The Temple of Enlightenment stands at the foot of Yangtai Hill in Beijing?s western suburbs. The rolling hills here are said to resemble a sleeping lion. The vista of two flanking temples-the Lotus Temple and the Temple of Universal Grace-sitting atop hills to the west and east of the Temple of Enlightenment, is popularly described as?A lion Rolling Two Embroidered Balls?or ?A Buddha and Two Bodhisattvas.?
Visitors go north beyond the Summer Palace, pass through Heishanhu, Xibeiwang, Heilongtan (Black Dragon Pool) and the Wenquan (Hot Springs), and then go through the two villages of Beianhe and Zhoujiaxiang before coming to the steep path, which leads to the main gate of the temple.
The principal structures in the temple are the Maitreya (Future Buddha) Hall, the main hall, the rear hall, the northern and southern courtyards and, at the very rear of the complex, a peaceful courtyard. The roof brackets and columns of the halls date from the early Ming period. A mountain spring flows by the Qiyun (Restful Clouds) Pavilion in the rear courtyard. By the spring there is a stupa which stands at he highest point in the temple complex.
Inside the temple is a Liao Dynasty stela on which it is record that more than 1,000 years ago, the temple was named the Clear Stream Court after the nearby springs. Although the carving is blurred and the stela itself broken into two pieces, most if the inscription remains legible. After1949, the broken stela was repaired and installed in a specially built brick niche.
There are many flowers and trees in the courtyards, the finest being the magnolias in the northern and southern courtyards. It is said that a monk brought two specimens in the southern courtyard from Sichuan during the Qianlong era, and one of them survives today. Another magnolia in the northern courtyard was transplanted here about 100 years ago, and grows alongside a gingko tree.
There are a number of interesting sights in the immediate vicinity; Vulture Peak, the tomb of a Qing prince, Yang Family Garden as well as the Lotus Temple and the Temple of Universal Grace, all of which are accessible by the mountain roads.
