During the Tang Xuande period (618-626), Mohammed, the 'Father of Islam', reportedly sent four disciples to China as missionaries. Two of them are said to have settled down in Quanzhou and were later buried here. Their burial site was said to emit sacred light, so the tomb was named the Holy Tomb. Above the gravesite there is a pavilion with a stone tablet bearing a well preserved inscription in Arabic which dates back to 1323. The Lingshan Tomb is one of the oldest relics of Islam in China. In the cloister around the tomb, there are tombstones inscribed in different languages as Chinese, Arabic and Persian.

Another feature of the site is a huge natural rock, the Fengdong Shi (Rock that Moves in the Wind), which is balanced so that it wobbles when you push it.