It is located in the lush hills just west of West Lake. Construction began in AD 326 and enshrined with 330 stone sculptures wrought during the Five Dynasties and the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Feilai Peak in front of the temple figures prominently in classical Chinese history. Various Chinese Emperors visited this temple in its history - Qing's Emperor Qian Long visited this temple some 300 years ago.

This is one of the ten most famous ancient Buddhist temples in China dating back to the Song dynasty about 1000 years. There is a local saying in china that "there is a temple in every hill, in the case of Lingyin temple, the hill is in the temple compound". Towering over the foot of the statuesque mountain of the same name, Lingyin Temple is a major ancient Buddhist sanctuary in the possession of a rich trove of cultural treasures. Ling yin translated into English as either "Temple of the Soul's Retreat' or 'Temple of Inspired Seclusion' for the setting has a quiet and beautiful grandeur that encourages a feeling of peace and for contemplation

The Temple contains an important collection of Buddhist literature together with many other treasures the palaces, pavilions and halls together with their many figures of Buddhist deities represent in total a splendid and unique collection of architectural and artistic cultural relics.