China is a beautiful tourist destination where there is something for everyone to see. Apart from the natural beauty, the few worldly wonders, the numerous UNESCO-protected monuments, China has beautiful monasteries and temples that are worth visiting.

We’ve compiled a list of the best and most beautiful temples in China, and when you travel to this beautiful country if you can go and visit some of them. Travel and tour China and experience the breathtaking history, heritage, and architecture of these amazing temples.Tour China and travel to these 20 most beautiful temples:

1.  Yonghe Temple

The Yonghe Temple, and it is also known as Yonghe Lamasery. Lama Temple is located in the northeastern corner of Beijing. The Yonghe Palace started building in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty. After the death of Yongzheng in 1735, his coffin was placed in the temple. Then the monastery became a residence for large numbers of Tibetan Buddhist monks from Mongolia and Tibet. There are five main halls: the Gate Hall of Harmony and Peace, the Hall of Harmony and Peace, the Hall of Everlasting Protection, the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happiness, and the Hall of the Wheel of the Law.

2.  Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is an imperial group of religious buildings. The Temple of Heaven is situated in the southeastern part of Beijing. The Temple of Heaven was the place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty held the Heaven Worship Ceremony. There are over 60,000 varieties of trees. The most famous tree is the grandfather tree – a 500-year-old Nine-Dragon Cypress with branches like nine dragons wind with each other. These trees create a peaceful ambiance and an ideal resort for the locals to do their morning exercise.

3.   White Horse Temple

White Horse Temple, according to tradition, is the first Buddhist temple in China with over 1900 years of history. The temple has been renovated many times in the period between 1952 and 1973. There are three halls in these temples: Hall of the Heavenly Kings, The hall of Great Buddha Hall of Mahavira. After visiting those halls, you are coming to Cool and Clear Terrace, where is the place of original sutras stored and translated. Outside the temple is tiered with Qiyuan Pagoda, which is the oldest of China’s ancient pagoda and some foreign featured buildings.

4.  Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

While you are in Xian on your China tour, you will undoubtedly visit the Terracotta Warriors. However, take time to visit the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda. You’ll be needed 2-3 hours to see everything in this architectural beauty. It is located in southern Xi’an, and it is a very famous ancient pagoda in China built for more than 1,300 years. Also, it is a holy place for Buddhists.

The whole Big Wild Goose Pagoda spectacular area is formed of Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Da Ci’en Temple, and Big Wild Goose Pagoda North Plaza.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda North Plaza is Asia’s most significant and the largest Fountain Square Fountain Plaza.

4.1. Daci’en Temple

Da Ci’en Temple dated from 648. The temple is built to commemorate the dead queen, for which the status and scale far exceeded all others. Today, with an area of 50,738 square meters, one-seventh of the original area, it still retains its grandeur.

5.  Famen Temple

Located 120 kilometers west of Xi’an, Shaanxi, Famen temple is another attraction for tourists. This temple is famous for discovering the fingers bones of Sakyamuni. And historical documents show that eight emperors of the Tang Dynasty once welcomed the finger bones of Buddha to the palace and donated an extended number of treasures to the underground palace of the temple.

The main attractions of Famen temple scenic areas are the Famen temple site, Namaste Dagoda and Treasure Hall.

6.  Lingyin Temple

Lingyin Temple is a Buddhist temple of the Chan sect located northwest of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in China. The name of the temple is generally literally translated as Temple of the Soul’s Retreat. The temple is very popular among tourists and pilgrims as thousands visit it per day during peak season. Also, the temple is one of the top ten most famous ancient Buddhist monasteries in China, even one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist temples in China, and contains numerous pagodas and Buddhist grottoes.

The main attractions in Lingyin Temples are The Hall of Heavenly Kings, Hall of Medicine Buddha, The Grand Hall, and Hall of Five Hundred Arhats.

7.  Nanshan Temple

Nanshan Temple is one of the most beautiful temples in China. It is located in Sanya Nanshan Buddhism Cultural Tourism Zone, which is one of the most significant cultural tourist attractions of its kind in China. It covers an area of 40,000 square meters.

Nestling at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, an auspicious region famous for Chinese Buddhist culture with an emphasis on longevity-happiness. Nanshan Temple was started in November 1995 and finished in April 1998, which took a total of 6 years to construct. The Nanshan Mountain is also considered to be the hopeful mountain of longevity in Chinese mythology.

8. Longmen Grottoes

The Longmen Grottoes, also known as Longmen Caves, are located between Mount Xiang and Mount Longmen and face Yi River. Longmen Grottoes together with Yungang Caves and Mogao Caves are regarded as the three most famous treasure houses of stone inscriptions in China. The Longmen Grottoes were included on UNESCO on its World Heritage List in 2000.

