Wednesday, October 06, 2010

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.

w44 - Lions of Lama Temple

w34 - Incense at Yōnghé Gate
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.

w39 - Lama Temple Incense

w37 - Lama Temple

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

w38 - Wànfú Pavilion through the Pines

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.

w40 - Wànfú Pavilion Bridge

w42 - Lama Temple Roofs

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.

No comments: