An old mine becomes a palace for skull fragment

"Go to Niushou Mountain in spring and Qixia Mountain in autumn."

It's a popular travel tip for millions of Nanjing residents－and has been for hundreds of years. People from Nanjing like to visit picturesque Niushou Mountain in the city's Jiangning district when the weather warms.

The tradition of going to Niushou Mountain－which literally means Ox Head Mountain－in the spring can be traced to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). People used to have picnics, fly kites or simply enjoy walking on the grass amid cherry and peach trees in full bloom.

The mountain, which covers an area of 3,142 hectares, gets its name from its two peaks on the east and west, which look like ox horns.

Besides the Foding Temple－which has seven palaces in the style of the Tang Dynasty, and the 88-meter-tall Foding Pagoda－it has lakes, ponds and countless trees.

Beyond the amazing landscape, the mountain, a well-known Buddhist site, is famous for having a skull fragment believers say belongs to Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.

The parietal bone was unearthed in a crypt at the Grand Baoen Temple by Nanjing archaeologists in 2008, before it was displayed in several cities and finally transferred to the Foding Palace on Niushou Mountain for permanent enshrinement.

While magnificent is a natural word used to describe the palace's appearance, its interior can be described as stunning. The exquisite sculptures, dramatic light, cultural exhibitions and resplendent decorations inside the palace are a feast for the eyes.

But the parietal bone of Sakyamuni is displayed only for Buddhists and regular tourists during a handful of holidays－New Year, Spring Festival, National Day and several Buddhist holidays, according to the scenic spot.

Covering an area of 136,000 square meters, the Foding Palace is a deep pit building that holds the bone. The large dome, one of the three parts of its external space, is shaped like a Buddha's cassock, while a small dome echoes Buddhist beads.

The base of the small dome is shaped like a lotus throne, which is a widely recognized symbol of Buddhism. With its unique and elegant structure, the palace has won two of China's top architecture awards and is definitely worth a visit.

Since it opened in October 2015, Niushou Mountain has welcomed more than 6 million tourist visits from around the world.

It may be hard to imagine now that the Foding Palace was built on an abandoned mine. Because of repeated iron ore mining from 1937 to 1958, the western peak of Niushou Mountain collapsed, leaving an abandoned mine with a diameter of more than 200 meters and a depth of about 60 meters.

To restore the ecology and protect the environment, the Jiangning government invited top engineering and technical experts in the 2010s to restore it. They spent more than a year researching and debating before the repair plan was finally put into action.

The workers initially took nearly four months to pump the 30-meter-deep water and clean out the 20-meter-deep silt that was deposited at the bottom of the abandoned mine, according to the scenic spot.

To ensure safety, before the palace was built cables totaling 150 kilometers were used to fix the mountain, and more than 500 anti-skid piles were driven into the ground on both sides of the slope. A sunken courtyard with a height of more than 36 meters was also built on the east side of the palace to guarantee safety.

Some high-end technologies were also adopted for the nine-story palace, which has six stories underground. After three years of building, reinforcing the mountain and planting trees, the once dilapidated mine was replaced by the magnificent palace and its lovely surrounding landscape.

Guo Jun in Nanjing contributed to the story.