Founded in the 9th century, the monastery was destroyed and reconstructed in 17th century. Among the treasures here are a white jade Buddha from Myanmar, Ming and Qing paintings, calligraphy, a stone tablet engraved with 1,000 Buddhist figures (540 A.D.) and ceremonial musical instruments. Unfortunately, most of the more valuable items are locked asway and required special permission to be viewed.

 

The Arhat Hall, built in the 19th century, contains 500 two-metre high clay figurines of Buddhist saints and disciples - well, not all of them: among this spaced-out lot are two earthlings, the emperors Kangxi and Qianlong. They're distinguishable by their royal costumes, beards, boots and capes.

 

About 1 km from the monastery is Osmanthus Lake with its bamboo groves and Osmanthus trees. In the middle of the lake is a small memorial hall for the Ming scholar Yang Shengan.

 

Baoguang Temple has an excellent vegetarian restaurant (open 10 am- 3 pm) where a huge array of dishes is prepared by monastic chefs. It is best to be here around lunch time, when there are more dishes available.