Golden Temple

Located on top of Mingfeng (Singing Phoenix) Hill is the home of the Taoist Taihe Palace (Hall of Supreme Harmony), which is the largest copper-built temple in China. It is also known as the Tongwa Temple (Bronze Tile Temple) and by its popular name, the Golden Temple.

The history of the Golden Temple begins in the Ming Dynasty during the reign of the Emperor Wanli in 1602. At that time the governor of Yunnan Province was a devout Taoist who built this temple to honor the Taoist hero-god Zishi. According to legend, Zishi had a golden palace in the northern extremity of the universe. But the Golden Temple didn't stay in its original place for very long. Just 35 years later, in 1637, the entire original temple was moved to Jizu (Chicken Foot) Mountain in western Yunnan. Three decades later in 1671 during the Qing Dynasty, Wu Sangui, the governor of Yunnan Province, built an exact duplicate of the original temple. This temple was undisturbed for almost two hundred years until the Muslim rebellion of 1857, during which the Golden Temple suffered some damages. Emperor Guangxu ordered its complete repair and in 1890, using 250 tons (246 gross tons) of solid bronze, the entire temple was again rebuilt. Except for the staircases and balustrades, which are made of marble, the walls, columns, rafters, roof tiles, altars, Buddha statues, wall decorations and the banner near the gate tower are all made of copper. The burnished copper gleamed like gold and that is why people named it the Golden Temple. Since its last renovation, this beloved copper temple on the top of Mingfeng Hill has been well cared and has become the most famous Taoist shrine in Yunnan Province.

As most Taoist temples, you approach it by climbing up a mountainside on winding stone steps and pass through a series of "Heavenly Gates". The three Heavenly Gates of the Golden Temple are highly decorated with painted archivolts and carved beams and rafters.

Behind the Golden Temple, there is a three-story high Bell Tower that was built in 1984 to house a large, 580-year-old copper bell which is three point five meters (16.4 feet) high and weighs an incredible 14 tons (13.7 gross tons).

The hillside around the Golden Temple abounds with pine trees, evergreens, hardy cypresses, and a multitude of plants. As far back as the Qing Dynasty, the natural beauty of Mingfeng Hill has caused it to be acclaimed as the Fairyland of Mingfeng. The Golden Temple is only 11km (7mi) from Kunming and is easily accessible by public transportations.