Brief information on Hanging Temple  

Hanging Temple is located on the west cliff of Jinlong Gorge at the foot of Hengshan Mountain, 5 kilometers (3 miles) south from Hun Yuan County and 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Datong downtown. Hanging Temple is the only existing temple in China where you can see the Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in one place. Hanging Temple got its name as it is situated on the west cliff of Jinlong Gorge more than 50 meters above the ground.

Hanging Temple, built in late Northern Wei Dynasty survived more than 1400 years. Afterwards it was renovated and maintained many times. During the reign of Wei Dynasty in North, the pulpit of Taoism was moved from south of Datong to the Hanging Temple. No noise can be heard near the Temple, even barking of dogs or crowing of a rooster as it was built considering the requirements of Taoism.

The Hanging Temple is an excellent example for the Chinese architecture tradition and style featuring the characteristics such as wonder, hanging and elegance. For its construction design and location choosing, it is indeed an architectural wonder. Being on the top of the cliff it is protected from floods; the curved mountain peak protects it from rain and snow, and the mountain around it also diminishes damage from direct sunrays. “Hanging” is another feature of the temple. There are 40 halls and cabinets in the temple. The temple is supported by more than 10 wooden props, of which some are not actually useful. A unique mechanical theory is applied to the framework building. Crossbeams are half-inserted into the rock as the foundation, and the rock in back becomes its support. Viewed from below, Hanging Temple seems to be a tumble-down castle in the air. The “elegance” of Hanging Temple is embodied in the layout and the shape of plane construction. It is built on the three-dimensional space by taking full advantage of the natural cliff. Its sophisticated design comes with the gate, bell and drum tower as well as a big hall and a small room. The temple contains about 80 sculptures made of copper, iron, terracotta and stone of which the features are well-carved.

The famous poet Li Bai of Tang Dynasty (735) wrote down the word ”spectacular” on the cliff after his Hanging Temple tour. The traveler Xu Xiake of Ming Dynasty highly praised Hanging Temple and called it “a giant of the world”.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Hanging Temple if you plan to visit Hanging Temple and have language problems.

Chinese Pinyin: Xuan Kong Si
Opening Times: 9:00-17:00
Ticket Price: CNY 60
Address: Hengshan Hanging Temple, Datong, Shanxi, China
How to Get to: Take the coach from Datong to Hunyuan County, then transfer from Hunyuan to Hanging Temple.