Starting from May 10, 29 temples in Hunan, including Changsha’s Lushan Temple and Hengyang’s Yanfeng Temple, have begun waiving admission fees and opening to tourists for free as a move to resist commercialization.
　　    On the 12th, a reporter at Lushan Temple, located on Mount Yuelu, a national 5A-level scenic area, observed that visitor traffic was quite dense compared to when admission was charged. A monk who had just finished a religious ceremony and did not wish to disclose his name told the reporter that weekends are typically busier in terms of both tourists and worshippers. In the two days since the ticket waiver, the number of visitors has started to increase.
　　    That day, a young street photographer outside Lushan Temple had a booming business. He said that with the temple waiving its admission fee and it being a weekend, there were noticeably more visitors.
　　    He Yufang, a resident of Changsha, visited Mount Yuelu with friends over the weekend. Upon learning that Lushan Temple no longer charges an entrance fee, she went in specifically to take a look. He Yufang noted that since Mount Yuelu itself became free to enter, many locals have taken to hiking there in their spare time. Now that Lushan Temple is also free, more people are naturally coming to worship.
　　    Lushan Temple is one of the oldest temples in Hunan. It was first built in the fourth year of the Taishi era during the Western Jin Dynasty (268 AD), originally named Huiguangming Temple, and was renamed Lushan Temple in the early Tang Dynasty. With a history of over 1,700 years, it is the earliest Buddhist site in Hunan and is now a key cultural relic protection unit of the province as well as the headquarters of the Hunan Buddhist Association.
　　    It is understood that the previous admission fee for Lushan Temple was 5 yuan, and the revenue was mainly used to support the monks and maintain the temple buildings. The decision to waive admission fees at these 29 temples in Hunan was initiated by Master Shenghui, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China, President of the Buddhist Association of Hunan Province, and Abbot of Lushan Temple in Changsha, with other temple abbots promptly following suit.
　　    Additionally, the temples that have waived admission fees include: Changsha’s Lushan Temple, Yuquan Temple, Tielu Temple, Songbai Temple, Wangcheng Xixin Temple, Liuyang Shishuang Temple, Hengyang’s Yanfeng Temple, Qidong Wanfu Temple, Nanyue’s Nantai Temple, Fuyan Temple, Dashan Temple, Shangfeng Temple, Xiangtan’s Haihui Temple, and 29 other renowned temples and ancient shrines across Hunan.


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