Badachu Park in Beijing

Why is Badachu Park So Special?

Located in the northwest suburb of Beijing, Badachu Park is a famous scenic spot with a long history, ancient temples and pleasant scenery. It is also called the Eight Relics Park because it has eight Buddhist temples and the Cuiwei, Pingpo and Lushi Hills in the park, Tourists can stroll from one temple to another to enjoy beautiful scenery, pavilions and rare ancient trees.

Eight Temples

The eight Buddhist temples are the precious antiques of the park. They are Chang’an Temple, Lingguang Temple, Sanshan Nunnery, Dabei Temple, Longquan Nunnery, Xiangjie Temple, Baozhu Temple, and Zhengguo Temple. Apart from Zhengguo Temple, they all sit on Cuiwei Hill. Zhengguo Temple is the oldest and is situated on Lushi Hill, far from other temples.

Follow the route below, you will visit all temples:
Lingguang Temple – Sanshan Nunnery – China’s Largest Inkstone – Dabei Temple – Longquan Nunnery – glacial erratic boulder – Xiangjie Temple – Baozhu Temple – Chinese Seal Valley – Red Leaves Admiration Zone – stone sculptures at Moya Valley – Zhengguo Temple

  •  Chang’an Temple, literally “Eternal Peace Temple”, is located about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) south of the ticketing center. It was once a famous temple with 500 arhats, but it was severely damaged in the 1960s. Therefore, it is closed to tourists.
  • Lingguang Temple was originally built in Tang Dynasty (618-907). There are three courtyards. Here is a statue of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, weighing 3.3 tons. Lingguang temple is famous for its magnificent seven-story pagoda, beautiful golden fish pond with brocade carp swimming happily, heart sutra wall and ocean’s wall. Sakyamuni’s tooth remains are preserved in the temple, making it a Buddhist temple.
  • Three Mountains buddhist nun is located between the three mountains, hence its name, which literally means “three mountains”. One place you can’t miss in Sanshan buddhist nun is the largest inkstone in China. It is 38 feet (11.8 meters) long, 10 feet (3.18 meters) wide and weighs about 45 tons. Fifty-six lifelike dragons, nine long-lived turtles, the designs of Chinese territory, the sun and the moon are ingeniously carved in large proportions.
  • Dabei Temple, which means Daci Temple, is famous for the 18 lifelike arhats on the raft that were built by famous sculptor Liu Yuan in Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). These statues are made of fine sandalwood powder, emitting a faint fragrance. There are also two towering gingko trees, which have a history of more than 800 years. The inscription on the stele on the door was written by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
  • Longquan buddhist nun is located to the west of Dabei Temple and is famous for its clear spring that never dries up.
  • Xiang Jie Temple is the largest in badachu park, with five courtyards. It was once one of the temporary residences of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Ganlong of the Qing Dynasty. On your way to the temple of Xiang Jie, you will encounter a glacier-like irregular boulder, which was formed one or two million years ago.
  • Zhu Bao Temple, whose name Zhu Bao means “precious pearl”, has a cave behind its guanyin temple with pebbles on the wall like shining pearls. This temple is located at the top of Pingpo mountain and was built in 1780 during the Ganlong years. People can find many inscriptions left by the emperor. The cable car can take tourists from Longquan Temple to the temple in 15 minutes.
  • Zheng Guo Temple is located on Lushi Mountain, far from the other seven temples. It is the oldest temple with a history of more than 1200 years. It is said that Lu used to be a monk in the temple.

Reputation

Badachu park is well-known at home and abroad for its two Lingguang temples dedicated to the rare tooth relic of Sakyamuni Buddha. In recent years, the wall of Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, the 500 arhat relief sculpture and the tooth relic of Buddha have formed a complete integration of Buddhism and Buddhism.

The ancient and solemn temple gardens are very quiet and beautiful, and there are many gingko trees and maple trees, etc. It is very good to come here every autumn to take a walk, view the scenery and worship Buddha on the mountain.

How to Get There

  • Take a bus:
    Take bus 347, 389, 598, 958 or 972 and get off at Badachu Station.
  • Take the subway:
    Take subway line 1 to pingguoyuan station, take exit d in the northeast, then take bus 972 to the eight stops at the beimen bus station on pingguoyuan 3rd street.
    Or you can get off at Bajiaolou amusement park subway station and walk east to jingyuan lukou east station to take bus 598. Or go west to jingyuan lukou west station and take bus 958.