As Beijing enters the most beautiful autumn season, ginkgo viewing is one of the most important appointments. This is the best time to Dajue Temple in Xishan Mountain to feel the thousand-year-old ginkgoes, which are indeed great autumn colors in the suburb of Beijing!

The lofty ancient temple and the thousand-year-old ginkgoes have been accompanied with the green lamp and bright moon in the Dajue Temple. 

Located at the eastern foot of Yangtai Mountain in Beijing's Haidian District, Dajue Temple, was built in the Liao Dynasty. The temple faces east, reflecting the Khitan custom of "respecting the sun to the east". The temple is named "Qing Shui Yuan" because of the clear spring that flows into the temple.

In the Jin Dynasty, it was one of the eight imperial palaces of Jin Zhangzong, and later it was also called Lingquan Temple. The Ming Emperor Xuanzong rebuilt it in the 3rd year of the Xuande period (1428) and gave it the name "Dajue Temple". Since then, the temple has been continuously re-expanded in the 11th year of the Orthodox (1446), the 14th year of the Chenghua period(1478) and the Kangxi-Qianlong dynasties of the Qing Dynasty to form the present scale now.

The temple is built leaning the mountains from east to west, in order as follows: the mountain gate, the bell and drum tower, Tennoji, Amitayus Buddha Hall, the Altar of Great Compassion and other buildings. The buildings are very majestic and ancient, with strict layout.

There are many precious cultural relics in the temple, including the stone tablet of "The Tibetan Scripture Tablet in the Yangtai Mountain Qingshui Courtyard", which records the history of building the temple and carving scriptures, and the Guanyin mural in Amitayus Buddha Hall, which is an art treasure of the Qing Dynasty.

Dajue Temple is located in the midst of mountains, with lust trees, clear springs and beautiful scenery. It was a famous scenic spot in the Liao and Jin dynasties. There are sky-high ancient cypresses and verdant bamboo, among which three hundred years of magnolia and thousand years of ginkgo are famous in Beijing.

Dajue Temple is a national major cultural relics preservation unit, and now it has become a famous tourist destination in the suburbs of Beijing.

Enjoy the thousand-year-old gingkoes in the Dajue Temple

The thousand-year-old ginkgo trees in Dajue Temple are in the most beautiful period. The temple's ancient ginkgo trees have been a place where scholars gather, with dappled light and shadow. The clusters of ginkgo leaves are like a golden carpet and the canopy of the trees set each other off beautifully.

There are two ginkgo trees on each side in front of the Amitayus Buddha Hall of Dajue Temple. The male ginkgo in the north, which is said to have been planted in the Liao Dynasty, is more than 900 years old with a height of about 25 meters and a diameter of 7.5 meters.

Every year in late autumn and early winter, bright yellow ginkgo leaves spreads all over the courtyard, with tall branches stretching freely in all directions, reflecting with the red walls and gray tiles, monastic rooms and palaces, showing a different kind of beauty after years of precipitation.

In the Dajue Temple, there are not only has thousand-year-old ginkgo trees, but also a strange landscape where the main trunk of the ginkgo tree is entwined with nine ginkgo trees of different sizes, revealing its most beautiful posture in the autumn.

The Shakya Mani Hall of Dajue Temple is still in the process of repair and protection, so the temple outside the local fence may affect the thousand-year-old ginkgo viewing and filming effect. Please give priority to the protection of cultural relics, be considerate and supportive.

Address: No.9 Dajue Temple Road, Sujiatuo Town, Haidian District, Beijing