Daming Buddhist Temple

Situated in what is today a northwestern suburb of the city of Yangzhou , Da Ming ("Great Understanding") Temple is one of the Eight Great Temples of Yangzhou, just as many other cities or districts of cities throughout China boast of 'eight great temples' (viz. the Eight Great Temples of the Western Hills district of Beijing ). As anyone familiar with Chinese culture will know, the number eight is particularly auspicious. For example, there are Eight Great Cuisine Schools in China, and in the city of Yangzhou itself, a group of heterodox calligraphers and painters formed their own special artistic group called the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, not to speak of the fact that a Chinese telephone number whose final set of digits (after the area code prefix) is all 8s will set you back a modest fortune.