Yunju TempleⅠ

The Yunju Temple lies seventy kilometers (43.5 miles) from Beijing downtown, Fangshan District. Backing on the Shijing Hill, it covers an area of over seven hectares (about seventeen acres). The temple itself, the caves with stone sutra inscriptions and a cluster of ancient pagodas make it a Buddhist Mecca and the temple preserves the most stone sutras in caves in the world.

It was first built in the transitional period from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). After much restoration during later dynasties, it revealed a sense of grandness. Six main halls stood on a central axis, comprising five enclosing courtyards. Wing halls, monk's dormitories and elegant pagodas are spread out in an orderly fashion. The temple was bombed and almost totally destroyed in 1942 during Japanese invasion of China. The current temple regains its elegant demeanor following reconstruction in 1985 and 1998.