Our last stop for our day in Datong's inner old city was Huayan Monastery and Temple complex. Although it's been rebuilt several times through the centuries it has managed to keep it's ancient, architectural designs intact. It supposedly looks, architecturally, as it did centuries ago. Today, Huayan Temple is a designated Buddhism temple by the State Council of China.

To say this complex is big is an understatement. There are a handful of halls, a library, a wooden pagoda, a bell tower, a drum tower a gift shop and some other structures that we didn't get close enough to explore. After an hour and a half, we still hadn't finished walking it all yet. Here's some images:

I think if we had another hour we could have finished walking the complex but we didn't so the last structure we got to explore was the wooden pagoda. Before entering the pagoda, everyone must put on "shoe socks" so your shoes won't damage the wood, here have a look:

Huayan Temple and Monastery is really a must see if you're in the area and into Buddhism and ancient architecture. The complex is really quite large and I suggest you budget two hours to see everything. Here's some parting shots:

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Ray

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