Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone is located in the southern suburbs of Kaihua County, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Covering an area of 3.03 square kilometers, the scenic area features architectural styles that combine Tang Dynasty architecture and Huizhou-style architecture, with internal landscapes built along the natural terrain. Boasting beautiful landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and unique scenery, it is the world's only root culture-themed tourist area. With "root" as the carrier of its philosophy, the scenic area skillfully integrates root carving art, bonsai art, stone appreciation culture, and ancient garden architecture, earning it the title of "World Capital of Root Carving Art". The park gathers over 160 species of various plants and precious tree species, and 36 species of birds such as long-tailed blue magpies, red-billed leiothrix, Chinese bulbuls, and thrushes inhabit here all year round. In 2013, Root Palace Buddhist Scenic Area became the first national 5A-level tourist attraction in Quzhou City. It is also a National Cultural Industry Demonstration Base, a National Ecological Civilization Education Base, a Root Carving Creation Practice Base of the China Sculpture Institute, and holds the Guinness World Record for "the largest root carving museum".
Historical Culture
In 1991, Xu Guqing, a local root art master, returned after studying and founded a 200-square-meter root carving factory with seven other workers in a farmer's building, which was the predecessor of Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone. Xu Guqing registered the "Drunken Root" trademark and established Quzhou Drunken Root Arts & Crafts Co., Ltd. in 2000. In 2002, he began to prepare for the construction of Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone.
In 2006, the "China Root Art & Crafts Expo Park" was established, which is an ecological civilization tourist attraction featuring bonsai, rare stones, root art, and ancient garden architecture, and later developed into Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone. In 2007, the first phase of the "China Root Art & Crafts Expo Park" was opened to the public.
In 2013, the construction of the Huaxia Root Culture Scenic Area project was launched. On December 15, 2018, the Huaxia Root Culture Scenic Area of Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone opened for trial operation. At the same time, the 7th China (Kaihua) Root Carving Art Culture Festival and the 2nd "Belt and Road" International Root Art Culture Exchange Week were held in the Huaxia Root Culture Scenic Area.
In 2015, China's only root carving culture-themed hotel was completed, known as a "live-in 'museum'". Subsequently, Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone aimed to create an immersive experience for tourists, continuously optimizing garden landscapes and improving supporting facilities such as experience halls.
In 2017, the construction of the Red Culture Root Carving Art Museum started. The main building was capped in 2019, with a construction area of over 7,000 square meters. On May 18, 2020, the Buddhist Culture Root Carving Art Museum of Kaihua Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone officially opened, marking a new starting point for the transformation of Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone.
Main Attractions
Root Carving Buddha Land
The construction area of Root Carving Buddha Land reaches 12,000 square meters. With three main halls distributed in depth, it is the main part of the scenic area. Roughly arranged according to the main architectural layout of Buddhist temples, the halls are, from front to back, the Future Buddha Hall, the Mahavira Hall, and the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats. The first hall is a two-story structure, while the second and third are single-story. In addition, the Arhat Culture Corridor is built along the mountain, surrounding these halls. Here, more than 1,000 giant root carving works of Buddhist cultural series are displayed, including those of Sakyamuni, the Future Buddha, the Four Bodhisattvas, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the Five Hundred Arhats. Among them, the largest root carving is the main statue of Sakyamuni, which is massive, weighing over 40 tons. The root material was transported all the way from the distant China-Myanmar border, taking a roundabout and arduous journey. After being "enlightened" by Zuigen (Drunken Root), it finally stands towering as a Buddha.
Drunken Root Tian Gong Museum
Drunken Root Tian Gong Museum, relying on the superior geographical location of the North Gate and profound cultural heritage, is the first root carving museum in China. The museum integrates landscapes, exquisite products, famous products, famous stores, and famous exhibitions, with supporting facilities such as various food and handicraft exhibition transactions, making it a vibrant cultural venue. It is divided into four functional areas: the first floor is the International Handicraft Exchange Center, the second floor is the Drunken Root Tian Gong Hotel, the third floor is the Drunken Root Tian Gong Museum, and the fourth floor is the Drunken Root Arts & Crafts Trading Center. The museum displays works of Master Xu Guqing and members of his studio from various periods. These works have unique styles, unique material selection, exquisite creation, extensive themes, and profound meanings, permeated with strong vitality, and have the natural beauty of returning to nature and a strong sense of traditional cultural mission.
