There is a bunch of different temples in Beijing. Lama Temple – Yonghegong – is maybe a bit different. It is very colourful (could be most colourful temple in Beijing) and it is also best preserved and renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple in China (out of Tibet, of course).

Construction of the temple began in late 17th century. At thebeginning it was just another imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty and the official residence of the eunuchs. Only in the mid 18th century it was converted into a “lamasery”, basically a monastery for monks who practiced Tibetan budism.

The complex is open to visitors daily from 9 to 17 hours. It starts with the short avenue, and it consists of five temples – pavillions (every pavillion further on is more important). In fact, in each of the temples there are statues of Buddha: The most important is the Pavilion of infinite happiness, which is also the highest hall of the the temple. It houses a statue of href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maitreya” Matreya Buddha (visible only 18m). The entire statue which is carved from a rare sandal tree is 26 meters in height and eight meters in diameter, with eight meters buried under the ground. There are also other beautiful woodcarvings all around the temple.

If you walk around Beijing in April, you don’t see many tourists on the street (apart of the Forbidden city). Here the situation is different, plenty of them are crammed into the temple, and at certain hours it can get quite busy. This is also one of the few places in Beijing where you can see public expression of faith and religion. At the entrance you get incense, which you then burn (and pray) at the conveniently located fireplaces. Actually, the smoke of the fireplaces makes really interesting sight and gives it somewhat mystical connotation.

Practical things… Photography is allowed, though not inside the buidlings. Probably there could be a way to steal an odd photo here or there, but i didn’t even try. Even the Chinese were suprisingly very tolerant and didn’t use the cameras or phones… for a change.

Location? A bit away from the Forbidden city, but still conveniently located regarding the public transport. There is even a metro stop nearby (line 2) and several buses go somewhere near. For a visitor there is also a nearby Temple of Earth (around 10m walk to the north) and some hutongs nearby. Imperial college is also not far.

Aja. Fotografija je načeloma dovoljena, razen znotraj templjev, kjer je prepovedano fotkati bude. Verjetno bi se dalo tudi ukrasti kako fotografijo tam, ampak nisem niti poskušal. Tudi kitajci so bili začuda zelo strpni in so umaknili svoje telefone.