How much is the ticket price of Mount Mengshan Buddha? Is the student ticket half price?

Mount Mengshan Buddha is located in Sichuan Province, China. It is an ancient Buddhist relic, attracting a large number of pilgrims and tourists every day. There are also many devout Buddhists who come to worship and seek spiritual enlightenment and balance. Below is a list of Mount Mengshan Buddha ticket prices.

How much is the ticket price of Mount Mengshan Buddha:

10 yuan/person, the student ticket is the same price

I had heard of the great Buddha on Mount Mengshan for a long time, so I had the intention to pay a visit. My friend and I made an appointment to go together. We started from the city and arrived at the foot of Mount Mengshan in about 40 minutes. Mount Mengshan is located in Jinsheng Township, Siti Village, northwest of Jin Yuan District, about 20 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. It is rare for tourists to visit in the summer.

We slowly entered the mountain along the newly paved stone slabs. The lush pine trees mixed with low shrubs wrapped the entire mountain. Red, yellow, and purple wildflowers and the chirping of crickets sang in the valleys around us. The stream at the bottom of the valley was gurgling, and my mood suddenly opened up, “I see the green hills are so beautiful, I guess the green hills see me as such.”

Tired of the hustle and bustle of the city life, we were now like entering a quiet, peaceful and detached paradise. 

We followed the stone steps to a temple, which is not large. The lintel is inscribed with the words “Kaihua Temple.” According to the inscription, the temple was “built in the second year of Tianbao (551) by Gao Yang, Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi, and given the name Kaihua.” “It was carved in stone facing the stream, relying on the mountain to carve statues, and it took more than 20 years to complete.”

It can be seen that Mount Mengshan Buddha was built by Gao Yang, the emperor of Northern Qi, and was completed after being supervised by four emperors: Gao Yin, Gao Yan, Gao Zhan, and Gao Wei. The temple is divided into upper and lower temples, known as “the two temples of Great Majestic Stone Grottoes.”

Leaving the temple, we walked along the winding mountain road through a mountain pass, and the majestic figure of the Buddha suddenly came into view. In the midst of the mountains, the Buddha seemed to be so magical, majestic, ancient, and grand. 



Mount Mengshan Buddha, also known as the West Mountain Buddha, is located on the sunny side of the north peak of Mount Mengshan, facing south. It is carved into the mountain and is about 66 meters high.

It is only 8 meters shorter than the Leshan Giant Buddha in Sichuan Province (71 meters high) and 10 meters taller than the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan (53 meters high), which was previously called the “world’s largest Buddha” in the West. However, Mount Mengshan Buddha was carved 162 years earlier than the Leshan Giant Buddha in China and a century earlier than the “Bamiyan” Buddha. Therefore, in terms of height, the West Mountain Buddha in Jin Dynasty is the second largest Buddha in the world, and in terms of age, it is the earliest large-scale stone-carved Buddha image in the world.

In the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian built a large Buddha Pavilion to cover the Buddha in 602 AD, and changed the name to “Jingming Temple.”

In the third year of Wu De (620) in the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan stayed in Jin Dynasty. It is said that Li Yuan often visited the Buddha when he was the governor of Taiyuan. When Li Shimin, the son of Taiyuan, encouraged his father Li Yuan to rebel, Li Yuan hesitated at first. Later, he found that the Kaihua Temple on Mount Mengshan was emitting auspicious light at night. Li Shimin took this opportunity to say that this was a blessing from heaven, and Li Yuan finally made up his mind.

The uprising in Jin Dynasty laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty’s three hundred years of rule. In the third year of Wu De, the name was changed back to “Kaihua Temple,” so Kaihua Temple has an indissoluble connection with Li Shimin and his father.

