No. 17: Daci'en Temple,Xi'an, Shaanxi

(This article was published in the Shenzhen Daily on April 23, 2012.)

The Great Goose Pagoda (大雁塔) at Daci'en Temple (大慈恩寺), Xi'an, Shaanxi (陕西, 西安市). It
was built to hold items brought back from ancient India (天竺) by the monk Xuanzang (玄奘).

September 1, 2009 - After a great vegetarian lunch at Daxingshan Temple, my wife Lila and I took local buses to Daci'en, the Temple of Great Compassion. It's the home of Xi'an's Number One symbol, the Dayan Ta or "Giant Wild Goose Pagoda."

No. 16: Daxingshan Temple,Xi'an, Shaanxi

(This article was published in the Shenzhen Daily on April 16, 2012.)

An unusual reclining Maitreya (弥勒) in the Heavenly Kings' (天王) Hall (殿) at Daxingshan
Temple (大兴善寺) in Xi'an, Shaanxi (陕西, 西安市). He is usually seen sitting.

September 1, 2009 - The next morning, our first goal was Daxingshan Si (Great Propagation of Goodness Temple), not far outside Xi'an's south gate.

No. 15: Wolong Temple,Xi'an, Shaanxi

(This article was published in the Shenzhen Daily on April 9, 2012.)

When we went to Wolong Temple (卧龙寺) in Xi'an, Shaanxi(陕西, 西安市),
we discovered that all of the figures in the main hall (大雄宝殿),
including the 24 Deva Kings (天王), were new and still being finished.

August 31, 2009 - Leaving Guangren Temple, my wife and I took a couple of local buses to the only other Key Temple located inside Xi'an's city walls.

Wolong Temple is a short walk from Xi'an's main South Gate: east down the "Academy Alley" and past the Stele Forest Museum, near the Wenchang Gate.

No. 14: Guangren Temple,Xi'an, Shaanxi

(This article was published in the Shenzhen Daily on April 2, 2012.)

My first temple in Xi'an, Shaanxi (陕西, 西安市), was Guangren Temple
(广仁寺), built in Tibetan style, with these stupas out front.

August 31, 2009 - Nestled inside the northwest corner of the ancient city walls of Xi'an is the little-visited Guangren Si (The Temple for Spreading Benevolence). It's a small but full-blown Tibetan-style temple, with maroon walls, white stupas, prayer wheels, multicolored pennants flapping in the wind, and lamas in typical maroon robes with yellow undergarments.

EXTRA: The Terracotta Warriors,Xi'an, Shaanxi

(This article was published in the Shenzhen Daily on March 26, 2012.)

Before visiting any temples in Xi'an, Shaanxi(陕西, 西安市), we
visited the Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑) site outside of the city.

August 30, 2009 - Three days after my return from Shanghai, I arrived in the fabled ancient capital of Xi'an, this time with my wife in tow.

The plan was to see four of Xi'an's eight temples on my list, all of them inside or very near the city walls (and thus accessible by local buses). But at my wife's insistence, we started our trip far from the walls themselves--about 40 kilometers outside, in fact, in Lintong County at the site of the breathtaking Terracotta Warriors.

Trip 2: Xi'an 1(Near the city walls)(August 28-September 2, 2009)

This is a record of my second trip to visit the 142 Key Temples of China. Links lead to articles on the temple (or other site) named.