Yanshou Temple, Yunjie Temple and Chaoyangdong Temple all stand at the foot of Phoenix Hill beside the Daling River about six kilometers east of Chaoyang City. The pagoda in Yunjie Temple is a rarely seen example of ancient pagodas built during the Liao Dynasty.
Originally called Moyun Pagoda, it is a multi-eaved square brick structure of thirteen levels, about thirty-two meters high. The interior is solid. The lower part of the pagoda is a single-level Sumeru pedestal with a false door in the middle of every side. The doors are flanked by carved patterns of lotus blossoms, musicians, celestial figures and other Buddhist images, all vivid and exquisite. Each side of the pagoda has a statue of Buddha seated on lotus petals. Above the statues of Buddha are carved canopies and flying apsarases; flanking them are bodhisattvas and small thirteen-storey square pagodas, each with a tiny statue of a seated Buddha engraved on them. The first level of eaves has carved brick brackets: the other twelve levels of eaves were made by stacking layers of bricks.
Since most multi-eaved pagodas of the Liao and Kin dynasties in north China are octagonal, this square pagoda is regarded as rare and valuable.
