Zhihua Temple

Lonely Planet review

This rickety shrine is thick with the authentic flavours of old Peking, having eluded the slapdash renewal that invariably precedes entrance fee inflation and stomping tour groups. The Scriptures Hall encases a venerable Ming dynasty revolving wooden library and the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall (Wànfó Diàn) is an enticing two floors of miniature niche-borne Buddhist effigies and cabinets for the storage of sutras.

Creep up the steep wooden staircase at the back of the hall, to visit the sympathetic effigy of the Vairocana Buddha seated upon a multi-petalled lotus flower in the upper chamber, before wondering the fate of the 1000-Armed Guanyin that once presided over the Great Mercy Hall at the temple rear.