(1) On the way down from Shangchan Tang, I realized that this hill (right behind my hotel) was covered with temples, some of them very small. There are two in this shot alone!
(2) See the red roofs in the distance? More about them in a few minutes.
(3) Like the path down which I trod yesterday, this one leads right past the doors of temples. This is "Pure Land Temple"; I'll tell you more about it in a minute.
(4) Here is the temple with those red roofs. A guard told me it was "Dabei Lou" (Great Compassion Building). I spent some time there, but when I got home, I discovered it actually has another name, and is one of the temples on my list! So I'll hold off with the pictures I took (mostly) until my "official" visit tomorrow.
(5) But I can't wait to tell you about this statue at "Dabei Lou." Usually, you will find this guy (Wei Tuo) back-to-back with Milefo, the fat Laughing Buddha. So can you guess what I did? I stood back-to-back with him and did my Laughing Buddha Face for a couple of minutes, pointing back at Wei Tuo and then at my face when necessary, to underscore the joke. I made lots of people laugh, most notably a group of sour-looking monks. Lila would have loved it!
(6) Here's the magnificent main hall of "Dabei Lou," which faces directly across the street to the humble gate of...
(7) ...Long An (Dragon Nunnery), as simple a place as I've seen. They do have the full set of six usual statues inside this Heavenly Kings Hall, though.
(8) The front of Long An's main hall. See what I mean about simple?
(9) They also have this fine iron pagoda, though.
(10) Long An's iron pagoda is studded with Buddhas.
(11) See the white arrow? It points at the door to my balcony, right above a small snack shop. I'm shooting from the restaurant where I had a 15rmb ($2US) bowl of noodles; the mountain behind is where today's temples where. I'm in heaven! Oh, and see the red temple roof to the left of my hotel? That's the main hall of Pure Land Temple, which I had passed on my way down the hill. I'm surrounded! But I wish Lila were here.
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Last Updated August 15, 2019
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