Huayan Temple in Datong

Why is Huayan Temple So Special?

Huayan Temple (华严寺) got the name because there is a cave called Huayan Cave at the south side of the temple. Huayan Temple is the largest and most perfectly preserved temple of the Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties in China. Being an imposing and magnificent monastery, Huayan Monastery was once an imperial ancestral temple enshrined the stone statues and bronze statues of emperors.

Where is Huayan Temple?

The Huayan temple is located on Daxi Street on the south western side of Datong City, Shanxi Province. The address of the temple is No.459 Xiasipo Street, Datong. And the temple lies about 6 km from Datong Railway Station, and about 20 km from Datong Yungang Airport.

How to Get to Huayan Temple?

Travel with China Dragon Tours (top recommended)

If you want to get rid of hustle of transportation and troublesome navigation, you can book a private tour package which covers visiting, dining and transfer from us. Our local tour guide and driver will escort you to Huayan Temple with speed and convenience, and take care of all the details. You just need to focus on travel.

Independent Travel

For independent travelers you can

By Bus: Take no. 15, 4 or 30 bus to get off at Weidudadao Qingyuanjieku Station and then walk toward east for several minutes.

Main Attractions in Huayan Temple

Upper Huayan Monastery

The Upper Huayan Monastery is a Mahavira-Hall-centered architecture complex with Gate Hall, corridor hall, Avalokittesvara Hall, Dizang Hall and two courtyards. There is a memorial archway of Qing style on the platform with hexangular clock and drum towers standing on both sides. These towers were added in the Ming Dynasty.

Lower Huayan Monastery

The Lower Monastery is simple and unsophisticated. Its main hall is the Bhaga Repository Hall in which Buddhist sutra is kept. The wooden library containing the Buddhist scriptures is exquisitely and elaborately designed. There are thirty-one sculptures in the hall among which the Bodhisattva with a pious prayer pose is the most famous; it possesses a lifelike human likeness rather than that of a god.

Huayan Pagoda

The wooden tower is square in shape, with a total height of 43.5m. In the tower, there are statues of Sakyamuni, Avalokitesvara and Jiaojiao Bodhisattva in different layers. In the area of nearly 500 square meters of the bottom of the tower, 100 tons of pure copper were used to build it. The relief records Sakyamuni's life experience can be find on the pagoda.

Useful Travel Tips

1. The detailed opening time of the temple: 08:30-18:00 from April 1 to October 31 (summer); 08:30-17:00 from November 1 to March 31 (winter)
2. Free ticket for the people over 60.

Nearby Attractions

• Nine Dragon Screen in Datong
• Yingxian Wooden Pagoda in Datong
• Shanhua Monastery (South Temple) in Datong
• Mount Hengshan in Datong
• Hanging Temple in Datong
• Yungang Grottoes in Datong

Edited by Emily Wang/王海玲