Why Fobaota Matters

Between 1988 and 2004, archaeological work inside Chaoyang's famous North and South Pagodas uncovered two extraordinary finds: a relic of Śākyamuni Buddha and a relic of Dipankara Buddha, the ancient Buddha who prophesied Śākyamuni's future enlightenment. After more than a millennium buried in city pagodas, both relics were ceremonially transferred to Phoenix Mountain on September 12, 2009 (the 24th day of the seventh lunar month) and enshrined in a purpose-built golden tower — Fobaota. The pairing of two Buddha relics on one mountain is said to be unique in China.↗↗

The pagoda is also part of a broader civic vision to re-establish Chaoyang as an "Eastern Buddhist Capital," drawing on the city's claim as the earliest documented cradle of Buddhism in the Northeast. The monk Zhu Fahu Tanwuji departed from ancient Longcheng (today's Chaoyang) in 420 CE and traveled to India by way of the snowy mountains, returning with Sanskrit scriptures — 207 years before the more famous pilgrim Xuanzang.↗

The Pagoda and Its Architecture

Fobaota was modeled directly on the golden reliquary pagoda excavated from the heavenly palace (天宫) of Chaoyang's North Pagoda. Its exterior glows a warm gold, and its composition follows classical Buddhist tower forms: a Sumeru throne base, an upward-facing lotus pedestal, a tower body, and a single-eave roof finished in yellow glazed tiles. Carved panels on the base and railings depict Buddhist narratives, and the four faces of the tower body are adorned with sculpted Buddha figures beneath bracket-set (dougong) cornices.↗↗

The tower's exact height is a deliberate piece of numerology: 20.0948 meters. The "20.09" encodes the year the relics were installed; the "48" refers to the fourth day of the eighth lunar month — Buddha's birthday. A stone arch bridge spans a pool at the entrance, leading visitors up a short flight of steps to the pagoda's threshold.↗↗

Inside, the upper-level hall houses the Śākyamuni relic, and a spiral staircase descends to a lower hall containing the Dipankara relic. Visitors traditionally circumambulate the pagoda three times and bow before each relic chamber.↗

The Surrounding Phoenix Mountain Complex

Fobaota sits within the "Lower Temple" (下寺) zone of Phoenix Mountain, immediately adjacent to Yanji Temple (延寿寺), a Qing-era Buddhist nunnery whose most unusual feature is that its bell and drum towers stand on opposing mountainsides rather than in the usual courtyard corners. A short drive or walk uphill brings you to Yunjie Temple (云接寺, the "Temple Touching the Clouds") at roughly 550 meters, home to the Liao-dynasty Moyun Pagoda (摩云塔, "Pagoda Scratching the Clouds"), whose relief carvings are among the best-preserved on the mountain.↗↗

Higher still, at the summit temple zone, stands Huayan Temple (华严寺) beside the Lingxiao Pagoda (凌霄塔, "Sky-Piercing Pagoda"), also a Liao-era construction. The mountain also preserves an ancient cliff-face Buddhist niche (摩崖佛龛) from the Former Yan kingdom, a reclining-Buddha cave from the Qing dynasty, the famous Eighteen Switchback Pilgrimage Stairs (降香十八盘) from the Liao period, and the Guanyin-in-Reversal Cave (倒坐观音洞). Together, the site is often summarized as "one niche, two caves, three pagodas, four temples" — a layered record stretching from the 4th to the 19th centuries.↗

Phoenix Mountain is also a national-level forest park. With 85 % forest cover and 790 plant species catalogued, it is a genuine ecological refuge — dubbed the "botanical treasury of Western Liaoning." Dramatic rock formations such as the "Natural Buddha," "Golden Camel Gazing at the Moon," and "Elephant Trunk Hill" add a visual spectacle to the spiritual one. Autumn, when leaves ignite the slopes, is especially rewarding.

Practical Visiting Information

Phoenix Mountain is a 4A-rated scenic area roughly 4 kilometers east of Chaoyang's city center. The entrance gate is a kilometer uphill from the nearest bus stop; a scenic-area electric cart (10 yuan one way) shuttles visitors the initial 2–3 km stretch that is otherwise uneventful walking. Admission has historically been 60 yuan (half price 30 yuan; free for visitors over 70), though pricing should be confirmed locally.↗↗

In early 2024 the scenic area completed a roughly 20-million-yuan renovation, rebuilding plazas at the upper and lower temple zones, repairing the cliff-niche forecourt, installing new signage, restrooms, and smart ticket gates, and purchasing five new shuttle minibuses. The mountain reopened to visitors after that work.↗

Note that Fobaota's interior halls have occasionally been closed on weekdays or during off-peak periods. Arriving earlier in the day and on weekends increases the chance of access to the relic chambers inside the pagoda.↗

A Note on the Name "Chaoyang"

The city's very name is linked to this mountain. In the early Qing dynasty, Emperor Qianlong renamed the range from its old title "Dragon Mountain" to Phoenix Mountain, drawing on a line from the Classic of Poetry: "The phoenix cries upon that high ridge; the paulownia grows in the facing sun (朝阳)." The town below then took the second half of that verse — Chaoyang, "Facing the Sun" — and the association has stuck for over three centuries.↗↗