After our package tour was finished, we set out on our own to visit Yonghe Gong, a Buddhist temple. The coolest thing about this temple, I read, was a giant 18-meter high Buddha carved out of the trunk of a sandalwood tree. This Buddha turned out to be amazing. It's in a small building, about 4 or 5 stories high. You cannot stand back to get a view of the whole Buddha because the room is too small -- rather, you can only look up at the Buddha. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take a picture of this Buddha or any others. I was able to find this web site which has a picture (although not a very good one) of the big buddha (look at the last picture).
A bell tower...
Can you see the animal's face in the doorway of this building? People put money and incense in his open mouth.
I didn't know it at the time, but I wasn't supposed to take a picture of this. I think the monks got mad at me for taking it!
There was a sign here that said "No photos inside the hall"... so I stood outside the hall and took a picture. These guys serve as a good example of how scary some of the images in the temple were. Seeing some of these statues and images inside the dark, musty buildings gave me a very eerie feeling. Maybe if I were a Buddhist I would have felt differently.
More scenes from Yonghe Gong.
Learn about the basic principles of Buddhism here.
And if you're interested in learning about Chinese Buddhism in particular, go here.
