Here's He Juan,the one on the left, me in the middle and Lucy Li on the right. That plastic bag hides genuine buddhist prayer beads blessed by a real buddhist monk (for a small fee). For a day we were the Tanzhe Trio touring a 1000-plus (in parts) ancient Buddhist temple. It was beautiful but as an ignorant foreigner, a little more interpretation in the form of signs and/or documentation in English would have been a big help. Throughout the visit I always felt I was only scratching the surface of both the history and the culture embodied in this site.

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Tanzhe Temple, Beijing

(Temple of the Pool and Mulberry)

My friend and guide, He Juan (Tina), gets impatient with my fear of getting lost in Beijing - but I suspect Tina has never been anywhere where she doesn't speak the local language. I would spend a fortune on metered taxi's rather than undertake a journey that involved swoping between taxis, trains and buses.

The Tanzhe Temple (literally "Temple of Pool and Zhe Tree") is a Buddhist temple about 45 kilometres west of Beijing on a tree-covered hillside. The journey from my hotel to the temple was not inconsiderable and He Juan went to some length to ensure I could at least take a taxi to our meeting place. I make a practise of using my Lonely Planet Guide to show the taxidriver the name of my destination in characters... but in this case all that was necessary was to remember the name of the tube station. There He Juan would get us both into the tube which took us to the bus stop for the last leg of the journey to Tanzhe.

The temple is built on a hillside and consists of many pavilions, prayer halls, courtyards and a group of pagodas dating to the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. At one time, it was one of the most important temples in the nation. Built in the Jin Dynasty (265–420), it has an age of around 1,600 years. The area of the entire temple is 100 mu (6.8 hectares), and its arrangement of halls is akin to that found in the architecture of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The temple's central hall is its Mahavira Hall. 24 metres in length, 33 metres wide, and with a depth of 20 metres. Buddhist monks regularly perform chanting here, to the accompaniment of woodblocks, cup gongs, and bells.

The complex is extensive, and is said to have provided a model for the layout of the Forbidden City. Above and to the right of the main courtyard lies a rare stupa yard (Ta Yuan), with stone monuments built in different styles over a period of several centuries and housing the remains of eminent monks.

Tanzhe Temple has other features: the bed of its former Dragon Pool (which has dried up) sits on the hill behind the temple. The zhè trees (Cudrania tricuspidata or Wild Mulberry), now few in number, are located in the temple as well. Their number has dwindled shockingly from the original thousand or so. There are also persimmon trees, as well as a stand of bamboo.

Tanzhe Temple has seen numerous prominent monks practice their Buddhist art for their entire adult lives here, thus leaving many pagoda tombs in different styles close by the temple. Probably the best known is the one of Princess of Miaoyan, daughter of Kublai Khan, of the Yuan Dynasty. In order to redeem her father from killing so many people in battles, she converted to Buddhism and spent the rest of her life here. Her pagoda tomb is a solid brick five-storey construction with elaborate eaves and smaller pagodas on each side.

As a cultural resort with a long history, the temple always attracts many tourists from home and abroad.

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At this time China was in the grip of 60th Anniversary Celebrations - hence the preoccupation with security.	Young Chinese outside the tube station seem to almost to wear their cell phones - both texting and talking keep them constantly in touch.	Most of this group are "alternative" bus owners. There is nothing wrong with the scheduled bus but they kept asking anyway.

There must be huge numbers of foreigners in China but they are swamped by locals. It's only at the tourist traps they become visible.	Beijing can be hot and dry but here the bamboo is as thick as a forest. Would there were pandas out there too.	Tanzhe's ancient buildings seem timeless in these pristine mountain surroundings.

These two beautiful Beijing ladies seemed to enjoy this experience as much as me.	Tanzhe's pagodas date from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.	There is no doubting the age of this roof but its on-going maintenance is a concern.

A puzzle; are the dog and the chicken pets to this lady? What is she training them to do?	Tanzhe's consideral grounds are beautifully maintained.	The pond of drowning turtles (nowhere to climb out of the water) - very depressing.

The red cloth looked as though it had just been put there so we had just missed a ceremony of some kind.	Entrance steps and gate.	The ladies checking on the turtles after my complaint about their apparent neglect.

Guanyin Hall.	There is some interpretation of the site and a lot of it in English. Being as ignorant big nose I'd have liked more.	Tanzhe Temple also boasts a traditional teahouse - but we must have come on the wrong day.

Both ladies participated in burning incense and prayer in a typically low-key Chinese way.	Tina lighting the incense she had bought on the Temple site.	Multilingual history of Yuantong Hall.

This obscure character was a complete mystery ot my Chinese guides.	The ancient tree is clearly being preserved at all costs - as is this superb piece of roof architecture	I guess the landscaping of Tanzhe has evolved over the years, but it has aged well.

At last Chinese men have come to realise how beautiful their young women are. The bright yellow bits are ceramic tiles.	Most original roofs on Tanzhe buildings have this gentle curve. The wall is painted in the Imperial Red excusive to the Emperor.	Unobtrusive security cameras are scattered around the site.

Temple Steps.	General view of some of the many temple buildings.	Temple sculpture and wall paintings.

The ticket office and car park - it was a quiet day.	Tina gives us some idea of the scale of these beautifully preserved buildings.	Apparently a carving in a tree trunk.

Notwithstanding my complaints there ARE a lot of signs. Maybe the wireless audio commentary I used in the Forbidden City would be good.	Given the beautiful scenery, maybe a multilingual illustrated booklet might be popular. The "cave" was small...	But apparently the water in the Lotus Pool is sweet.

A nearby thermal power station (coal-fired) - the source of much of Beijing's pollution is coal.	The village near the temple.	The bus back to the tube station and thence back to Beijing.


These columns are Giant Turtles carrying the universe on their backs.	Lucy was the devout one, taking an active interest in religious practice in the temple.	Random selection of religious statues - apparently not for sale	One of many ancient trees authorites have struggled to preserve.

Protect the flora	And keep the area tidy	The crowded souvenir shop. Note restored roof.	One of the ancient stupa for which Tanzhe is famous.

Stupa - one of the oldest features of the temple.	I am so grateful for the company and patience of these two beautiful ladies.	Temole Gardens - a sperbly maintained site.	A forbidden glimpse of a no-cameras zone.

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