Fragrant Hills park and Temple complex

ross made it a point to do something cultural this weekend, so we made our way to a park and temple complex just north of beijing called the Fragrant Hills. it's a park set on several green hills housing a few temples, and lots of open park space with fountains and all sorts of park-y things. it was an unusually clear and bright day and we got a great view of the hills and the city skyline, unfortunately i didn't take enough pictures of the landscaping but i've included in this post pictures and videos from inside the temples.


this is at the entrance to the hall of monks, these figures represent the four cardinal directions.


a short walk through the hall of monks. there are over 400 wood statues painted bronze representing different enlightened monks and mythical/historical figures

this was one of my favorite statues, it's of a monk who reached nirvana and is tearing away his flesh to reveal his inner buddha

artificial flowers as decoration or offerings maybe? they added color and helped make the statuary and deities stand in an even more fantastic and supernatural setting

this buddha is the centerpiece of the temples, the gold dome shape above the buddha is from the original 15th century structure. the rest of the building, including the buddha, are from the 18th century. the statue is probably 30 feet tall.

the buddha is surrounded by several life-size figures in a cave-like environment reaching up to a very ornate ceiling, artificial flowers, and little red tassles representing prayers made in the temple

a different, slightly smaller temple. those colored smoke or cloud shapes are my favorite and can be found all over these temples

this is an open air part of the park high on the hill above the previous temple. there are 12 structures i believe like the one pictured above. this is where you get a great view of the city just a few miles away