The Zhangye Grand Buddha Temple was constructed 900 years ago during the Yong'an Era of Emperor Chong of Western Hsia. The name of the Grand Buddha Temple has changed several times. Previous titles include: The Jiaye Rulai Temple, The Baojue Temple, and The Hongren Temple. China s largest indoor reclining Buddha, the Nirvana of ?akyamuni Buddha, lies in this temple. Adding to the visual splendor of the temple is its rich history. It is reported to be the birthplace of Hu Bilie (Kublai), emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, and was the final refuge for South Song Dynasty emperor Zhao Xian after he abdicated and became a monk.
Legend has it that a chancellor named Wei Mie of the Western Xia period ordered workers to dig into the ground to 1 to 1.3 meters deep to carve a reclining Buddha to be covered with glazed color tiles. The Giant Buddha Temple was built in 1098 to house the Buddha.
The current architectures in the Grand Buddha Temple are the Grand Buddha Hall, the Sutra Depository and the Earth Tower. The Grand Buddha Hall is huge in its scale, 33 meters in height and, in width, as long as 9 rooms. There are two engraved bricks on the both sides of the gate of the palace. The left one writes "Reaching the Elysian Fields" and "Western Paradise". The right one writes "Three Buddha in the Nirvana" and "Respect the Elysian and Develop the Sutra". There is a clay sculpture with wooden roughcast, which is 34.5 meters long, 7.5 meters wide in shoulder, 4 meters long in foot, and 2 meters in ear. The figure is covered with gold leaf and painted in various colors. It is so vividly made that if you look at it, it seems to be awake; however, if you try to call it, it seems to be sleeping. There are ten students behind the lying Buddha. Beside the two houses stand 18 arches. The frescos on the walls are descriptions of stories in "Journey to the West" and "Shan Hai Classic" (book on ancient Chinese geography). There are more than six thousand Buddha Sutra granted by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty in the Depositary of Buddhis.
In the Buddhist Classics Hall, there are more than 6000 tomes of lectures, some of which, written in gold and silver, are the rarest and most precious.
Giant Buddha statue in the temple The Clay Pagoda, one of the Five Elements Pagodas in Zhangye, has 13 stories, on the first and the second stories of which are four miniature pagodas, a feature rarely seen in other pagodas.
It is said that the Bieji Queen (a famous queen of the Yuan Dynasty) once lived in the Giant Buddha Temple, giving birth to Kublai Khan there. The Italian traveler Marco Polo, impressed by the magnificent architecture of the Giant Buddha Temple and by the prosperity of Zhangye city, lived here for more than a year.
The Zhangye Five Elements Pagoda stands 33.4 meters-high and is situated behind the temple. There are eight small individual pagodas placed on each corner of the first and second stories. This beautiful style is unique to the Zhangye Grand Buddha Temple.
Admission Fee: CNY 41
Opening Hours: 07:30 to 17:30
Recommended Time for a Visit: One Hour
How to get there:
Buses are available between the two cities in the East Station of Zhangye, which leave on an hourly basis. Tourists can also charter a motor tricycle in Shandan County, which will cost 8 yuan to and back. On the way back, tourists can visit Aili Musuem and so on.
Travel Tips:
Best Time to Travel These scenic spots are mainly indoor ones, so tourists can take a trip there around the year. However, it is least recommended to go there in the spring, since the sand dust is relatively frequent in that period and the weather is dry. Summer is the second least recommended time for travel, as it is very hot in summer there and it is necessary to take along a lot of water while traveling. Autumn is the best time around the year to take a trip there, when tourists can take a good picture of the crows at the white tower behind the Grand Buddha Temple. It is also a good choice to go there when it snows in the winter.