(1) You could say that Guanyin (the Bodhisattva of Compassion) is BIG in the northeast. All three of the functioning temples I've been to so far have had colossal images of her/him. This one is at Banruo Si in Changchun, Jilin.
(2) Here's another image of Guanyin. This one is in the typical position, behind the main altar in the Buddha Hall. Here s/he is in his/her eleven-headed, thousand-armed aspect, the better to see and hear who needs help, and lend a hand.
(3) This little porch behind the Guanyin Hall indicates how cold it gets up here in winter. It's kind of an airlock; the windows, too, are doubled. Not double-glazed, but actually two windows in the casement, one swinging in, the other out.
(4) Most of China's temples have been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries, most recently in "The Great Cultural Revolution" in the 60s and 70s. One thing that can't be faked is the trees, like this one which tells us that something has been on this site for quite awhile.
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Last Updated August 6, 2019
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