Hangzhou: Home of the Laughing Buddha

The genial, roly-poly monk has a special reason to be happy here. This is his home. We are in Hangzhou, the ancient capital of China's Zhejiang province, where he belongs. His full form is carved across a rock on the face of Feilai Feng hill, where it has been for over a millennium.

This iconic figure, who earned the sobriquet Pu Tai or Budai in Chinese and Laughing Buddha as we know him, was a preacher of the Ch'an order. Dozens of images of him and the original Buddha have been etched on this thickly wooded hill. Interestingly, Feilai Feng means the 'peak that flew from afar' and legend has it that the hill flew here from India on the wings of the Buddha's teachings.

You enter Yongfu monastery through a cavernous grotto, turn left and walk along a series of large Buddhist rock carvings amidst thick foliage and a small brook. The shrine, which is a functioning seminary set up in 328 AD by Hui Li 'a monk from India', lies at the end of the path. In its heyday it was one of China's largest and richest monasteries.

Opposite the hill is Lingyin Temple complex or the 'Temple of the Soul's Retreat'–a series of shrines, one above the other depicting the Buddha in resplendent colours, in all his moods and incarnations. It is China's largest and wealthiest Buddhist temple. First comes the Hall of Heavenly Kings that has Maitreya Buddha right in front, four kings flanking it and Skanda Buddha on its back. We go around the giant idols as devotees kneel before them in prayer. Behind the hall, people light incense sticks in bunches, wave them in all directions and implant them in a large sand trough.

Staircases on either side take you to the next shrine, home to the triple-eaved Mahavira Hall with a 30-metre-high statue of the Sakyamuni. Another set of stairs leads to the Hall of the Medicine Buddha further up on the hill. It's just fascinating to see the numerous different ways in which the 'enlightened one' has been depicted; one panel alone has over a hundred forms.

A steep flight of stairs takes us to the Sutra Library. You can keep going higher and I'm told the view from the top is worth the climb. But by now my 73-year-old legs have signalled retreat. For the best view I go, instead, to the Leifeng Pagoda, on the other side of the city. Located high on a hill, it was built in 975 AD. After its collapse in 1925, it was reconstructed in 2002 and its original masonry foundation, at the base, has been encased in a huge glass cover. Friezes and frescos illustrating Buddha's life adorn the walls of the tower and the breathtaking view of the 8, 210-acre West Lake (a defining feature of Hangzhou) sprawled below, the city, its famous landmarks, forests and urban areas was totally worth the 40-Yuan ticket.

Boats of all sizes dot the lake, but most tourists get onto the shikara-styled ones with large canopies. You can also walk across its ancient causeways or cycle around the vast body of water, under willows swaying with the wind along an elegant promenade. But the star attraction is the Impression West Lake, a performance during which scores of dancers in colourful costumes glide under multi-hued lights on the surface of the water to enact a story that is as old as the hills–about a rich boy meeting a poor girl, their being separated by a cruel society and then meeting again in heaven. Zhang Yimou, who also choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, creates magic with splashes, jets and spray. As the wooden platforms on which performers dance are concealed a few inches below the water's surface, it seems like they're moving on water.

The act takes place five days a week and all through the year, except in the heart of winter.

Rated 'China's Best Tourism City' by its State Tourism Bureau and described as "beyond dispute the finest and the noblest place in the world" by Marco Polo, Hangzhou is a three-hour drive from Shanghai and less than an hour by train. To cater to hedonistic desires, it has a happening downtown area with jazz bars and night clubs galore. For foodies, Hangzhou offers plenty of choice, including two Indian restaurants. But the one we found most satisfying was Grandma's Kitchen, a large but simply furnished eatery that serves delicious local cuisine. Its menu looks like a dog-eared Chinese magazine; we went by the illustrations and still scored well. It has several outlets.Hangzhou can be done by bus, car or bike. For the adventurous there are plenty of hills for hiking and it's also a tea-growing country, those who have seen tea gardens know what a pretty sight it can be.