Great Bell TempleThe Qing Temple is home to the Ancient Bell Museum (Gu Zhong
Bowuguan) and is a must see for travellers en route to the Summer
Palace. The temple, originally known as 'Awakened Life Temple',
apparently wasn't experiencing enough 'awakening' and a 47-ton
bell, with a height of 22.7 feet (6.9m) was transported to the
temple on ice sleds in 1743. The bell is inscribed with Buddhist
Mantras on both the inside and outside of the body and features
over 227,000 characters in all. The bell was often chosen by the
emperors to pray for rain and blessings for the people of China and
was one of three projects that Emperor Yongle in the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644) commanded after re-establishing Beijing as the capital;
the other two were the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. The
bell is considered as an auspicious article in the Chinese
tradition and nowadays it is rung 108 times to begin the
celebrations at grand ceremonies.
Address: Bei San Huan Xi Lu 31A
Telephone: (0)10 6255 0819
Transportation: Bus routes: 361, 422, 425, 326. Metro: Da Zhong Si
(1302, exit A)
Opening Time: Open Tuesday to Sunday from 8:30am to
4pm
Admission: ¥10; ¥12 to climb the Bell Tower |
RSS Feeds
Find a Restaurant in Your City
