Tanzhe Temple (潭柘寺) is situated at the foot of Tanzhe Mountain in Mentougou District, about 30 kilometers away from downtown Beijing. This temple is over 1,700 years old, the oldest temple in Beijing and even older than Beijing. Stepping into the temple or around it, tourists will enjoy the beautiful scenery full of ancient trees and flowers.

It was first built in 307 during the Western Jin Dynasty. As there is a Dragon Pool behind the temple and cudrania trees (wild mulberry trees) on the mountain, the temple has been called Tanzhe (Tan refers to the pool while Zhe refers to cudrania trees in Chinese).

Sitting in the north and facing the south,Tanzhe Templeis large in size, covering an area of 2.5 hectares. The layout of Tanzhe Temple is arranged in an orderly fashion, and it is said to have provided a model for the layout of the Forbidden City. At present, Tanzhe Temple has 943 buildings, including 638 ancient architectural halls. Many of the buildings that can be seen inside the temple were built during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) Dynasties, but pagodas and other structures from the earlier Jin and Yuan (1271–1368) Dynasties still remain.

The complex is divided into three parts. Along the middle road, which is also the central axis of the temple, there are the Archway, the Front Gate, Hall of Heavenly Kings, Grand Hall and Vairocana Hall. The eastern section consists of the courtyard buildings, including the Abbot’s Room and the temporary imperial palace where the emperor would stay for short trips away from the capital during the Qing Dynasty. The western section includes the Hall of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, the Hall of Dragon King and an ordination altar.

The Hall of Heavenly Kings has six Buddha statues: a seated Maitreya Buddha in the middle and behind it stands the statue of Skanda (Weituo) holding a monster-fighting stick. To the side of the Maitreya Buddha are the four Heavenly Kings of Celestial Guardians, two on each side.

The Grand Hall is the largest hall inside the Tanzhe Temple and houses the statue of Mahavira and his students. This double-tiered roof hall is covered with yellow glazed tiles and has glazed green adornments on both sides of the roof.

Behind the Grand Hall are two gingko trees. The one to the east, planted roughly 1,000 years ago, is more than 40 meters high, and over 4 meters in diameter. Legend has it that in the Qing Dynasty, when a new emperor came to throne, a new branch would stretch out of the root, and gradually combine with the old main trunk. So it was named the Emperor Tree by Emperor Qianlong. The Emperor Tree is accompanied by another gingko tree in the west, which is a little smaller and has been called Empress Tree.

The double-floored Vairocana Hall, located at the end of the central axis, is the tallest building in Tanzhe Temple. The carved brick artworks on the roof lend an air of enchantment to the pavilion.

The Floating Cups Pavilion, situated in the temporary imperial palace in the eastern section of the temple, is where Emperor Qianlong and his courtiers used to play an interesting drinking game, during which people sat around the trough and floated a wine cup in it; whoever the wine cup stopped in front of would then drink the wine and recite a poem. This is a traditional Chinese custom.

Tanzhe Temple features lots of famous scenes and rare valuable historical sites and culture relics, including the big bronze cauldron, the stone fish, stone tablet with poem of Jin dynasty, dragon beard bamboo and worship bricks of Princess Miaoyan.

Address: Foothill of Tanzhe Mountain, South-Eastern Part of Mentougou District, Beijing

Transportation: Take Bus No. 336 at Fuchengmenwai (阜成门外) Station, get off at Pingguoyuan (苹果园) Station, transfer to Bus No. 931 and get off at Tanzhe Temple.