Wanshou Temple & Beijing Art Museum

Lonely Planet review

Ringed by a red wall, the Ming dynasty Wanshou Temple was originally consecrated for the storage of Buddhist texts. From Qing times the imperial entourage would put their feet up here and quaff tea en route to the Summer Palace. Wanshou Temple fell into disrepair during the Republic, with the Wanshou Hall burning down in 1937. Things went from bad to worse and during the Cultural Revolution the temple served as an army barracks.

The highlight of a visit to this restored temple is its prized collection of bronze Buddhist statuary in the 'Buddhist Art Exhibition of Ming and Qing Dynasties', located in halls on either flank just before the Mahavira Hall. The displays guide you through the Buddhist pantheon. Also look out for the kapala bowl made from a human skull, dorjes (Tibetan ritual sceptres) and purbhas (Tibetan ritual daggers). Further halls are devoted to Ming and Qing porcelain. Also worth noting is the decidedly masculine-looking Guanyin at the rear of the Mahavira Hall (she is usually, but not exclusively, female). The pavilion at the rear once housed a 5m-high gold-lacquered brass statue now long gone; in its place is a miniature pagoda alloyed from gold, silver, zinc and lead. Some of China's holy mountains (including Pǔtuó Shān and Éméi Shān) in the form of small rockeries can also be found.