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 | Beijing Lama Temple - Yonghegong Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 67 |  |
 | |  |  | Lama Temple - Yonghegong: Yonghegong - The Tibetan Lamasery | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
The Yonghegong is one of Beijing's more curious temples, having started life as a residence for a crown prince of the emperor. Just thirty years later, in 1723, after the death of the prince, much of the palace was turned over to the monks.
The temple compund has a succession of compounds, with seemingly endless halls of Buddhas, each one popular with the praying masses - and indeed it was the masses, as this must be one of the most popular of Beijing's temples.
The temple is absolutely beautiful, but it is heavily commercialised. Meditation, let alone enlightenment, will be tricky with the constant noise and paraphernalia.
Every hall has signs, obtrusive as always and often crass (like the Guiness Book Of Records plaque adorning the rearmost Wanfuge Hall.) Ironically, there are a number of large "Protect Cultural Heritage" signs inappropriately sited.
So...Temple or Theme Park? You decide. Like many of the big Chinese Buddhist temples, such as Baimasi in Luoyang, it lacks warmth and 'feeling'. It is expensive at RMB25 per head, and the non-Buddhist doesn't feel educated or informed, despite the little exhibition hall in the last courtyard.
I like the Yonghegong, but don't know why!
I recommend that you visit the beautiful and tranquil Kongmiao (Confucian Temple) and Guozijian (Imperial College) at the same time: they are in a side street opposite. Leave a Comment Address: Yonghegong luDirections: At the junction of Yonghegonglu and the second ringroad.
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| | | | Lama Temple - Yonghegong: Going without the tour | Tip Rating: | | | | |
This was the only major site that we visited without our tour group, and I'm very glad that we did, not just for the opportunity to venture on our own, but also because the Temple is amazing.
The Lama Temple is home to the Yellow Sect of Buddhism, which is the same sect as the Dalai Lama. It is an active lamasary, which means that monks of the sect live and work in the temple. The temple is also home to an amazing relic: the largest Buddha statue carved from a single tree. The statue is huge: 3 stories up and about 9 feet across. He is carved from a single tree (cypruss, I think) that had to be imported from outside the capital. What a job!
While we were visiting, China was just about to have its Autumn Festival. There were many worshippers at the temple making offerings of incense and praying. The atmosphere during our visit was calm and quiet, very unlike some of our other hurried visits to famous sites! We wandered and got a good look at the architecture and the artwork... all fabulous!
The temple is small, relatively speaking, to many of the other sites you can visit in Beijing, but I would definitely recommend it as a side trip. Leave a Comment Directions: Located on the north end of the city center, easily accessible from the metro line.
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Beijing
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