The little-known Liuzhou Kaiyuan Temple, the largest Tang-style temple in Guangxi!

Liuzhou Kaiyuan Temple is located within the Duleyan Scenic Area, and was originally built during the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty (713-741). The original site was at the Liu Hou Temple, where the traveler Xu Xiake stayed in 1637. In the 26th year of Kaiyuan (739), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang decreed that a 'Kaiyuan Temple' should be built in each county as an official temple, mainly responsible for the state's ceremonial rites. The Song Dynasty poet Lü Benzhong wrote in a summer rain, 'The wind and rain are bleak as in late autumn, crows return and doors close, accompanying the secluded monk.' Liuzhou Kaiyuan Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in Guangxi, with the main hall being a double-eaved dome structure in full wood imitating Tang Dynasty architecture. In the middle of the stone steps in front of the hall, there is a huge white marble bas-relief. The Jade Buddha Hall is a testament to the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand, with a style that greatly exceeds the usual. The temple's treasure is a piece of petrified wood originating from the deserts of Madagascar in Africa.