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Temples in Kunming

HFCAMPO (3062 posts) • 0

Guan Yin Temple - 观音寺 - Was located near the Guan Yin Si Bus Stop near the corner of PuJi Road + Yang Xian Po Nan Road. The temple was either moved or demolished in 1999 to make room for 3 new buildings which are now near completion.

HFCAMPO (3062 posts) • 0

Directions to Miao Gao Temple - 妙高寺 -

From Nan Ping Jie, take bus K13 to the end of the line and get off at the Long Yuan Xin Cun Bus stop. Walk about 100 meters until you reach the large intersection of Hai Tun Road + West 3rd Ring Road. (Miao Gao Temple is about 2 km away from Hai Yuan Temple so do not confuse Hai Tun Road with Hai Yuan Road). You will be facing a church that is presently under construction as evidenced by the large cross at the top of the building. As you are facing the church, face right and walk 100 meters until you reach a narrow alley that is between 2 buildings with brick walls. Walk up that hill and follow the many pilgrims who are on the same road to collect water from the mountain. There are many forks in the trail but do not worry as all the trails will lead you to the temple. The temple trails vary in steepness for the people who are carrying the heavy loads of water bottles. The temple is very nice but the best part of this trip is the many pilgrims who climb up to fill bottles with water. The entire trip from the 3rd Ring Road to the temple and back to 3rd Ring Road was 2.5 hours. I took my time, took many pictures, talked to pilgrims, and searched for landmarks in the 2.5 hours. It is about a 40 minute walk to the temple. You can also drive directly to the temple and only walk 400 meters from the parking lot. If you want clear directions to drive to the temple please let me know. If you have a camera that takes Panorama pictures be sure to take it with you as there are many scenic spots to make use of it. For me, the journey was more memorable than the destination, especially the interaction with the pilgrims who are there to collect water.

zhubajie (57 posts) • 0

Re bus routes, you can buy little pamphlets with the bus routes at the north city bus terminus, bei shi qu ba shi zhan. You do have to be able to read Chinese. Vendors sell new editions ea. month.

Geezer (1953 posts) • 0

Miao Gao Temple

Hugo, is the Miao Gao Temple west of 3rd Ring Road?

There appears to be two Hai Tun Roads. One south of Haiyuan Si which I think is the wrong one. The other is north of Haiyuan Si and this one looks right.

The little alley would be on the west side of 3rd Ring Road I think.

Thanks Hugo, good info!

chris (144 posts) • 0

Not sure if Natsymir means Kunming's four main urban districts or Kunming municipality when saying all the temples in Kunming, but Panlong Temple (盘龙寺) on the south end of Dianchi near Jinning is one of the largest and best-known temple compounds in the Dianchi Basin. I'm not an expert on it, but it seems to be one of the more important temples for Kunmingers - it is packed with locals who usually drive there from the city. Definitely worth including in your temple hunt, in my opinion.

HFCAMPO (3062 posts) • 0

Bai Yi Si - 百邑寺 - Is located on the corner of Chuan Jin Road + Er Huan Dong Road (2nd Ring East Road). Take Bus 10, 57, 60, 67, 71, 91 or 119 to the Xiao Ba Li Jiao Qiao Bus Stop. You can see the temple from this bus stop. There is a small park next to the temple.

Natsymir (101 posts) • 0

chris: I was vague of course, generally I think I meant more or less within the four urban district, I'd be open to things outside them for sure, but the main point is; if you can't get there by public bus, I probably can't afford to visit it.

HFCAMPO (3062 posts) • 0

I have a near complete list of the temples in Kunming. I have seperated them by district.

Cheng Gong - 13
Guan Du - 54 -

Pan Long - 31
Wu Hua - 37
Xi Shan - 33

As I live in Xi Shan District I have nearly completed my visit to all the temples. I plan to make a FULL day trip to Cheng Gong in April to see the 13 temples there after I have completed my research on their specific location.

Natsymir (101 posts) • 0

-That- many? Amituofo, where are they? I mean, I live in Wuhua, and I only know of like four temples here. Do your list have adresses or something? Could I have it, then?

Though sure, sometimes the temples might be well hidden I guess, I was in/around Guandu Old Town today (my fourth visit maybe, love the place), and discovered two small temples (well, one was a shrine really) that I hadn't seen before (in addition to the four main ones marked on the maps along the Old Town's main street); unfortunately, they were both locked, hopefully just because I was there rather late. But one of them (the small shrine) I've passed before and it's always been locked, it seems. In case this might be useful to you, Guandu Old Town has three temples in the main square, and one (Guanyin si) hidden away a bit to the left along the first street that intersects the old town's main streat (coming from the direction of the K4 bus stop). Then, if you follow the main street past the pagoda square, there's a four-way intersection with 'new old' buildings on all sides; to the left here is the small shrine. If you instead continue straight ahead, out of the Old Town, but following the same main pedestrian street, after a while there'll be an alley to the left next to a convenience store; in this alley is a small neighborhood temple.

I'd gladly join you for the Chenggong tour if you want, I can probably take a day of from school for that.

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