The Lama Temple (Yonghegong) is located in the northeast corner of urban Beijing, where the emperor Kangxi built a mansion in the 33rd year of the Qing Dynasty (1694) and gave it to his fourth son, Prince Yong, hence the title: “Prince Yong's Palace”. In the third year of Yongzheng (1725), the palace was changed into a temporary imperial residence, called Lama Temple.

In the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), emperor Yongzheng died and once parked the coffin here. For the Qianlong Emperor was born here, the Yonghe Temple had two emperors and became the " Blessed Dragon Diving Land", so the temple was decorated with yellow tiles and red walls, with the same specifications as the imperial palaces in the Forbidden City. In the ninth year of Qianlong (1744), the Yonghe Temple was converted into a Tibetan Buddhist temple and 500 lamas from Mongolia lived here. It can be said that the Yonghe Temple is the Buddhist temple of the highest standard in the country.

Archway Courtyard - Zhaotai Gate

In the southernmost courtyard of the Lama Temple, a huge spirit screen can be seen, and opposite the screen is a three-room, four-pillared, and nine-story multicolored archway. After passing the archway, there is a special road for the emperors’ and empresses’ carriages. To the north is the Zhaotai Gate, the gate of Lama Temple, and on both sides of the gate are the Bell and Drum Towers.

The Hall of the Wheel of the Dharma

The Hall of the Wheel of the Dharma is an important place for lamas to chant sutras and hold ceremonial activities and is one of the largest halls of the Lama Temple. At the top of the hall are five Tibetan-style gold pagodas with strange structures, which are deeply characterized by Tibetan and Han architectural art. On the back of the statue of Tsongkhapa, the Five Hundred Arhat Mountains carved from precious rosewood are one of the three best wood carvings of the Lama Temple.

Wanfu Pavilion

Wanfu Pavilion is the largest of the Lama temples and enshrines 10,000 Buddha statues. The White Sandalwood Giant Buddha in the temple is the world's largest whole wood carved Standing Buddha, and is one of the three best wood carvings in Lama Temple. It is carved from a whole piece of white sandalwood. It is 8m in diameter and has a total height of 26m, of which 8m are underground. White sandalwood was from Tibet and was a tribute specially contributed by the Seventh Dalai Lama of Tibet to support the construction of the Lama Temple. It took more than three years for the wood to arrive in Beijing. After the Buddha statue was made that year, 1100m of yellow satin were used to make a robe for the Buddha statue, so Wanfu Pavilion was also called the "Big Buddha Building".

Address: No. 20 Lama Temple Street