Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area Headquarters

Lingxia Cave was a stone temple with a shallow cavern built in 1917. The façade is distinguished by a baroque pailou, while the interior houses josses like Sakyamuni Buddha, Sangharama Bodhisattva, Wei Tuo Bodhisattva, Ananda, and Avalokitesvara.

The front pailou was constructed in 1932. Its two inscriptions meaning “empty mountain” and “deep water” were carved by a monk named Te Hsin. Every spring, a sea of clouds is seen in front of the temple, and the stream in front of the shallow cavern meanders. The two inscriptions, “Empty Mountain” and “Deep Water”, were inscribed because the temple is covered with cloud and mist which makes it difficult to judge how deep the stream is. When the sun shines, the sea of clouds will float, which causes myriads of sun rays on the cliff and a riot of colors with the sea of clouds to float. It is called Lingxia Cave because of the ever-changing meteorological landscape.