The Pagoda Forest is the most affecting place in the entire Shaolin Scenic Area: a hillside cemetery of 240 stone tomb towers, each built to mark the burial place of a significant Shaolin monk. The towers range in height from a single metre to over fifteen, in shape from simple cylindrical drums to complex multi-tiered structures, and in date from the Tang dynasty to the Qing — representing over a thousand years of continuous monastic community. Many carry carved inscriptions and relief decorations, and no two are identical.
The forest is a ten-minute walk behind the main monastery, far enough to thin the crowds noticeably. Walking among the pagodas in the late afternoon, when the angle of the light picks out the carvings and the trees cast long shadows, comes closer to the meditative experience the site aspires to than anything inside the main complex. It is formally a UNESCO World Heritage component as part of the Historic Monuments of Dengfeng inscription. Allow at least an hour here.