Religious, Spiritual sights in Kūnmíng
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Qióngzhú Sì (Bamboo Temple)
Dating from the Tang dynasty, the temple burned down and was rebuilt in the 15th century. It was restored from 1883 to 1890, when Sichuanese sculptor Li Guangxiu fashioned 500 luóhàn (arhats or noble ones). These life-size clay figures are a sculptural tour de force - 70 incredible surfing Buddhas ride waves on mounts including blue dogs, crabs and unicorns.
The statues have been constructed with the precision of a split-second photograph - a monk about to chomp into a large peach (the face contorted almost into a scream), a figure caught turning around to emphasise a discussion point, another about to clap two cymbals together, yet another cursing a pet monster. So lif…
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Nancheng Mosque
The oldest mosque in Kūnmíng (or at least on the site where a mosque has sat the longest), the 400-year-old Nancheng Mosque can be recognised by its telltale greenish onion domes, though the lower floors essentially look like the white-tiled offices that they are!
Even worse, the once-lively strip of Muslim restaurants and shops selling skullcaps, Arabic calligraphy and pictures of Mecca nearby got its marching orders from the city government and has slowly been dispersing throughout the city. Not much is left. To get to what's left of the Muslim area from the Zhengyi Lu roundabout, walk west past Chūnchéng Jiǔlóu (Spring City Hotel) and then bear left a half-block to …
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