The beauty of the carvings in the Longmen Grottoes ranks first among China’s grottoes. The Longmen Caves are of great value to the history of world sculpture, and It contains over 100 000 Buddhist images and statues. The giant Buddha statue in the temple is 17.14 meters tall, and the smallest Buddha is only 2 centimeters tall.

On your tour in China in the Longmen Grottoes, you must visit Fengxian Temple, Wanfo Cave, Guyang Cave, Binyang Cave, Lotus Cave (Lianhua Cave).

9. Shaolin Monastery

After attending the main attractions in Luoyang including Longmen Grottoes, it is advisable to spare a whole day beginning in the early morning from Luoyang to Shaolin Temple.

Shaolin Monastery is also recognized as the Shaolin Temple, is a Chan (“Zen”) Buddhist temple in Dengfeng County, Henan Province. It is assumed that it is founded in the 5th century CE, the Shaolin Temple is the main temple of the Shaolin school of Buddhism to this day.

Shaolin Temple embraces many impressive attractions, such as the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Mahavira Hall,  the Dharma Cave, the Pagoda Forest, and the Martial Art Training Center.

 

10. South Putuo Temple

South Putuo Temple is one of the most famous temples in China and is a must-visit attraction in Xiamen, Fujian Province in China. It is situated at the foot of Wulaofeng, and it is facing the sea, it is a fantastic place with a scenic area that will provide you a unique experience.

The first construction of the temple was in the Tang Dynasty, and it was destroyed many times in the following dynasties. It was rebuilt in the 23rd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty.

The main architectures in South Putuo Temple in the central axis are Tianwang Hall, Daxiong, Dabei Hall, and Depository of Buddhist Sutras. In the front of Tianwang Hall there is a square in front, and a 30m quadrate Free Life Pond, and a bigger lotus pool.

11. Wannian Temple

Wannian Temple means “Temple with Thousands of Years of History” in Chinese, is located on Mount Emei and is one of the main temples on this wonderful mountain.

The temple is situated at the foot of Camel Mountain Range, facing the Daping Temple, Nioxin Temple, Shisun Summit, and Boxing Summit in the front. You don’t need to be Buddhist to visit the Wannian Temple. Because of its rich history, the temple attracts both domestic Buddhist and foreign tourists.

One of the highlights of the Ten Thousand Year Temple is the Amazing Buddha Samantabhadra Statue, with weighs over 62 tons and standing almost 8 meters tall. This original statue of the Song Dynasty is as intimidating as it is grand as is now over 1,000 years old.

12. Xiangguo Temple

Xiangguo Temple is also one of the most beautiful temples in China it’s located in Kaifeng in eastern Henan province, and it is one of the ten famous temples of Chinese Buddhism.

When you walk into the entrance of the monastery, you will see the Grand Hall, Great King hall, the Octagonal Hall, and the Depository of Buddhist Sutras with its extraordinary architecture.

When you are passing by the Octagonal Hall, you will see the six-meter tall wooden statue of the Goddess of Mercy with many hands and eyes.

Depository of Buddhist Sutras is located in the rear part of the entire temple, and now it is a venue for activities holding of Kaifeng Painting and Calligraphy Institute. Inside the building, there are full of various styles of calligraphy and painting works. The tourists can purchase some of the paintings.

13. Jing’an Temple

Jing’an Temple is one of the most popular and most visited temples in Shanghai. The name literally in Chinese means “Temple of Peace and Tranquility.” It is a Buddhist temple located on West Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Jing’an District. The location is named after the temple.

The temple has three main halls here: The Mahavira Hall, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, and the ThreeSage Hall.

During your visit to Jing’an temple, you can enjoy the majestic painting and calligraphy by Yangzhou’s Eight Eccentric Painters in the Exhibition Hall of Buddhist Relics. A fundamental display of this temple is the bronze bell which was made in the Ming Dynasty.

14. Jade Buddha Temple

Jade Buddha Temple is one of the Shanghai must-see attractions, and till now, it is still an active one with 70 resident monks.

The most remarkable thing about Jade Buddha Temple is the architectural idea that was conveyed in the Song Dynasty, and the valuable essence lies in the Buddha figures. The seated Buddha, encrusted with jewels, is believed to weigh 1,000 kg. There are three gold-plated Buddhas in the large hall and other halls house ferocious-looking deities. Artifacts abound, not all on display, and some 7,000 Buddhist sutras line the walls.

It is good to know that the tourists can’t take photos of the Jade Buddha.

