The Temple of Azure Clouds was built during the Yuan Dynasty, and improved and expanded during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The temple stands just outside the north gate of Fragrant Hills Park on the outskirts of Beijing.
The temple gate, the Mountain Gate, is guarded by both the universal stone lions and two Buddhist guardians. The five-meter tall guardians were constructed during the Ming Dynasty. The temple grounds have three main sections, the Front Palace, the Sakyamuni Palace and the Hall of the Arhats. The Front Palace is the first building you see when you go in.
At 35 meters the Vajra Throne Tower is the highest building of the temple complex. The tower is beautifully carved all over with designs from various eras. Since the tower is built on the West Hill, you can get a complete view of Beijing from the top.
The Five Hundred Arhats Hall stands on the west side of the temple. Four wells a pavilion and nine halls make up the Hundred Arhats Hall. The hall is filled with 512 statues, 500 of which are Arhats, thus the name of the hall. Two of these Arhats were Qing emperors. Of the other twelve statues, 11 are bodhisattvas and one statue is of Ji Gong.
Aside from the temple complex itself, there’s also a memorial hall dedicated to Sun Yat –sen, which houses a beautiful crystal coffin, presented to China by Russia in 1925 to honor Sun Yat-sen. The coffin lies empty though, because Sun Yat-sen is buried elsewhere. The memorial also houses pictures, books and scriptures from various periods of Sun Yat-Sen’s life, a red wooden board with Sun Yat-sen’s wife’s calligraphy in gold on it, and a statue of the man himself.
Since the Azure Cloud Temple is so close to Fragrant Hills Park, it’s easy to tour both in one day.
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