Beijing, part 18: One Last Temple

From the middle of Beijing, we walked and took the subway north and west to the Lama Temple. The bus was too crowded. The temple was originally an imperial residence, but was converted to a Tibetan Buddhist lamasery in 1744.




Lots of worshippers. 'Twas a Sunday, so the Buddhists were taking advantage of their day off work. I felt a bit self-conscious being a tourist while all these people were worshipping.





The Lama Temple was actually a series of halls, each one bigger and more ornate than the previous.



The statues inside got bigger and more ornate, too. But you're not allowed to take pictures inside the halls (or burn incense inside, for that matter). The final statue is an 18-meter-high colossus of Buddha in the penultimate hall. Huge. Golden. Peaceful. Carved from a single tree? Perhaps.





An epilogue hall, then back through the incense-filled courtyards to the main gate.

I've posted more photos of Lama Temple on flickr.

And that was that for sightseeing in China. We stood by the 2nd Ring Road and got picked up by Chunyu. Time to go home.