Golden Temple

The Golden Temple / Golden Hall (Jindian) is also called Supreme Harmony Palace. It was built on Singing Phoenix Hill (Mingfengshan) in 1671 during the Qing Dynasty.

This Taoist temple is hidden amid a pine forest on Phoenix Song Mountain, 11 km north-east of Kunming. The original Ming temple was carted off to Dali; the present one dates from 1671 and was the brainchild of General Wh Sangui, who was dispatched by the Manchus in 1659 to quell uprisings in the region. Wu Sangui turned against the Manchus and set himself up as a rebel warlord, with the Golden Temple as his summer residence.

The name Golden Hall actually refers to the temple's North Pole Hall (Beijidian), which was constructed entirely of cast bronze, including its pillars, beams, roof tiles, arched doors and windows, statues, and incense burners. Weighing a hundred tons altogether, the hall is one of the largest bronze objects existing in China today.

The pillars, ornate door frames, walls, fittings and roof tiles of the 6 m-high temple are all made of bronze; the entire structure, laid on a white Dali marble foundation, is estimated to weigh more than 250 tons. In the courtyard are ancient camellia trees, one 600 years old. At the back there is a 14-ton bronze bell, cast in 1423.

To get there, take bus No. 10 or 71 from Kunming's north train station. Many travelers ride hired bikes to the temple, it's fairly level-going all the way to the base of the hill. Once you get here, you'll have to climb an easy hill path to the temple compound. A cable car runs from the temple to the World Horticultural Expo Garden.