Huayan Temple: Follow Wukong to Datong.

🏯Huayan Temple is located on Qingyuan Road on the west side of Datong Ancient City. It is the only paid attraction in the ancient city. I bought a ticket for CNY 50 and entered this ancient temple from the side door next to the Heavenly King Hall. ✔️Unlike the common north-south design of temples, Huayan Temple faces east. Some people analyze that it may be related to the identity of its builder, the northern nomadic people. Huayan Temple was built in the eighth year of Liao Qingning (1062). It was destroyed by war at the end of Liao and was rebuilt during the Jin Dynasty. Liao was founded by the Khitan people, who respected the east and respected the sun very much. ✔️Huayan Temple is a royal temple. Its main hall is large and imposing. Opposite the Heavenly King Hall is the Puguangming Hall, which enshrines the Huayan Three Saints. The center is Vairocana Buddha, and the left and right are Manjusri and Samantabhadra. Vairocana Buddha is Dari Rulai, one of the Five Buddhas, and the supreme deity of Esoteric Buddhism. ✔️Further back is the Daxiong Baodian. There is another mountain gate here, with the plaque "Shang Huayan Temple" hanging above. The main hall is built on a high platform, with a width of nine rooms and a depth of five rooms. It is the largest existing ancient wooden religious building with a magnificent momentum. A pair of glazed tile ridges on both sides of the main ridge of the main hall are as high as 4.5 meters, which are the largest tile ridges in early Chinese architecture. The hall enshrines the Five Buddhas, and the murals and ceiling paintings around the hall are all art treasures. ✔️Standing on the platform of the Daxiong Baodian, you can see the towering Huayan Pagoda on the south side, and countless swallows flying and circling in the sky. Huayan Pagoda is the second largest square wooden tower in the country, second only to Yingxian Wooden Tower, and is also a landmark building in Datong Ancient City. The base of the pagoda is made of 100 tons of pure copper, enshrining more than 1,000 large and small Buddha statues, known as the Thousand Buddha Underground Palace. What's even more rare is that this pagoda allows you to climb the tower. Put on shoe covers, come to the top of the tower along the narrow and steep stairs, and overlook the ancient city of Datong, which is indeed a beautiful scenery. To the east of the pagoda is the Bojiao Jiaozang Hall, built in the seventh year of Liao Zhongxi (1038). Its age is earlier than that of Daxiong Baodian and is a sutra hall. Huayan Temple was divided into two temples by later generations, the upper temple on the north side and the lower temple on the south side. Bojiao Jiaozang Hall is the main hall of the lower temple. The main hall is five rooms wide and four rooms deep, with a hipped roof. There are 31 Liao Dynasty clay sculptures enshrined in the hall, which are treasures. Among them, a Bodhisattva with clasped hands and exposed teeth is known as the Oriental Venus. ✔️Including the Daxiong Baodian in the upper temple, the statues in the main hall all give people a dusty feeling. Some people say it is caused by natural oxidation and incense smoke. ✔️There is a Guanyin Hall near the exit, which is a Ming Dynasty building with an eleven-faced Guanyin statue enshrined in the hall. This eleven-faced Guanyin actually refers to the crown with eleven faces worn on the head of the Bodhisattva, which is very special. The murals on the wall are the thousand-handed and thousand-eyed Guanyin statues, watching all things in the world and saving all beings. 💰Cost: Ticket CNY 50