During the period of Emperor Longqing in Ming Dynasty from 1567 to
1572, Aletanhan, a lead of Tumote Mongolia, was conferred as the
Shunyi Emperor of the Mongolian. Owing to the special honor, he
decided to enlarge Guihua, the old city of Hohhot and Hongci
Temple, an old Buddhist temple. Because the statue of Sakyamuni in
the temple was made of silver entirely, so the Hongci Temple is
also called the Silver Buddha Temple.
In the center of the main hall, the sliver statue of Sakyamuni,
which stands 2.55 meters high, is worshipped. Before the statue
there are a couple of gold wooden huge pillars, each engraved with
a dragon. In front of the hall there are a couple of hollow stone
powerful lions cast in 1627. Besides, there are other buildings in
the temple, like passing hall, east and west side halls, the
nine-room building and so on.
Just in front of the temple, there is a well whose water tastes
cool and fresh, and it wins the reputation as the best spring in
the region.