The Badachu (; also known as "Badachu Park") is a complex of

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

located on the outskirts of urban

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, which means "Eight Great Sites" that refers to the eight

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and

nunneries A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

scattered across the Cuiwei, Pingpo, and Lushi hills in Shijingshan District, at the foot of Beijing's

Western Hills The Western Hills () are the hills and mountains in the western part of Beijing. Geography Being an extension of the Taihang mountain range from the Hebei Province, the Western Hills cover approximately 17% of the Beijing municipality, incl ...

Three Mountains

The north one is Hutou Mountain (虎头山); the south one is Qinglong Mountain (青龙山), and the middle one is Cuiwei Mountain (翠微山). Cuiwei Mountain is also called Pingpo Mountain. It is the highest of the three mountains. It is the burial place of Princess Cuiwei. The mountain contains five temples: Sanshanan Nunnery, Dabei Temple, Longquan Nunnery, Xiangjie Temple, and Baozhu cave. Hutou Mountain means the head of a tiger. In the historical record, Hutou Mountain is also called Mingjue Mountain (名觉山). The mountain has two temples, Changan Temple and Lingguang Temple. Qinglong Mountain means green dragon. The east part of it is also called Lushi Mountain. According to legend, at the end of the Sui dynasty a monk named Lu Shi tamed two dragons and buried them in the mountain. The mountain also has the ruins of four more temples and a yard. The mountain has one of the Eight Temples, Zhengguo Temple.

Gallery

Image:Baoqieshita.JPG, Treasure trunk pagoda at Lingguang Temple File:Badachu dabeisishanmen.JPG, Entrance to the Dabei Temple File:Badachu xiangjiesishanmen.JPG, Entrance to the Xiangjie Temple File:Badachu baozhudongpaifang.JPG, Paifang at the Baozhu Cave File:Lingguangsi.JPG, Lingguang Temple

Notes

References

External links

The Eight Great Temples in the Western Hills (Badachu)
Buddhist temples in Beijing Parks in Beijing Shijingshan District {{PRChina-Buddhist-temple-stub