Fujian's largest Buddhist temple, home to China's tallest twin stone towers, is located in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, at Kaiyuan Temple
✅【Life】
"In this small town where I live, everyone firmly believes that there are gods three feet above their heads, and they also believe in spirits. People live closely with ghosts and gods..." This is how writer Cai Chongda describes the attitude of Quanzhou people towards gods in his book 'Skin'.
🚩【Folklore】
In the daily life of Quanzhou people, the folklore of "respecting heaven and earth and fearing ghosts and gods" is vividly preserved. Here, there is a temple every five steps and a temple every ten steps. It is a "city of all gods" that integrates various beliefs such as Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Hinduism.
📍【Check-in】
Kaiyuan Temple, located on West Street in Licheng District, Quanzhou, can be said to be one of the most representative places of Quanzhou's earthly and immortal atmosphere. Many people even list visiting Kaiyuan Temple as a must-do when traveling to Quanzhou.
📖【History】
It was first built in the second year of the Tang Dynasty, and has a history of more than 1300 years. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Fujian and a national key cultural relics protection unit. As a major part of "Quanzhou: The World Maritime Trade Center of Song and Yuan China", it has been included in the "World Cultural Heritage List".
➡️【What you see】
The Kaiyuan Temple we see now, its main temples were mostly built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was originally called "Lotus Temple" because of the allusion of "Mulberry Opening White Lotus". Later, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the construction of temples throughout the country to show the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, and they were all named after the year, hence the name "Kaiyuan Temple".
📍【Scale】
The temple covers nearly 120 acres and consists of a series of buildings such as the main building group in the middle road and the east and west stone towers. Not only is it high in regulation, majestic, and cleverly constructed, but it is also more splendid and brightly lit when you look closely.
Especially the Zhenguo Tower and Renshou Tower, which are arranged in a "品" shape with the Daxiong Hall, not only stand tall for thousands of years, but are also the highest pair of stone towers in our country. Their meticulous and precise stacking methods and the exquisite relief carvings on the tower body are all shocking and are undoubtedly national treasures.
🚩【Achievements】
In addition, there are wooden couplets personally written by Zhu Xi, the Ganlu Jietan, which is known as one of the three major Jietan in China along with Beijing Jietai Temple and Hangzhou Zhaoqing Temple, and the Sutra Pavilion with a rich collection of historical materials, etc., are all must-see check-in points at Kaiyuan Temple.
Of course, in addition to the magnificent and exquisite architecture and the long and diverse culture of Kaiyuan Temple, its classical, elegant, quiet and deep environmental atmosphere is also a reason why many people prefer it.
✅Check-in tips
➡️Quanzhou· Kaiyuan Temple
📍No. 176 West Street, Licheng District, Quanzhou City
🎫Free open to the public
⏰Opening hours 06:00-11:00; 15:00-18:00
🚩Check-in points: East and West Towers—Daxiong Hall—Ganlu Jietan
🚌601, 014, 006, 002, get off at Kaiyuan Temple Station
Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple is the largest and best Kaiyuan Temple in Kaiyuan Temple across the country. There are many monuments inside, such as the wall, the two towers of the east and west, the wooden carvings of the great hall, and the hanging arches of the Song Dynasty. For tourists who like history, ancient construction and religion, it is a wonderful attraction.
Quanzhou's iconic must-visit attractions, the temple knows from the name is the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty built the East and West Twin Towers is the city logo of Quanzhou, and it is also the highest height of the domestic brick tower. The decoration on the tower is both Indian and Southeast Asian styles, reflecting Quanzhou as the cultural blend of Oriental Dagang in the Song and Yuan Dynasty. Color. There are white pigeons strolling in the square in front of the Daxiong Palace. The red wall and yellow tiles on the side of the palace are suitable for filming. There are ancient Bodhi trees behind the hall. On the east side of the hall, there is a memorial hall for Li Shutong, a mage who is still in Quanzhou. The temple opens at 6:30 and there is no ticket. It is recommended to visit when it is clean in the morning. It is quite artistic.
The teacher's explanation was meticulous and interesting. It saved my play experience when there were too many people to blow up that day (I want to go back to the hotel directly when I see the people at the door ཀ`" ∠)__
Had a pleasant time during Mr. Huang's exclusive explanation, which was a great value recommended travel experience. After booking, you will call in advance and communicate the visit time and meeting place, and the main one will start the day. Mr. Huang is very kind, knowledgeable and humorous, and the whole trip has added a lot of geography, culture, religion and architecture knowledge, and at the same time combine historical allusions to deeply understand the development of Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple. Teacher Huang will throw bricks and jade from time to time, and test my observation power. It is large to the beams, towers, and small to one brick and one tile. I have to say that it is really full of harvest, thank you again Mr. Huang!
Kaiyuan Temple is very large. If you don’t listen to the explanation, this kind of attraction is equivalent to white. There are a lot of things you can talk about and listen to. The local guides in Xiaozhang are very professional and have a wide knowledge. It takes a total of one and a half hours, but it doesn’t feel very good enough. Time can be a little more! Going out is West Street, it is recommended!
This time I went to Quanzhou and it was really full of harvest. The intangible culture of the city was dizzying. In particular, the senior tour guide we asked to visit Kaiyuan Temple explained to us in detail, very exciting and very interesting. It is our deep understanding of the past and present lives of Kaiyuan Temple. The tour guide took the initiative to contact us at the first party, and will wait at the agreed time in advance the next day. Communication is smooth.