Jin Dian (Golden Temple)

Description:

• The centerpiece of this gorgeous Daoist temple complex, located 10km (6 miles) northeast of town, is the small but exquisite Golden Temple, built in 1671 on a two-tiered marble platform ringed by beautifully carved balustrades. The weathered 6.7m-high (22-ft.), 7.8m-wide (25-ft.), 250-ton hall has a double-eaved roof with gables, beams, columns, lattice doors, and lattice windows, all cast in bronze. Inside is a 1.5m-tall (5-ft.) bronze statue of Zhen Wu, the legendary God of the North, flanked by a girl and a boy servant. Beyond the Golden Temple at the summit of the hill is the Bell Tower (Zhong Lou), a 36m-high (118-ft.), three-story square structure with a total of 36 flying eaves evoking flying phoenixes that was built only in 1983. Inside hangs a 14-ton bronze bell, used to signal time as well as to sound the alarm at the city's southern gate. A ¥15 ($1.95/£1) cable car now runs from the temple to the World Horticultural Expo Garden.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010