Zhaojue Temple stands in the northern part of Chengdu, in an area now surrounded by the growing city but still quiet inside its own walls. It was founded in the Tang dynasty and has been rebuilt and enlarged repeatedly since, and it is one of the most important Chan, or Zen, monasteries in Sichuan.
The monastery today
Zhaojue is a working religious institution rather than a heritage site with a ticket gate. Monks live in the complex, services are held daily with chanting in the halls, and the monastery runs a vegetarian kitchen and a small printing operation. Visitors are welcome but are expected to keep to the public areas, avoid disturbing services and dress modestly. Unlike the central tourist temples, it is quite possible to spend an hour here with almost no one else around.
What to see
The complex follows the standard Chinese monastic layout, with a sequence of courtyards rising gently behind the entrance. The principal halls house large gilt figures of the historical Buddha, Guanyin and other figures, and there are stele inscriptions and old trees in the courtyards. Several halls hold carved wooden screens, bronze ritual vessels and sets of the Buddhist canon; the woodwork and the roof brackets in the older buildings are worth looking at closely. A pagoda and a garden area lie further back, and the monks' quarters and the refectory occupy the eastern side.
The surroundings
The monastery sits near the Chengdu Zoo and the Panda Base is a short distance further north, so it fits naturally into a day that already involves going up this side of the city. The area around the temple has older street housing, small shops and vegetarian restaurants that serve the monastic and lay community, and the atmosphere on the approach is markedly more local than anything in the tourist centre.
Practical notes
Zhaojue Temple is reached by metro and bus from the city centre, and there is a small entrance fee. It is busiest on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month and during major Buddhist festivals, when large numbers of worshippers attend and the courtyards fill with incense smoke. Allow about an hour to look around properly. Photography of the buildings is fine; photographing people at prayer is not.