Green Plum Garden
Green Plum Garden is built along the mountain. The name of the garden comes from the "Qing" in Xu Guqing's name and the "Plum" from the plum forest in his hometown. The garden is themed on plum bonsai, with over 3,000 bonsais of various types, mainly consisting of thousand-year-old plum old stumps and landscape bonsais. Precious tree species include yew, Chinese distylium, ginkgo, etc., with more than 500 varieties. Most of the bonsais created by Xu Guqing are relatively large in size, using old tree stumps as materials, and emphasizing the harmonious combination with the surrounding ancient buildings, landscapes, and environment, creating a personified nature.
Baimu Tongchun (Hundred Woods in Spring)
Baimu Tongchun (Hundred Woods in Spring) is among the first batch of ecological environment education demonstration bases in Zhejiang Province. Covering an area of 600 square meters, it displays more than 200 pieces of thousand-year-old withered famous trees and submerged logs. These tree roots, collected from various parts of China, have a long history and have witnessed the cyclic interaction between humans and nature. They have been preserved through artistic creation, and some of the collected original materials have been made into display boards, which serve as a reminder to people to protect the ecological environment.
Stele Corridor
Located next to Root Carving Buddha Land, the Stele Corridor is a building imitating Hakka enclosed houses, used to inscribe the calligraphy and paintings of celebrities who came to the Root Expo Park. Its circular architectural shape is between Drunken Root Tian Gong Museum and Root Carving Buddha Land.
Five Hundred Arhats
This set of giant root art Five Hundred Arhats was created by Master Xu Guqing after more than ten years of preparation, spending a huge amount of money to collect thousand-year-old longan wood, lychee tree roots and other root stumps from all over China, with a length of over 680 meters. The Five Hundred Arhats array has a unique style, and its arrangement simulates a scene where they gather to discuss the Dharma assembly. The overall layout is based on several important Dharma assemblies such as Buddha converting the Five Bhikkhus and promoting Buddhism in Magadha. All the Arhats are around the Mahavira Hall, with a total of 500 statues, forming a "Hui" (return) character, symbolizing the reincarnation in Buddhism. This work integrates modern artistic concepts into traditional Chinese carving techniques, perfectly combining root carving art with Chinese Buddhist culture, and is the largest set of root carving Five Hundred Arhats statues in the world.
Zuijing Garden (Drunken Scenery Garden)
Zuijing Garden (Drunken Scenery Garden) is located at the foot of a mountain, covering an area of over 20,000 square meters. It was built by root carving master Xu Guqing using the earth and rocks excavated during the construction of the Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda landscape project to fill the valley, divert water to form a lake, and arrange landscapes according to the mountain's terrain. This is a landscape garden mainly featuring bonsais, with more than 2,000 bonsais of pine, cypress, and miscellaneous tree species, among which precious tree species such as Jia Luo, Osaka pine, arhat pine, and black pine are dominant. The circular corridor in the center of the woods is called "Huisilang" (Corridor of Recollection), shaped like a Hakka tulou in China. Surrounded by Kaihua bluestone slabs, it is used for inscribing inscriptions by famous calligraphers. In the circular courtyard in the middle, ancient trees tower into the sky.
Drunken Root Tan
Drunken Root Tan is a Tang-style building, serving as the creation place of Master Xu Guqing. The first floor is the Drunken Root Boutique Hall, and the second floor is the office and exhibition room, with a corridor pavilion facing Green Plum Garden across the lake. Here, more than 60 rare treasures collected by Master Xu Guqing since he started his career are displayed. It is a place where he conducts root art creation and research, receives friends, and discusses art and philosophy.
Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda
Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda is located to the northwest of Root Carving Buddha Land. It is a square tower and also a landmark building in western Zhejiang. Construction of the pagoda started on June 26, 2012, covering an area of 1,500 square meters. It has 13 floors, stands 79.99 meters high, with a total construction area of 5,700 square meters, plus a basement floor. The interior walls of Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda are mainly in Buddhist yellow. The pagoda is surrounded by cypress and ginkgo trees. It has a reinforced concrete frame, with brick and wood structures as the main decorations, and a large number of wooden brackets are stacked inside. Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda uses the metaphor of "seeing the Buddha when flowers bloom" to set off the collected contents, complementing more than 1,000 giant root carving artworks with Buddhist themes. The root carving works displayed in the pagoda are mainly Guanyin statues, including more than 200 root carving statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva, so it is also called Guanyin Pagoda. The pagoda houses more than 1,000 exquisite root artworks such as rosewood root carving statues of one hundred Guanyins, thirty-three temples, Thousand-Hand Guanyin, Dripping Guanyin, Ruyi Guanyin, Reclining Guanyin, and Four-Faced Guanyin. Floors 1-2 display four Guanyin statues (Thousand-Hand Guanyin, Dripping Guanyin, Ruyi Guanyin, Reclining Guanyin) and the thirty-three temples of Guanyin. Floors 3-4 exhibit 800 Arhats, exquisite root carvings made of submerged wood. Floors 5-10 showcase one hundred Guanyin statues. Floors 11-12 feature murals of Guanyin. The top floor enshrines a wooden Four-Faced Guanyin, implying compassion, wisdom, peace, and good fortune. In the middle, there is a huge inscribed bronze bell - the Eight-Faced Zen Bell, which weighs 13 tons and is cast in bronze. The basement is used to display Guanyin statues from past dynasties. The completion ceremony of Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda was held on November 11, 2014.
Food
Kaihua Qi Gao (Steamed Rice Cake)
One of the must-eat snacks when coming to Kaihua, known as "Quzhou Small Pizza". It has a soft rice cake texture, similar to steamed sponge cake in taste, covered with many side dishes such as shredded pork, shredded bamboo shoots, shredded tofu, and chopped green onions. Freshly baked Kaihua Qi Gao is fragrant and very delicious. However, some people may feel that the shrimp skin and fungus on it have a bit of a fishy smell, but those who like it will definitely love it.
Longtan Biscuit
Longtan Biscuit has a crispy texture, which is excellent when just baked, with a crispy outside, and full of juice when bitten. There are various flavors to choose from, and the dried plum and fresh meat filling is particularly popular. Adding a little sugar when eating makes it more delicious.
Wang A Gai Food
This is a restaurant highly recommended by locals. The QQ noodles in the restaurant are perfect in color, aroma, and taste, and the fried rice cakes are also fragrant and very delicious.
Nani Xiaolongbao (Dumplings)
Very famous locally, open until the early morning. Their xiaolongbao are full of soup and have plump fillings. Paired with a bowl of authentic Majin rice soup, the taste is intoxicating.
Tickets
Ticket price: 118 yuan per person.
You can search for the official WeChat public account "根宫佛国文化旅游区" to get the latest updates or buy tickets online.
Opening Hours
The scenic area is open from 08:30 to 17:00 (open all year round). However, the opening hours may be adjusted on some special holidays or due to scenic area maintenance. Please pay attention to the official notice of the scenic area in advance.
Tour Route
Recommended one-day tour route: Arrive at the scenic area at 9:00 am, start the tour from the Fumen Xiangguang scenic spot, and feel the unique charm of the sculpture group composed of door sculptures, rare stones, Eight Diagrams, root culture sculptures, and tea culture sculptures; then go to Jiqu Zhai to appreciate the representative root art works of Xu Guqing from various periods and the award-winning works of his disciples; come to Root Carving Buddha Land at around 10:30, visit the Future Buddha Hall, Mahavira Hall, Arhat Hall, etc., to appreciate the shock of the 40-ton Sakyamuni main Buddha and the 680-meter-long Five Hundred Arhats array and other giant root carving works of Buddhist culture series; have lunch at the restaurant in the scenic area at 12:30, tasting local specialty foods; go to Drunken Root Tian Gong Museum at 13:30 to watch the works of Master Xu Guqing and studio members from various periods; go to Drunken Scenery Garden at 15:00 to appreciate more than 1,500 bonsai art works mainly of pine and cypress; go to Green Plum Garden at 16:00 to enjoy various plum bonsais and precious tree species; finally, go to Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda at around 16:40, climb the tower to overlook the panoramic view of the scenic area (extra charge for climbing the tower), and end the day's trip.
