Charity Temple

　　　　General Feng Yuxiang once lived in seclusion here, so the surrounding rocks are inscribed with many of his calligraphic works such as “True Hardship” and “Diligence and Frugality Are Treasures,” all written in large characters.

　　　　Charity Temple is divided into three sections: central, eastern, and western, with the Grand Mercy Hall (Dabei Hall) in the west section as the main structure. This three-bay hall houses a gold-lacquered wooden statue of Guanyin in the center, flanked by eight other deities including Bixia Yuanjun. It is quite rare in the suburbs of Beijing to find a hall where Buddhist and Taoist figures coexist.

　　　　On the southern hillside stands a Tibetan-style stupa, about 10 meters high, believed to be the relic pagoda of the Demon King Monk. On the 15th day of the third lunar month each year, the anniversary of the Demon King Monk’s enlightenment, Charity Temple holds a three-day temple fair and is considered one of the most popular temples in Western Beijing in terms of incense offerings. Although most of the statues in the temple have been damaged, the main halls remain largely intact. There are numerous stone carvings both inside and outside the temple, with those left by General Feng Yuxiang being the most eye-catching. These include large regular-script characters such as “Diligence and Frugality Are Treasures,” “True Hardship,” “Farming and Reading,” and “Detachment,” with the first seven characters each one foot square and the latter four each six inches square, engraved on the eastern hillside outside the mountain gate and the northern hillside behind the temple. Near the “Farming and Reading” and “Detachment” inscriptions, there are also over 200 characters excerpted from the *Book of Changes* (“Bagua Qian”), each about three inches square.

　　　　Phone: 88905988, 88905989

　　　　Location: Located on Tiantai Mountain in Shijingshan District

　　　　The layout of Charity Temple seems rather unusual. Most temples are arranged along a central axis, leading step-by-step from the mountain gate to the main hall, but Charity Temple lacks a formal mountain gate suitable for displaying the temple name. Instead, a series of large and small halls begin appearing along the roadside a few hundred meters from the temple, lined up one after another, extending all the way to near the main hall.

　　　　Even the main architectural part of the temple lacks the neat planning typical of religious buildings, resembling a jumbled courtyard of deities and immortals—lively and bustling, with one or two clay figurines residing in each hall. It is unclear whether this layout follows some special design principle or resulted from temporary chaos during construction.

　　　　Unfortunately, no detailed information about Charity Temple could be found. It is only known to have been built during the Ming Dynasty, but the reason for constructing such a Buddhist-Taoist hybrid temple deep in the mountains remains rather obscure.

　　　　To get there, you can first go to Gaojing in Shijingshan, then take the “Heichen Road” via Heishitou to Shuangquan Temple. Alternatively, go toward Tanyu from Wulituo, head northeast all the way, and climb the mountain near the large landfill to reach Charity Temple.   Price Information       Opening Hours: 7:00–18:00

　　　　Ticket: 8 RMB for adults, 4 RMB for students

　　 Beijing Shijingshan