White Cloud Temple

White Cloud Temple, once the Taoist centre of northern China, was founded in AD 739, although most of the temple halls date from the Qing dynasty. The temple is a lively, huge and fascinating complex of shrines and courtyards, tended by Taoist monks with their hair gathered into topknots. Near the temple entrance, worshippers rub a polished stone carving for good fortune. The halls at the temple, centre of operations for the Taoist Quanzhen School and abode of the China Taoist Association, are dedicated to a host of Taoist officials and marshals. The Hall of the Jade Emperor celebrates this most famous of Taoist deities, while Taoist housewives cluster earnestly at the Hall to the God of Wealth to divine their financial future. Depictions of the Taoist Hell festoon the walls of the Shrine Hall for the Saviour Worthy. Drop by White Cloud Temple during the Spring Festival and you will be rewarded with the spectacle of a magnificent temple fair (miàohuì). Worshippers funnel into the streets around the temple in their thousands, lured by artisans, street performers, wǔshù (martial arts) acts, craft workers, traders and a swarm of snack merchants. To find the temple, walk south on Baiyun Lu from the Capital Museum and across the moat. Continue along Baiyun Lu and turn into a curving street on the left; follow it for 250m to the temple entrance.