The 7 Best Sacred & Religious Sites in Hainan, Hainan

Reviewed By germainehenggg

First and foremost, definitely come here during off peak period. Rented a car and drove an hour from the Yalong Bay Hilton hotel to Nanshan area. You have to park at the designated carpark outside from the main spot and you can either choose to walk inside or purchase a bus ticket for 30 RMB each person. First stop, alights you off at the Guanying statue. From far, my first impressions were that it is just a bigger looking statue, no biggie. But as you start to walk across the bridge and enter the temple underneath the statue, I was dumbfounded. A gold statue was standing in the middle and surrounding her were different open rooms with the other goddess’ statues. Of which were all further surrounded with about 30 cm tall gold looking goddess statue on the cases mounted on the wall. Some had names on it, probably for those who made huge donations to this place. After walking in the clockwise direction (no hard and fast rule on this but that’s just how I’ve been told), and walking past all the smaller goddess statue, there was a sign saying something like FOOT OF GODDESS. Definitely the word FOOT was inside. Walked several flights of stairs and as you reach the top, oh my gosh, it was breathtaking! Just standing right underneath her and wondering how did they build her! Saw many people touching her toe nails and I did just that. I believe it must be for blessings. She has 3 sides so don’t forget to touch all 30 of them.. The view from there was really amazing too! Deffo great for photo taking!! After one round around her, walked down the stairs and was led to the second floor of the temple below which was showcasing similar to the smaller statues below but different names. Something more different was a dark and dimly lifted open room with about over 20 goddess statues. I believe they are made of jade. Was absolutely intrigued at the detailing on them. All in all, the workmanship of the statues, interiors and decorations were what made the entire trip worth it! Just the thought of how they were made was enough to get you to appreciate them. The vegetarian restaurant before the bridge to the Guanying goddess was really delicious! Plus if you sit near the glass panels, you would have a great view of her and the vast sea behind. Tips: • Do make tickets purchases beforehand on WeChat but if you’re a foreigner, you most probably have to purchase it via the counter with your passport. Same goes for the bus ride. • Fresh coconut costs 20 RMB there. Hmmm, I’ve gotten them for 10 RMB each from the non-tourist areas. But hey, if you’re thirsty, why not get one to enjoy while sitting near the sea and having the breezy winds blowing right at you. P.S. You can take the bus ride at a designated spot to the next few temples. The bus guide will ask who wants to alight and they’ll stop at each. But I didn’t do that, so I just sat through it and went back to the main entrance. So if you’re only going to one, you don’t really have to get the bus ticket, it’s only a short walk from the entrance to the goddess statue.