The Mother of all Temples - Today I visited a temple in Wu Hua District I never heard of before. It was wonderful! Xu Ning Si - 虚宁寺 - It is located on Long Quan Road. Take bus 9, 76, 84, or 115 and get off at the Sha Ba Ying bus stop. Walk towards the blue pedestrian overpass and walk to the side of the mountain. You will see a sign in Chinese that reads - 虚寧寺 - 前行1500米. Walk up the only mountain road for 1.5 km and you will see the Prayer Flags as you approach the temple.
This temple has been completely renovated and is absolutely beautiful. In my opinion, it is much better than many of the other large temples most people visit - Yuan Tong, Hai Yuan, or Bamboo temples. Must See!
There are 2 more temples on Long Quan Road in the next 2 bus stops. Bai Long Si (White Dragon) and Lan Long Si (Blue Dragon).
I stumpled upon a medium-sized temple today just by accident; 护国寺, Huguosi. It's dedicated to Guanshiyin, judging by the focus on statues of her, but there's also a bunch of arhats that can be recognized from the Bamboo temple. The exterior of the temple is very beautiful, with a feature I haven't seen before; shops built into the red temple wall, and it's in a very lively and niceshabby (I just invented that word) area, on 039 Country road in Zijuncun village; the road goes north from Guangfu road, a short walk straight nortwest from the Luosiwan-megaüber-shopping mall. If other Chenggong/Guandu temples are as nice as this one, I definitely wanna see them (the intriguing 'Gaomiao temple' on google maps seem to be within walking distance, as does ofc the Guandu Old Town, and based on the fact that I discovered two new temples in Guandu Old Town the other day it might be worth looking even more around there).
During my recent travels in search of the temples in Kunming, I came upon several large areas I call Destruction Zones. These former villages resemble scenes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because an entire 1 or 2 block area is completely demolished. However, in the center of all the rubble stands a small temple that has been left untouched. I am left wondering about the fate of this little temple as I have seen some determined homeowners remain in their homes among ruins only to be forced out in the end.
Today I remain hopeful about the future of some of these temples when I witnessed something very spectacular. I came upon a brand new residential quarter that is no more than 2 or 3 years old. It is a collection of 8 to 10 brand new highrise buildings that are 25 to 30 stories high. One can easily feel the wind that builds up behind these enormous giants as it rushes past only to be temporaily blocked by the next building.
However, among the towering forest of buildings one will find a small oasis in the center of the complex with a tiny little temple. Yes, the original temple was not demolished and was incorporated into the new residential quarter. The entire outside facade has been repainted and lanscaped to match the new surroundings.
Yan Jing Si - is located at the intersection of Dian Mian Ave, Chang Yuan Middle Road, and Ke Jin Road. You can take bus 7, 116, 138, 146, 151, C1, C3, or C69 to the Tuan Shan Qian Suo bus stop or take bus 56, 180, C10, or K13 to the Chang Yuan Lu Kou bus stop. You will notice that this area is very close to the Coca Cola bottling Company just 2 blocks away. The new residential Quarter is named Holiday City or Jia Ri Cheng Shi. The shopping center area is called Joy Park.
HFCAMPO: You got me all excited about Xu Ning Si 虚宁寺, and then I just realized...I have most likely been there already, a year ago, when I climbed Mt Changchong, just didn't think much of it (too new and therefore soulless, and the artwork couldn't compare to the Bamboo temple, though it was certainly not -bad-). Here's pictures of the temple I visited there, a year or so ago:
i.imgur.com/MXAnEh.jpg
i.imgur.com/kLknBh.jpg
The old temple had just been bulldozered down along a slope: i.imgur.com/ouwkPh.jpg
A google image search seem to confirm, to my dissapointment, that this is indeed 虚宁寺. Still, given that you like it so much, I guess it might be worth giving it a second chance, maybe I didn't stop to appreciate it last time; it could always we combined with the other temples you mentioned along Longquan road.
I have completed my visit to all the temples in WuHua District but I have failed to find one temple; Yun Gan Si Ling.
YUN GAN SI LING – 云感寺灵 – According to the directions in Baidu, this temple is located very near or is part of LING GAN SI – 灵感寺 – Ling Gan Si is located on the fork in the road that leads to Bamboo Temple and Jiao Ye Park – BUS C61, C62, C63.
There are a few occassions where one temple is located inside another temple. I searched all throughout Ling Gan Si but was unable to find Yun Gan Si Ling. We questioned many people but where still unable to find this temple.
Zhang Jia Si - 张家寺 + Bao En Si - 报恩寺 - (Song Hua Ba Reservoir)
From the North Bus Station take bus 126 to the Zhong Ba Cun bus stop. Bao En Temple has been renamed and is inside a larger temple named CHANG CHUN SI – 常春寺.
Zhang Jia Temple was destroyed long ago and some old houses were built on the remains of the temple. The house is now also destroyed and some of the steps and walls from the original temple are still visible.
I also had a chance to visit the reservoir near by and took some great Panoramic shots of the Shui Ku = Reservoir.
I haven't been to many, but, for my money, Bamboo Temple is the best. This is due in some part to its tranquility, enormous cedar trees, manicured gards and surrounding natural beauty. But mostly it's because of the arhat statues. I have never seen anything like those, anywhere. That's saying a lot in the land of 山寨. Are there any other temples in Kunming that contain artwork of such a bold, expressive and original nature?
From the temples I've been to, nothing really beats the arhats of the Bamboo temple, nor does anything beat the Bamboo temple in general in terms of art quality; it has the best heavenly kings, the best apsara wall paintings, the best animal statues, etc.
That being said, there are many temples with the same arhats portrayed in more dynamic ways, for example the two buddhist temples in the Western Hills; one of them, Huating si, has the room filled with arhats in such a way it's almost scary to wander around there; this is the best contender to the Bamboo temple, imo. Similar arrangements, though of arguably inferior quality, can also be found in the temples of Guandu Old Town (one of which is quite lavish), and probably a fair number of smaller ones as well (like the Huguo si that I was in i Chenggong the other day). But the Bamboo temple is considered the best for a reason; you'd probably have to go all the way to Dhondrupling Gompa in Benzilan to see something as awesome. (If you like temples, and are ever going from Shangri-la to Deqin, do NOT miss this temple, it has an eerily awesome room dedicated to the 'evil' bodhisattvas (dharmapalas) all the walls painted pitch black with depictions of skulls and flayed skins and blood and intestines).
@DantheMan: I agree with Natsymir, Huating Temple's arhats are as bold and expressive than those at Bamboo Temple, if not more so. Not sure how they compare in originality, as Huating's were apparently inspired by Bamboo's. One area in which Huating undoubtedly one-ups Bamboo: It has rubing.
www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/2625/getting_away_xishan
There are 8 temples inside Guan Du Gu Zhen: BUS 32, 165, 185, 186, 210, A12, K15.
DOU MU GE – 斗姆阁 – Guan Du Zhen –
FA DING SI – 法定寺 - Guan Du Zhen –
GUAN DU GU ZHEN SHAO LIN SI – 官渡古镇少林寺 - Guan Du Zhen
GUAN YIN SI – 观音寺 - Guan Du Zhen –
HUA GUANG MIAO – 华光庙 - Guan Du Zhen –
LING YUN GE – 凌云阁 - Guan Du Zhen –
SONG SHAN SHAO LIN SI KUN WU SENG YUAN – 嵩山少林寺昆武僧院
TU ZHU MIAO – 土主庙 - Guan Du Zhen –
