Wanyuan pagoda [Photo/haian.gov.cn]

With the support of domestic and overseas eminent monks, the temple began construction of the Wanyuan pagoda in 2011, ending the period in which Hai’an had a temple but no pagoda.

The highest pagoda in existence in middle and northern Jiangsu province, the 77.6-meter pagoda has a golden tower top made of five kilograms of gold, the first of its kind in the country.

The pagoda’s name was inscribed by Chuan Yin, president of the Buddhist Association of China, and another leading Buddhist monk, De Lin, whose inscription reads “Wan De Tong Yuan.”

The pagoda is now home to more than 1,000 statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas from China’s top Buddhist mountains, including Wutai Mountain, Putuo Mountain, Emei Mountain and Jiuhua Mountain. The top of the pagoda is a devotional site housing multiple She Li - Buddhist relics, which were donated by the Western Monastery in Hong Kong and the Linji Temple in Hebei province as a prayer for world peace and the country’s good fortune.

Wanyuan pagoda [Photo/haian.gov.cn]