Qinglong Temple, the Green Dragon Temple, stands on a low rise in the south-eastern part of Xi'an. In the Tang dynasty this was one of the great centres of Chinese Buddhism, and it became specifically important to Japanese Buddhism: the monk Kukai, later known as Kobo Daishi and the founder of the Shingon school in Japan, studied here in the early ninth century, and so did Ennin, whose record of his travels through Tang China remains a principal source for the period. The temple was destroyed at the end of the Tang and the site lay as earth mounds for a thousand years.
The reconstruction
Excavation in the 1960s and 1970s established the layout of the Tang temple, and from the 1980s the site was rebuilt and landscaped, with support from Japanese Buddhist organisations. The result is unusual: a modern complex designed to reflect the Tang original, with a memorial hall for Kukai, a hall for the transmitted teachings, and stone markers recording the excavations, set in grounds that are closer to a park than to a living monastery. The architecture is restrained and the site is quiet, which makes the historical connection easier to feel than it would be in a busier temple.
The cherry blossom
Japan donated cherry trees as part of the reconstruction, and the temple grounds are now the best place in Xi'an to see them flower, usually in the last week of March and the first days of April. Several varieties are planted, and the display draws crowds from across the city for about ten days. Outside that window the garden is a calm place with old trees, a small pond, stone lanterns and views over the city, and it is easy to spend an hour walking the paths and reading the markers.
Practical notes
The temple is in the south-eastern quarter of the city, reachable by subway and then a short walk, and admission is free; the site opens in the morning and closes in the late afternoon, and it is closed on Mondays. Allow about an hour for the grounds and the halls. Because the cherry season is short and popular, a weekday morning is the only comfortable time to visit in that period. At other times of year it is one of the least crowded of Xi'an's historic sites, and combining it with the nearby Tang-dynasty sites to the south makes a natural half day.
