Trekking and Meditation Retreat at Great Wall in Linhai

About This Retreat

Return to historic Linhai for meditation, tea, incense, music, temple walks, Kuocang Mountain trekking, and the ancient Great Wall of southern China.

The year I returned to my hometown from India, I suddenly felt how deeply Linhai resembled Varanasi. The Lingjiang River reminded me of the Ganges: upstream, the water is clear and bright like the river near Rishikesh; downstream, it becomes cloudier, closer to the atmosphere of Varanasi. River, mountain, temple, and city seemed to echo one another from a distance.

Linhai, in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, is an ancient town being rediscovered. It has the fragrance of Dali's old town, sunsets over the Lingjiang River that recall India, and Ziyang Ancient Street, named after Ziyang Zhenren, the Northern Song dynasty ancestor of the Southern Taoist tradition. At the foot of the mountain stands Longxing Temple, a thousand-year-old Buddhist site connected with the Tang dynasty monk Jianzhen, who helped carry the Tiantai teachings to Japan.

The city also holds the ancient Great Wall of Linhai, often called the Badaling of southern China, rebuilt and defended by the Ming dynasty general Qi Jiguang. Kuocang Mountain, where the Chaigu Trail cross-country race is held, rises nearby. A city, a mountain, and a river form the retreat landscape.

After returning from a 10-day silent Vipassana retreat in Thailand, I wanted to create a meditation space in my hometown. The retreat home is arranged with century-old furniture left by my grandmother from the Republic of China period, creating a quiet atmosphere for Zen, meditation, tea ceremony, flower path, incense, music meditation, and body practice.

The Heart Sutra says the five aggregates are empty: no form, sound, smell, taste, touch; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind. Here we return to that teaching through simple daily practice, ancient streets, temple visits, river walks, mountain air, and silence.