Tianshan Temple

Tianshan Temple

Tianshan Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Guide: Tianshan Temple is located atop the Tianshan Mountains in northern Hami. It gets its name from the Guan Di Temple built at the summit of the Tianshan Mountains in the 51st year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1786 AD). The Tianshan Highway branches off here, making a sharp turn—southward leads to Nanshankou, while northward leads to Koumenzi. At an altitude of over 2,700 meters, this is a lofty path through the clouds, historically serving as the essential route through the eastern Tianshan Mountains between sunny southern slopes and shaded northern ones. Introduction: Before the temple was built, this place was called “Heigan Ridge.” In the 14th year of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang Dynasty (640 AD), when Hou Junji pacified Gaochang, his deputy army commander and General of the Zuo Tunwei, Jiang Xingben, once manufactured siege equipment here. After the campaign, a victory stele was erected on the Tianshan ridge. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, it was called “Kuoshitu” Ridge (in Mongolian: Stele Ridge).

The current Tianshan Temple consists only of three empty brick-and-wood rooms and a broken stele, evoking the sentiment among visitors that “a crumbling temple and fragmented stele mirror the cold amid snow.” The Tianshan Road winds and twists through thirty-six switchbacks, flanked by high mountains and dense forests, where eagles cry and deer call. Following the mountain switchbacks and ascending to the summit of Tianshan Temple, one is greeted by a sudden panoramic view. Looking down, the landscape spreads out vast and boundless, with glimmers of snow, shifting from bright moonlight overhead, to clouds and mist shrouding the peaks, to heavy snowfall. Many travelers pause here to take in the wondrous natural scenery.

Nowadays, the city of Hami has erected a statue of Ban Chao at Tianshan Temple. Next to the temple is a small building that houses stone tablets from the Han, Tang, and Qing dynasties, among which the Tang Dynasty’s Jiang Xingben stele is included. In 2000, with approval from the local government, the original Tianshan Temple was demolished and a new one was reconstructed, along with an observation pavilion. In 2002, further investments were made to expand the site, adding facilities such as guardrails, walking paths, eco-friendly toilets, and scenic signage.

Hami City, Xinjiang