Golden Rooster Temple

　　The Golden Rooster Temple is situated on Longfeng Mountain, approximately 15 kilometers south of Jinping in Lanping County. It gets its name from the legend of a golden rooster associated with this mountain. The site boasts perilous terrain, ancient towering trees, and a picturesque landscape nestled against mountains and beside water, making it a renowned Buddhist shrine and scenic destination in Lanping.

　　Originally built in the 15th year of the Jiaqing reign during the Qing Dynasty (1810 AD), the temple was renovated in the 33rd year of the Guangxu reign (1907 AD). Over the course of 97 years, structures such as the Maitreya Hall, Guanyin Hall, Three Sovereigns Hall, Jade Emperor Pavilion, Dragon Shrine, Earth Goddess Shrine, Three Pure Ones Pavilion, Treasure Vault, and Dragon King Pond were constructed. Except for the three halls, one pavilion, and the Dragon God Shrine, all buildings were made of stone. Built ingeniously along the mountain cliffs, the temple complex is majestic in scale and covers an area of about twenty acres.

　　The Golden Rooster Temple complex is “built along rock faces and within natural cavities—some halls are carved directly from stone, with statues sculpted from the rock itself; some caves are drilled through cliffs, and steep paths are hewn into the rock face. Most of the temple buildings are interconnected by stone stairways.” Surrounded by uniquely shaped peaks, ancient trees, swaying bamboo, fragrant blossoms, and birdsong, it is an ideal place for sightseeing, hiking, spiritual practice, and Buddhist worship. The temple complex features large-scale historic architecture, exquisitely crafted stone carvings, and inscriptions by scholars, alongside legends of immortals and Buddhas, giving it significant historical and artistic value. It was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit of Lanping County in 1986 and recognized as a prefectural-level cultural relic protection site in 1989.