Chin Swee Caves Temple

The Chin Swee temple was begun in 1976 by Lim Goh Tong, the man who built the Genting hill resort, and it took nearly twenty years, cut into a steep slope at around 1,400 metres with the buildings terraced down the mountainside. The dedication is to Chin Swee, a Song dynasty monk from Fujian credited with bringing rain in drought. There is a nine-storey pagoda, a fifteen-metre statue of the monk on the terrace, and a garden of statuary; the part visitors remember is the Journey to Enlightenment path, a walk-through sequence of the ten courts of Chinese hell rendered in painted concrete figures being sawn, boiled and dismembered, which is unsettling and not softened for children. Cloud closes over the whole site frequently.

What you actually see

• A temple terraced into a slope - buildings stepping down the mountainside.
• A nine-storey pagoda - and a fifteen-metre statue of the monk on the terrace.
• The ten courts of hell - a walk-through of graphic painted punishment scenes.
• Cloud and mountain views - when the hill is not entirely in it.

When to go

All year; mornings are clearer. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The hell tableaux are graphic and can frighten children. Cloud frequently blanks the views. It is on a busy mountain road and parking is limited at peak times.

Nearby

Genting Highlands and its cable car are above; Batu Caves is on the way back down.