Today four temples in Kunming's Guandu district officially reopened under management by Shaolin Temple, the temple where kung fu is believed to have originated. The temples have been rebranded as "Guandu Shaolin Temples" according to a Shanghai Daily report.

Shaolin Temple abbot Shi Yongxin (释永信) signed a trusteeship agreement last November with Kunming's Guandu district government to take over management of four ancient temples in Guandu: Miaozhan Temple (妙湛寺), Tuzhu Temple (土主庙), Fading Temple (法定寺), and Guanyin Temple (观音寺).

Under the agreement, Shaolin Temple will operate the temples for 20 years. At present there are 46 Shaolin monks in the Guandu temples, which are now free to the public. Admission had formerly been five yuan.

In exchange for taking over management duties at the four temples, Shaolin Temple will receive all profits generated by the temples via sales of religious paraphernalia, religious texts and any donations made by visitors. Shaolin would also get all the money generated by ticket sales should it reinstate entry fees.

Image: www.xiwuhui.com

Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Kunming at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Nestled between the Kunming Zoo and the chaotic traffic of Yuantong Jie, Yuantong Temple (圆通寺) is an oasis of tranquility and reflection in downtown Kunming. Built during the Nanzhao Dynasty in the early 14th Century, this Chan Buddhist (aka Zen or 禅) temple is listed as one of the key Buddhist temples in China.

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, Yuantong Temple temporarily served a purpose other than providing a place of worship. During the time in which French consul Auguste François was based in Kunming working on the railway from Vietnam to Kunming, his engineer on the project lived in the temple's main building, Yuantong Treasure Hall (圆通宝殿).

During this time, there were few foreigners living in Kunming and few places in which Westerners wanted to live – hence the engineer's selection of the building as his residence. Not surprisingly, his selection of a major Buddhist temple as his home led to some clashes with local residents who wished to worship, burn incense and present offerings to Buddha there.

After several months, François' engineer had had enough of altercations with local Buddhists and he moved out of Yuantong Temple, but not before François captured the building on film in 1902.

The image below is a photograph taken in June, 2008 by GoKunming – 106 years after François.

Today Yuantong Temple is a protected temple and is most definitely not available for rent. You can stroll around the temple compound and take in the pleasant architecture and also the fish- and turtle-filled moat for four yuan. Yuantong Temple is located at 30 Yuantong Jie.

One of the most biologically diverse regions in China and the world, Yunnan province is home to a disproportionate amount of China's animal species – many of which are endangered. According to the Yunnan Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, Yunnan is home to more than 59 percent of China's endangered animal species.

Not surprisingly, most of landlocked Yunnan's endangered animals such as the red panda, the Yunnan golden monkey, Asian elephant and the black crested gibbon are terrestrial creatures. However, Yunnan is covered with lakes of varying sizes and altitudes – these lakes also contribute to the province's biodiversity.

Unfortunately, many of the fish species found in Yunnan's lakes – many of which are only found in Yunnan – are also endangered, primarily due to overfishing and pollution, especially pesticide runoff. Yunnan's lakes are home to 60 species found nowhere else in the world.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ) recently released a joint appeal to protect the remaining fish species indigenous to Yunnan. Surprisingly, many of these alpine fish species can only be found in pools located within the thousands of Buddhist temples throughout the province.

For example, according to a study by KIZ – a branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences – all 25 indigenous fish species in Dianchi Lake are extinct within the lake itself but still exist in the pools of Buddhist compounds bordering the lake. Dianchi is Yunnan's largest lake and the sixth-largest freshwater lake in China.

In an unusual mix of religion and environmental protection, the KIZ report calls upon provincial authorities to protect the pools at Buddhist temples in the area and the fish which populate them. As Xinhua puts it:

"On the basis of the survey, the shrines should be made a protection sites for rare and indigenous aquatic life and protective measures should be drafted in an early date. And a publicity drive has to be launched so as to beef up the public's awareness of the conscious protection and all society's participation."

Dragon pool image: Xinhua

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We've added a new series of photos to our photo gallery, it's a close look at Yuantong Temple (圆通寺). The Chan/Zen temple is Kunming's largest and most famous temple, yet many people neglect to visit it during their stay in Kunming. The original structure was first constructed more than 1,200 years ago during the Tang Dynasty; it has been renovated several times since -- we're guessing it didn't fare so well during the 1970s.

The temple compound is centered around a small carp- and turtle-filled pond with a small pagoda in the center. Burning incense, candle offerings, chanting worshippers and the absence of the city feeling make it one of the best places in town to pop into for a quick escape from reality. Hidden behind the main temple in the back is a Therevada-style temple with a Sakyamuni statue that was given to the temple by the King of Thailand.

Yuantong Si is located east of Green Lake Park at 30 Yuantong Jie. Admission is 4 yuan; the grounds are open from 8am to 6pm.