Hangzhou (help·info) (Chinese: 杭州: Hangzhou dialect: ɦaŋ tsei; Mandarin pinyin: Hángzhōu Mandarin pronunciation: [xɑ̌ŋtʂóʊ]), also transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Hangzhou is also the center of the Hangzhou Metropolitan Area, which is the fourth-largest metropolitan area nationally. It is governed as a sub-provincial city. As of 2010, the entire administrative division ("shì", 杭州市) or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people. The built up area of the Hangzhou municipality had a resident population of 6.242 million in 2010 (urban and suburban districts), of which 3.56 million lived in the six urban core districts. Within the Hangzhou Metropolitan Area, about 21.102 million people distributed over 34,585 square kilometres (13,353 sq mi).
A core city of the Yangtze River Delta, Hangzhou has a position on the Hangzhou Bay 180 kilometres (110 mi) southwest of Shanghai that gives it economic power. It has been one of the most renowned and prosperous cities of China for much of the last 1,000 years, due in part to its beautiful natural scenery. The city's West Lake is its best-known attraction.
Lingyin Temple (simplified Chinese: 灵隐寺; traditional Chinese: 靈隐寺; pinyin: Língyǐn Sì) is a Buddhist temple of the Chan sect located north-west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. The temple's name is commonly literally translated as Temple of the Soul's Retreat. It is one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist temples in China, and contains numerous pagodas and Budddhist grottoes.
The monastery is the largest of several temples in the Wulin Mountains (武林山), which also features a large number of grottos and religious rock carvings, the most famous of which is the Feilai Feng (飞来峰; literally "the peak that flew hither").