15. Wenshu Temple

Wenshu Temple is located in downtown Chengdu, and it is the best-preserved Buddhist temple in Chengdu. The temple is the home of the Buddhist Association of Sichuan Province and Chengdu City.

Wenshu Temple is covering an area of 11,600 square meters. It has over 190 rooms.

Wenshu Temple is home to 300 Buddha statues made of various materials, including iron, bronze, stone, wood, and jade; some are beautifully painted as well. In the Sutra-Preservation Pavilion, there are over 500 remarkable paintings and items of calligraphy on display. In addition to the impressive architecture and precious cultural relics, Wenshu Temple is an active Buddhist monastery where you can see monks and locals worshiping.

The temple also features a peaceful garden and a charming teahouse where local people gather and hang out. For visitors, the teahouse is a lovely place to relax and sip a few cups of tea while observing local culture. The restaurant inside the monastery offers a tasty vegetarian buffet or hotpot at reasonable prices and is a great place to eat if your visit coincides with lunchtime.

16. Hanshan Temple

Hanshan Temple is located 5 kilometers west of Suzhou’s old city, at the town of Fengqiao.

Hanshan Temple became well known after the Tang poet Zhang Ji, who wrote a famous poem when he passed by the temple on a small boat.

The temple is one of the most famous temples in Chinese history, often boasts about its bell rings. The bell in the tower now is modeled on the previous one in 1904. Every year on New Year’s Eve, the bell is rung 108 times to pray for the happiness and safety of the coming New Year. After the celebration, visitors can write their New Year wishes on the prayer wall and enjoy an excellent show. This festival attracts thousands of tourists, both domestic and foreign.

17. Puning Temple

Puning Temple, also known as Dafo Temple, is located among the mountains to the north of the Mountain Resort of Chengde City in Hebei Province, China.

Puning Temple is built in the year 1759, and It covers an area of 23,000 square meters.

Puning Temple is a marvelous combination of the Han style and the Tibetan style.

Inside the temple are a gate hall, a bell-drum tower, and an inscription pavilion on the central axes. In the inscription, the building stands the monuments of A Record of Puning Temple, A Record of Pacifying Other Tribes, and A Record of Pacifying Their Descendents. Immediately behind the inscription pavilion are the Heaven King Palace and the Daxingbao Palace.

18. Qixia Temple

Qixia Temple located at the western foot of the central peak, and it was built in the Southern Dynasties (420-589). Initially, the temple was a house of a well-known monk and later donated as a temple named Qixia Jingshe, the place for monks or Taoists to live and practice austerities. This is how the name of Qixia Mountain founded. 

Qixia temple was one of the four Buddhist monasteries established during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The original building was destroyed by war, but during the Qing Dynasty was reconstructed. Today the main features and a must-see attraction for the tourists are the Mountain Gate, the Heavenly King Hall, the Pi Lu Hall, and the Sutra Hall.

19. Ta’er Temple

Ta’er Temple also called Kumbum Monastery, is one of the two most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries outside Tibet itself. It presents a fantastic landscape of temples and residences nestled in the peaceful hills of Xining’s suburbs.

The monastery is located in the village of Huangzhong, about 25 kilometers from the capital city of Xining. Ta’er Monastery lies on the side of the mountain range just above and slightly south of the city of Xining.

Ta’er Monastery is a vast complex that covers 144000 square meters and consists of numerous structures. Some of the structures are built in a Tibetan architecture style, аnd some of them are built in a Han Chinese architectural style.

20. Jokhang Temple

Jokhang Temple or also know as Jokhang Monastery is the spiritual center of Tibet and the most sacred destination for all Tibetan pilgrims. This amazing temple is listed in the World Cultural Heritages together with Potala Palace and Norbulingka Monastery.

Jokhang Temple is situated at the center of the old town of Lhasa, and it is surrounded by Barkhor Street. This four-storied building, with a combination of the architectural style of Han, Tibetan, Nepal, and India.

Visit Jokhang Temple for an authentic discovery tour in the mysterious and sacred land, and you can get close to the religious part of Tibet and experience the devotion of Tibetans.

Do not forget to get to the Golden roof of the temple to have a magnificent view over the Lhasa and Potala Palace.

Final Words

We hope that you will visit some of these famous monasteries and temples to the Chinese people during your China Tour because each of these temple’s history and heritage tells a different story. Tour China with an experienced travel guide for a safe, practical, and complete journey is a must for a foreign traveler.
Entering some of these temples can be difficult. The best way is to simply research some local Chinese tour operators or agencies that can arrange all of your documents to visit these beautiful temples.

..This is a contributed post from WindhorseTour Media