Jin Dian
The centerpiece of this gorgeous Daoist temple complex, located 10km (6 miles) northeast of town, is the small but exquisite Golden Temple, built in 1671 on a two-tiered marble platform ringed by beautifully carved balustrades. The weathered 6.7m-high (22-ft.), 7.8m-wide (25-ft.), 250-ton hall has a double-eaved roof with gables, beams, columns, lattice doors, and lattice windows, all cast in bronze. Inside is a 1.5m-tall (5-ft.) bronze statue of Zhen Wu, the legendary God of the North, flanked by a girl and a boy servant. Beyond the Golden Temple at the summit of the hill is the Bell Tower (Zhong Lou), a 36m-high (118-ft.), three-story square structure with a total of 36 flying eaves evoking flying phoenixes that was built only in 1983. Inside hangs a 14-ton bronze bell, used to signal time as well as to sound the alarm at the city's southern gate. A ¥15 cable car now runs from the temple to the World Horticultural Expo Garden.
The centerpiece of this gorgeous Daoist temple complex, located 10km (6 miles) northeast of town, is the small but exquisite Golden Temple, built in 1671 on a two-tiered marble platform ringed by beautifully carved balustrades. The weathered 6.7m-high (22-ft.), 7.8m-wide (25-ft.), 250-ton hall has a double-eaved roof with gables, beams, columns, lattice doors, and lattice windows, all cast in bronze. Inside is a 1.5m-tall (5-ft.) bronze statue of Zhen Wu, the legendary God of the North, flanked by a girl and a boy servant. Beyond the Golden Temple at the summit of the hill is the Bell Tower (Zhong Lou), a 36m-high (118-ft.), three-story square structure with a total of 36 flying eaves evoking flying phoenixes that was built only in 1983. Inside hangs a 14-ton bronze bell, used to signal time as well as to sound the alarm at the city's southern gate. A ¥15 cable car now runs from the temple to the World Horticultural Expo Garden.
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