Lamasery / The Yonghegong Lama Temple / Beijing Attractions

The Yonghegong Lama Temple is a very famous lamasery and located at the northeast corner of Beijing, which is a cultural relic under the national protection. It was built in 1694 during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in Qing dynasty, and used to be royal palace of Prince Yongzheng who became an emperor after Kangxi. It was Emperor Yongzheng's temporary stay palace and named as "Yonghegong" in 1725. This palace consists of more than 1,000 rooms and covers over 6.6 hectares. During Emperor Yongzheng's reign, he held a strong belief in Lamaism, and he always met with some reverend lamas in this palace. After Emperor Yongzheng died in 1735, his coffin was once laid up here. In the reign of Emperor Qianlong, "Yonghegong" was renamed as "Yonghegong Lamasery" in 1744. It is now a functional lama temple with more than 130 monks still working and living there.

Lama Temple features five large halls and five courtyards with beautifully decorative archways, upturned eaves and carved details. It houses a treasury of Buddhist art, including sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas, as well as Tibetan-style murals.

Wanfuge (Ten-Thousand-Happiness Pavilion) is the largest pavilion in the temple. In the center of the pavilion is a huge standing statue of Maitreya Buddha of the Future carved out of a single trunk of white sandalwood tree presented by the Seventh Dalai Lama. It is 26 meters high 18 meters above the ground and 8 meters under the ground and 8 meters in diameter. According to the Guinness Book of World Records the Maitreya is the tallest and biggest in the world today. Behind the Great Buddha there are ten thousand small Buddhist statues on three storeys hence the name Ten-Thousand-Happiness Pavilion.