Free open royal temples - feel the warm winter sun that has lasted for a hundred years

Deep in an alley more than 400 meters away from the Forbidden City, there is a royal temple with a history of nearly 600 years - Zhizhu Temple.
Zhizhu Temple was built in the 21st year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty. It is the first Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing and was once used as the royal printing house for printing Buddhist scriptures and documents.
In the 1960s, this place became a motor factory, and the temple was in ruins...
In 2007, Belgian Wen Shounuo accidentally discovered this place. He spent five years repairing it and another five years transforming it into a public art space, which is open to the public free of charge all year round.
Today, the Zhizhu Temple has been restored to its original appearance and injected with new vitality. It has a French restaurant, a tea space, exhibition halls, galleries... There are regular art exhibitions and concerts, allowing us to travel through a century and feel the charm of history and art!

Post by Joseph Harris | Dec 11, 2023