I finally found this thousand-year-old temple hidden in a small village in southeastern Shanxi.

Driving from Changzhi, I traveled for over an hour on Provincial Road 325 before finding the Jiutian Shengmu Temple. Before I even parked, I saw the Jiutian Shengmu Temple built on a mound. The brilliant red walls and the calm gray tiles combined to create a majestic aura, especially striking under the clear blue sky. This striking appearance seemed to say to those who arrived, "After traveling thousands of miles, someone finally came." Entering through the main gate, the traditional central axis symmetrical layout of ancient Chinese architecture revealed the Xian Hall, the Shengmu Hall, and the flanking halls on both sides: the Ear Hall, the Medicine King Hall, the Yama Hall, the Dressing Hall, the Confucius Hall, the Houtu Hall, the Ten Commanders Hall, the Li Jing Hall, and the Dragon King Hall. The entire temple complex doesn't occupy a large area, with the halls arranged in a compact and orderly fashion. The initial construction date of the temple is unknown, but inscriptions record renovations from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, this Jiutian Shengmu Temple combines the architectural features of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The main hall is Song Dynasty style, the Xian Hall is Yuan Dynasty style, the Dressing Hall is Ming Dynasty style, and the main gate is Qing Dynasty style. The integration of wooden structural features from different dynasties in one temple is also a major characteristic of ancient Shanxi architecture.