I know that my article is expected to be a travelling one and it is if you keep reading until the end. But to be able to explain why I decided to pick up this place as a topic of my next article and a highly recommended place for your next visit while you are in China, Shandong province, I have to start the story from the very beginning. However, the information about the location and other basic facts can be found just a couple of paragraphs below.
Now let me tell you what is the story behind my photos and the main idea of visiting this gorgeous, peaceful temple in a small town somewhere in China.
Travelling makes us notice the little things around us. And when we combine those little things together, they become more than important and can make a difference in the way we live, think, grow our beliefs and mind-set. In this modern world, where we have to worry about the financial side of our life every single day, it seems challenging to be a spiritual person. But if you are so, then just keep reading and you’ll find out more about the best destination for your next trip.
It is even more difficult to find places where you can fully express your spirituality; where you can think, pray, focus on your thoughts and just feel the dust of the magic. And from my perspective, for someone who is travelling, who has left the comfort zone to explore the world and who is challenging himself or herself every single day by trying new food, by hearing new language all the time, by meeting new people, by sleeping in a new bed every day it is even more crucial to stop somewhere from time to time, to think and analyse everything and just be a spiritual person for a moment. It happens to me often. You just lose yourself in the time when your mind is busy with planning a new trip, choosing a new destination, booking a new hotel, tickets. I feel like probably many travellers like me, may have experienced this need of peace and pause.
But the problem is that sometimes it is not easy to find that one place to rest your mind, because all places for worshiping have become more tourist attractions, a way to make money and a way to attract visitors. It is even a bigger problem in major cities where most of the tourists tend to visit, temples, churches, mosques or however the worshiping place may be called in different religions. You enter a temple and cannot even walk normally because it is always crowded there, full of people trying to get that one unique shot for the Instagram. I hope you get me right because I am not judging anyone now, but just sharing with you what I feel after a long time travelling. And if you are the one looking for what I could find in Yalushan temple, and that is peace, faith, pause, new ideas and spiritual connectivity, then just book your train or bus ticket to Jinan city in Shandong province, if you are in China.
The temple complex is situated in a small town called Laiwu (莱芜) in Shandong Province. It has totally 4 different sections. Each temple is in a higher level from the previous temple. So at the end of the complex you will also find nice view of the city. The name of the temple is Yalushan (雅鹿山) and the park where the temple is situated in Chinese is called “Ya lu shan gong yuan”. Getting there is not really hard, because Laiwu is a small city and taking a taxi is both convenient and cheap. From the city centre take taxing a taxi will cost only 15 yuan (2$). The drivers there don’t speak English, so just show the driver the name of the place in Chinese language. An alternative way is to take a bus number 22 to the park if you are in the newer part of the city called “Laiwu Tech Zone”. But again, the best way to get there is the taxi. There is no entrance fee to the temple complex. It is free for everyone. But if you want to light candles then it may cost around 60 yuan (8,5$). The whole complex itself Is worth to visit. Make sure you check out all sections because it is quite big. My only recommendation is to take your time there and enjoy the incredible beauty of the both nature and Chinese architecture.
