected in 1988, with an account of Ennin's journey inscribed in Chinese and Japanese on its reverse
- The merit stele for Jang Bogo south of the Guanyin Hall, set up in 2005 by the scenic area together with the Korean Jang clan association
- The Chishan Daming Shen sea-deity statue and the Chishan Chanyuan hall devoted to Ennin
- The view from the hill over Shidao harbour, where hill, sea and fishing port meet
Location & getting there
Getting to Chishan Scenic Area
Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.
- Search for 赤山 with 威海市 and 荣成市.
Find Chishan Scenic Area
赤山 · 荣成市
No reliable map pin yet: search by the Chinese name.
Sources & visit information
The linked sources support the identity and background described in this introduction. Opening hours, admission, activity availability and exact arrival arrangements have not been comprehensively checked. Confirm current visitor information with the venue; the original catalogue locality and editorial review flag are retained.