Dr. Mark Nan Tu

Situated in the Western Hills, this Buddhist temple lies 45km west of Beijing. The temple name means ‘Dragon Pool and Mulberry Tree Temple’, due to its proximity to the Dragon Pool and the trees growing in the surrounding hills.

Although its name has changed on numerous occasions, it dates back to the Western Jin dynasty (265 – 316). A local saying on the sign confirms its history: “First there was TanZhe, and after there was YuZhou.” YuZhou is an ancient name for Beijing.

Covering an area 41,600 sq meters, this temple is the largest in the area and one of the oldest. The greenery of the surroundings is spectacular, especially in the spring when the fruit trees are in blossom. There are also lush bamboo gardens.

Most of the buildings are in typical Ming and Qing style architecture. The temple primarily comprises of the Hall of Abstinence, the Ordination Altar and the Hall to GuanYin.

In the main courtyard on the central axis is a pair of towering and majestic 30m high ginkgo trees (the ‘Emperor and Empress’), supposedly planted in the Tang dynasty (618-907) or perhaps Liao Dynasty (916 – 1125), as well as several apricot trees, cypresses, peonies and purple jade orchids. The ‘Emperor Tree’ was christened the “King of Trees” by Emperor QianLong. “The Emperor’s Wife” is supposed to produce a new branch every time a new emperor is born.

The complex is extensive, and is said to have provided a model for the layout of the Forbidden City. Above and to the right of the main courtyard lies a rare stupa yard (TaYuan), with stone monuments built in different styles over a period of several centuries and housing the remains of eminent monks.

The Hall to GuanYin (Goddess of Mercy), at the top of the western axis, is associated with princess MiaoYan, daughter of Kublai Khan. Legend has it that the princess entered the nunnery here in the 13th century. Within the hall, indentations can be found in the stone on which she always knelt to pray in her devotion to GuanYin. It is said that she was buried within the temple compound and a statue of her is on display here.

The butterfly story

Song Cheng is a recreation village builds with Song Dynasty streets and architecture. It is located just 30 km outside Hangzhou. The main attraction for the village is the Song Cheng Show which
promises to give you 1000 years if you give them a night.

The show is an impressive 300 people 2 hour performance. There were 6 scenes and each of them is from a historical event or fork lore in Chinese history. The show combined the flashy costume, magic lighting effects, dance, acrobats, Peking opera and even international flavors into a light hearted entertainment.

The entrance fee is 100-800 RMB (dependant on the seating). The show is very popular in the summer so that they perform twice each day. The best time to watch the show is however in the winter (off peak) season. When there are hardly any visitors, the 100 ticket entrance fee will allow you sit at the front row seats.

Visit Song Cheng if you have nothing to do at night in Hangzhou and bring a camera with a telephoto lens. Yes, no flash photography is allowed.

Even an international scene

The front row viewers will get tea served by the actress

There is an old saying that: who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. I will add that who has been to the Great Wall is a fool. The Great Wall that most of the tourists visited are a few sections of the wall that are repaired beyong recognition. However, The Jiankou Great Wall is not same as others. It is in the original unrepaired state. It winds through mountains. I climbed to this section of the Great Wall from both sides of the mountain.

Having lived in Beijing several years, when my friends came here. I took them to visit the Great Wall. I always take them to visit the Mutianyu Great Wall, because there were fewer visitors than the other more famous ones such as the BaDalin Great Wall. When President Clinton visited China, he also visited the MutianYu Great Wall. The Great Wall was built meanderingly in the mountains, and, the MutianYu Great Wall was repaired well. There is the cable car to the top of hill. Cause of few visitors, I took my friends there several times. I went there late in the afternoon where I didn

A friend recommended a tour book to me in recently. There were the introductions of Fahai Temple and Tianyi Tomb in the west of Beijing City. I had visited many places in Beijing since I had lived in here three years ago. But I didn

The Fragrance

The eunuch Tianyi Tomb is on the west side of Beijing, SiJingShan, only 20km from the city. It has the largest eunuch tomb complex and a memorial to eunuchs. The main tomb was built to salute the life of eunuch Tian, who served three generations of Ming emperors. He is the only eunuch who enjoyed grave complex similar to that of the Ming Emperors’ Tombs: a sacred way with sculptures of horses, elephants, etc., and underground graves.
In the compound, there is a Beijing Eunuch Museum where one can learn all the history and stories of Chinese eunuch.

I went to Ba Da Chu

Coming back from Hainan, there are still several days left for the National Day Holiday. After a short rest, I decided to visit Wuling mountain with friends. Wuling mountain locates in the northwest of Xinglong, Chengde City, borders on Miyun county of Beijing City. It is a national natural protected area with total size of 14337 hectares. It rises to 2118 meters at the main peak Waitao, the highest point of Yanshan Mountain. It is called the first peak in Eastern Beijing, because of its height and beauty. People named it Wuling because of the cloud and fog surrounding the peak.

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The Grand Red Gate (Main entrance to the Mausoleums