In the fifth year of Xianqing (660), Emperor Gaozong of Tang Li Zhi and Empress Wu Zetian came to Bingzhou, and were deeply moved by the majestic and grandeur of the Buddha. After returning to Chang’an, the capital, they ordered skilled craftsmen from the inner palace to make a huge robe for the Buddha, and sent envoys to deliver it to Jin Dynasty. Under the watchful eyes of monks and lay people in Jin Dynasty, a ceremony was held to robe the Buddha. The gold and silver jewelry decorating the robe shone brightly, and five-colored lights illuminated the mountains and rivers, which shocked Bingzhou and became famous throughout the country. 

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddhism flourished in Jin Dynasty, with many temples and monasteries, and many eminent monks gathered there. Kaihua Temple became a famous Buddhist temple in Jin Dynasty, with a far-reaching reputation. 

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Mount Mengshan Kaihua Temple Buddha had gone through hundreds of years of vicissitudes and suffered great damage. 

Li Keyong, the King of Jin and Jiedushi of Hedong, who was stationed in Taiyuan, was deeply grateful for the protection of the Buddha and the support of the people of Taiyuan, so he decided to rebuild the Kaihua Temple. Coincidentally, not long after the Buddha was renovated, Li Keyong, who was already old, passed away.

However, Li Cunxu, Li Keyong’s son, who had inherited the throne of the King of Jin, actually defeated his old rival, Emperor Zhu Wen of Later Liang, under the protection of the Buddha, with the small defeating the large, and the weak defeating the strong. He marched into Luoyang, defeated his old rival, Emperor Zhu Wen of Later Liang, and ascended to the throne himself, re-establishing the country as “Great Tang,” which is known in history as the new dynasty of “Later Tang.” Fifty years later, Liu Zhiyuan, the left governor of Later Jin Beijing and the Jiedushi of Hedong, rebuilt the Grand Majestic Pavilion. The result of this renovation once again promoted the change of dynasties.

Soon, Liu Zhiyuan led his troops south to occupy Bianliang, the capital of Later Jin, and ascended to the throne himself, establishing the country as “Great Han,” which historians call “Later Han.”

From the Tang Dynasty to Later Han, for more than four hundred years, there was a very coincidental phenomenon: Mount Mengshan Kaihua Temple in Taiyuan was almost connected with the fate of the country. Every governor of Taiyuan who donated money to repair the temple, such as Li Yuan, Li Shimin, Wu Zetian, Li Keyong, Liu Zhiyuan, etc., almost all received the favor of heaven. They all ascended to the throne and became famous figures. Therefore, Mount Mengshan Kaihua Temple has a high status in the hearts of the people, and in the eyes of the royal family, it is like a national temple. Naturally, it was reasonable for masters and eminent monks to gather there. 

We climbed up the west side of the north peak, and reached the front of the Buddha. We washed our hands, offered incense, and knelt down with our hands clasped. After paying our respects, we raised our heads and looked up at the Buddha. After hundreds of years of vicissitudes and wind and rain erosion, the surface of the rock of the Buddha’s body was severely weathered, and small trees and weeds had grown on it. The head was restored by later generations. 

Despite this, the Buddha is still considered to be very spiritual and precious in the eyes of the people, and is highly respected. Among the few rock-carved Buddha statues in the world, Mount Mengshan Buddha in China is undoubtedly a prominent figure!

Leaving the Buddha, we followed the tourists to a clear spring. The clear water formed a small pool. Some young boys and girls took off their shoes and rolled up their trousers, jumping into the pool to take pictures. I also couldn’t help but pick up the clear spring to wash my hands… Although it was summer, the mountain spring here was still very cold. 

Afterwards, we visited the Iron Buddha Temple and the Relics Linked-Tree Pagoda. The Linked-Tree Pagoda was built by the local governor in the first year of Chunhua (990) in the Song Dynasty in front of the Buddha’s courtyard. It has gone through many wars and wind and rain, and the pagoda body is only left with broken rocks and walls, but the base of the pagoda is still tightly connected. 

Looking at these historical relics and world treasures that have been buried in the dust of time, many dusty memories still remain in people’s minds, which inevitably leads to many thoughts and makes people sigh. My trip to Mount Mengshan left a deep impression on me, and Mount Mengshan Buddha is the Buddha in my heart!