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Home > Travel China > China Attractions > Qiongzhu Si: The Bamboo Temple
Qiongzhu Si: The Bamboo Temple
The Qiongzhu Si, or Bamboo Temple, is located on the Yu’an Mountain, approximately 12 kilometers from Kunming in the middle of a forest. It was built in the year 1280 during the kingdom of Kublai Khan (the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty), but it was destroyed by fire and was later rebuilt in 1850.
Four Cypress trees that are more than 400 years old have been the guardians of the temple since the Ming Dynasty, and inside, a beautiful courtyard of four layers welcomes the visitors. However, the most interesting feature of this temple consists of 500 clay statues of natural size representing arhats (Buddhist saints). The sculptures were crafted by the famous craftsman Li Guangxiu. All the statues are different from each other and look extremely realistic and lifelike. Some of the arhats stare at you with an angry face, others chat among themselves and some others laugh enthusiastically.
According to the legend, if someone starts counting the statues beginning with the first one, when that person reaches the one that corresponds to his or her age, the statue will represent the dominant character trait of the person. On one of the walls of the temple, the arhats appear surfing on giant crabs, unicorns, blue dogs, and all sorts of bizarre creatures.
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