The Lama Temple, known in Chinese as Yonghegong, stands in the Dongcheng district a few minutes from the metro station of the same name. It was built in 1694 as a prince's residence, and in 1744 the Qianlong Emperor converted it into a Tibetan Buddhist lamasery, which is when the yellow-tiled roofs and Tibetan architectural details were added.
The sandalwood Buddha
The last and tallest hall holds a Maitreya Buddha about 26 metres high, carved from a single trunk of white sandalwood that was brought from Nepal as a gift. The statue is so large that the hall had to be built around it, and only the upper part is visible from the floor - the lower section sits in a pit below ground level. It is the reason most people come.
What else to see
The temple is arranged along five courtyards that rise in height and importance. In the halls you will find gilded bronze statues, thangka paintings, Tibetan sutras and ritual objects, and a tall carved sandalwood niche. The Hall of the Wheel of Dharma contains a mountain of 500 carved arhat figures. Yonghegong is a working temple, not a museum, so worshippers bow and offer incense in front of you and the smell of burning sandalwood is constant.
Practical information
The temple is open daily from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with shorter hours in winter, and it is closed for a few days around Tibetan New Year. Tickets cost around 25 yuan and include a bundle of incense, which you burn in the second courtyard. Go early: by 10 a.m. the main axis is shoulder to shoulder, and the last halls are calmer in the first hour. Modest dress is expected and hats come off inside the halls.
Nearby
The Confucius Temple and the Guozijian imperial academy are a fifteen-minute walk away, and the alleys around the temple - including the lanes leading to the Drum Tower - are worth an hour on their own. Metro Lines 2 and 5 both stop at Yonghegong.
