Tourists in Beijing rarely fail to visit Yonghegong lamasery, one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist temples in the country. As a well-located historical landmark, the lamasery attracts a large number of foreign and domestic visitors daily. In addition, you can visit the ¡°hutongs¡± of this residential area, to see the typical neighborhood structure of old Beijing.
Disregarding the lamasery itself, the walk takes about 30-40 minutes. Visiting the lamasery takes about 30 minutes. But you¡¯ll probably need at least an hour to see everything it has to offer.
Open hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. So don¡¯t come too late.
We begin our walk at the the YONGHEGONG station, which you can reach by take subway line #2 or #5. Exit the station from Exit B or C, and turn left onto YONGHEGONG DAJIE (YongHe Lamasery St). Walk south about 200 yards down the street to reach the temple entrance on your left. Along the way, you should see the beautiful red wall surrounding the temple. Through regular renovation, YongHe is still in great condition today. You know you are close to the entrance when you see an amazing array of stalls selling incenses. In Buddhism, people expressed their worships for the Buddha by burning incenses when praying. If you wish to offer a prayer, buy the incense here. Prices here, generally RMB 2 to RMB 5, are lower than shops inside the temple.
When you¡¯re ready, purchase a ticket for RMB 25 to enter.
Yonghegong Lamasery
Yonghegong Built in 1649, the building first served as the residence of the then prince Yin Zhen, fourth son of Emperor Kang Xi. Yin Zhen later succeeded Kang Xi as the next emperor, and moved into the Forbidden City. In 1744, he converted his former residence to a lamasery, as part of an overall plan to help govern the religious policy of the geographically important Tibet.
The monks at a lamasery practices Tibetan Buddhism as their daily religious life. Tibetan Buddhism is a Buddhist branch arriving from India around the late eighth century. Nearly all the Tibetans belong to this derivate.
Since becoming a lamasery, YongHe Lamasery housed several lama leaders, called Dalai Lama. The lamasery not only serves as a temple, but also as a conduit for the government to govern Tibet. Even today, it serves as an ¡°embassy¡± between the central government and the Tibetan Buddhist community.
The temple has a similar layout to the Forbidden City¡ªthe main halls align along a central axis, with side buildings flanking them. The structure features 5 main halls: Hall of Heavenly Kings, Hall of Harmony and Peace, Hall of Everlasting Protection, Hall of Wheel of the Law, and Pavilion of Myriad Happiness. Each Hall holds various Buddha statues, together with a sea of Buddhist treasure: sutras, wheel of laws, tangkas, and many more.
Stroll around the temple at your leisure. There are several methods if you wish to offer a prayer to the Buddha of your choice. I personally do a simple gesture. Kneel down in front of the stature, lower my head, close my eyes, and make an earnest request. However, you might find other do things differently. If you bought some incense, you can light several first before praying. But the most important thing is to be sincere.
Make sure you do not miss the giant 18 meter Buddha in the Pavilion of Myriad Happiness before you leave. The statue was carved out of a single piece of sandalwood! Its record size is list in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Of course, no tourist destination is complete without souvenirs shops. And several reside within YongHe Lamasery for your gift & souvenir needs. You can see beautiful handicrafts, gifts, and accessories all from the Tibetan region. I found the prices quite reasonable, especially for a tourist destination.
When you are finished, simply exit the temple at the front gate. If you only wish to visit the temple, then simply return to the YONGHEGONG station. But what¡¯s the fun in that? Since we here, let¡¯s visit the ¡°hutongs¡±, and see some unique traditional building structures of China!
Beijing Hutong
A Peek into the Unfamed Si He Yuan
Walk across YONGHEGONG DAJIE to the other side, and enter a small street called GUOZIJIAN JIE.
Hutongs are the traditional Chinese residential areas first built in ancient times. They are the old part of the town. Most residents who resided here in the past were the more influential Beijing citizens. Today, hutongs house just regular Beijing residents.
Having existed for hundreds of years, GUOZIJIAN JIE Was once renowned for the Imperial Academy here. The academy has since closed, but the street today is still one of the more well-known Beijing hutongs.
Si He Yuan, ¡°Courtyard Surrounded on Four Sides,¡± is the predominant building structure within a hutong. As its name suggest, the Si He Yuan consists of four connected houses surrounding a courtyard. In the old days, an extended family and their servants live in a single unit.
The Si He Yuan¡¯s entrance generally locates at the southeastern edge. The northern house is the main building, where the patriarch and the immediate family live. Members of the extended family reside at the houses on the east and west side, while servants live at the southern house, near the entrance.
If you wish to do some shopping, there are dozens of good shops here, such as Liu Jing Fang for home accessories, Sheng Tang Xuan for traditional handicrafts, and Long Yi Yuan Chuang for Japanese anime products. Make sure to bargain hard, though.
Continue Onward
Soon you will reach the intersection with ANDINGMENNEI DAJIE. Turn left here. Though a little bit of old, the ancient street houses hundreds of amazing shops and stalls, including some selling traditional beijing delicacies. Stroll onward for another 10 minutes, and you will come to the intersection with JIAODAOKOU DONGDAJIE, turn left onto it. Though Beijing¡¯s inner city traffic is notoriously bad, this street seems to be an exception.
Here, views of shabby streets would be replaced by high-rise modern buildings and apartments. Due to the closeness to subway lines, and convenient shopping environment, more and more white collars are choosing to live in this neighborhood. Walk down the JIAODAOKOU DONGDAJIE for 10 minutes, and we the end of our journey for today, the BEIXINQIAO station of subway line 5. |