Transportation
- Bus: There are multiple bus stations in Kaihua County. Tourists can take the special bus to the scenic area, with a ticket price of about 5 yuan and a journey of about 20 minutes.
- High-speed rail: You can first arrive at Kaihua Station, then take a bus from the high-speed rail station to the scenic area, with a fare of 3 yuan and a journey of about 30 minutes; you can also choose to take a taxi, costing about 30 yuan and taking 20 minutes.
- Self-driving: Starting from surrounding cities, such as Hangzhou, drive along Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, get off at Kaihua Exit, then follow the navigation to the scenic area, with a journey of about 3 hours. There are parking lots around the scenic area, including Root Palace Parking Lot and Shen Garden Parking Lot, with about 300 parking spaces, and the parking fee is about 10 yuan per day.
Must-visit Attractions
- Root Carving Buddha Land: The world's largest root carving museum, certified by Guinness. The main Buddha Sakyamuni statue is 9.9 meters high and weighs 40 tons, carved from thousand-year-old longan wood, with stunning details. The 680-meter-long Five Hundred Arhats array, each with different expressions, perfectly integrates the natural form of tree roots with the Buddha statues.
- Drunken Root Tian Gong Museum: China's first professional root carving museum, housing masterpieces by Xu Guqing, such as "Century Gate" and "Four Bodhisattvas". Root carving art lectures can be attended in the top-floor lecture hall (reservation required).
- Drunken Root Pagoda: A landmark in western Zhejiang, the 13-story pagoda is 79 meters high, and the top offers a panoramic view (extra charge). The basement houses thousands of small Buddha statues with mysterious light and shadow effects.
- Children's Fun Garden: A must-visit for parents and children! There are 12 zodiac root carvings and an animal park, very suitable for taking photos.
Tour Suggestions
- It is recommended to avoid peak holiday periods such as Labor Day and National Day, when there are a large number of tourists, and you may need to queue for a long time at popular attractions like Root Carving Buddha Land and Drunken Root Pagoda. The best visiting experience is from 9:00 am to 11:00 am on weekdays.
- When visiting attractions such as Root Carving Buddha Land, you can rent an audio guide device (rental fee of 20 yuan per time) or participate in the free regular guided tours provided by the scenic area (10:00 am and 2:00 pm) to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural connotations behind root carving art.
- If you are interested in root carving art, you can go to the top-floor lecture hall of Drunken Root Tian Gong Museum and make an appointment in advance to attend root carving art lectures, experiencing the charm of root carving art up close.
- During your visit, you can go to the characteristic restaurants in the scenic area to taste local delicacies such as Kaihua Qi Gao (steamed rice cake) and Longtan Biscuit, and experience the unique food culture of the region.
- When visiting in summer, take precautions against sun exposure and mosquitoes, as there are many trees in the scenic area and relatively more mosquitoes; when visiting in winter, keep warm, as some areas in the scenic area are relatively open and windy.
Matters Needing Attention
- Most of the root carving works in the scenic area are precious artworks. It is strictly forbidden to touch or climb them, and do not use flash when taking photos to avoid damaging the root carvings.
- When visiting high-altitude attractions such as Root Palace Buddhist Pagoda, be sure to follow the scenic area regulations, do not go beyond safety protection facilities, and ensure your own safety.
- There are catering and shopping areas in the scenic area, but the prices may be relatively high. Tourists can choose to buy according to their own needs. If you need to buy specialties, it is recommended to carefully check the quality and price.
- The roads in the scenic area are complex, and some sections are relatively narrow. Pay attention to your step safety during the visit, and avoid crowding and pushing. Especially in the peak tourist season, take good care of the elderly and children with you.
- Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone is a scenic area with a strong cultural atmosphere. Please keep the scenic area clean and do not litter.
- Pets are prohibited from entering the scenic area, and the use of drones in the scenic area is strictly forbidden. There are designated smoking areas in the scenic area, and smoking is prohibited in non-smoking areas. Violators will face a fine of 50 - 200 yuan.