China (4) Lama Temple

When: April 26, 2007
Where: Lama Temple, Beijing
Words: I didn't blog about this pretty temple, but I did manage to ride by it during just about every taxi ride we took all week. So it was constantly on my mind, if not in my pen.

Yonghe Gong: Lama Temple

I got out at the Lama Temple subway stop and wandered around confused for a while. It's very humbling to think of yourself as a seasoned traveler, then suddenly find yourself unable to read a map, translate street signs, or ask anyone for help.

Thank goodness for the discreet but handy sign I finally spotted:

The temple buildings are overwhelmed by incense, but the pathway leading up to them had some of the freshest, greenest air I breathed in Beijing.

I didn't stop to carve a seal, but apparently famous people do:

door detail

"It was built in 1744 A.D. There is a bell inside. Lama ring it when hold the ceremony."

do ya feel lucky, punk?

Given the serious volume of incense, I'm not sure how the monks (or the public) managed to obey this rule:


People kept coming up to these—not sure what to call them, wheels?—and spinning them for a while by hand. I figured luck must be involved, so I tried it also.




Lama Temple seems to have hired the same decorator as the Forbidden City:



There was a crowd of sullen German tourists just to the right of this tree. They were middle-aged and all wore identical outfits. I cropped somebody's fanny pack out the frame.


In the final building at the back of the complex, the emperor holds court.