The Temple of Universal Spiritual Awakening, aka Sleeping Buddha Temple, is situated at the foot of Longevity Hill between the Old Summer Palace and Fragrant Hills Park on Beijing's western fringes. The temple, together with the Old Summer Palace, Fragrant Hills Park and the nearby Temple of Azure Clouds as well as Beijing's Botanical Gardens, form one of the capital's most popular tourist haunts, being located only about 30 kilometers from the heart of Beijing.

Sleeping Buddha Temple owes its unofficial name to the presence of a sculpture in the form of a reclining figure of Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The original sculpture, which dates from the Tang Dynasty origin of the temple itself, was carved in sandalwood. During the Yuan Dynasty restoration and enlargement of the temple, a new reclining figure of Sakyamuni Buddha was made, this time cast in bronze and made on a much larger scale than the original figure. It is the bronze figure of Sakyamuni Buddha that graces the main hall of Sleeping Buddha Temple today.

As a classical Buddhist temple complex, Sleeping Buddha Temple has a compact overall arrangement, its three courtyards forming a center axis, and with the various courtyard buildings arranged symmetrically on either side of this center axis. The main temple structures include the Temple Gate, the Hall of the Temple Gate, the Hall of Four Heavenly Kings, the Hall of Three Boddhisattvas, the Hall of Sleeping Buddha itself, and the Repository of Buddhist Scriptures. The following walk-through description will give a better picture of the temple complex.

Ticket: CNY 5

How to get there: Take Bus No.330, 360, 904 to get there.

Source: chinatravel.com