The pagoda at Longhua Temple in Shanghai stands outside the front gate, and is its most famous feature. It is the only ancient pagoda remaining in the city; while the foundations may be older, and there have been extensive repairs, the core of the current structure dates to 977.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, August 25, 2025
The "True Relic Pagoda" at Famen Temple in Xi'an, Shaanxi, collapsed in 1981; relics, including a finger bone of the Buddha, were found in a vault underneath it in 1987. The relic is now on display in a modern (and, IMO, "ugly") structure nearby. The reconstructed pagoda here was completed in 1988.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, August 22, 2025
The 250-foot (75.3 m) stupa (properly called the "Great White Pagoda") at Tayuan Temple is the symbol of Wutai Shan, Shanxi. Built in 1302, it originally belonged to nearby Xiantong Temple. In 1407 it was separated and became a temple in its own right, named simply Tayuan, the "Pagoda Compound."
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, August 8, 2025
The Qiyun Pagoda in Luoyang, Henan, has a long history. Its compound is attached to Baima Temple, which is supposedly the first temple in China. This is an 1165 reconstruction; it is said the original was built of wood in 64 (!) over a "mystical" mound containing a Buddha relic sent by King Ashoka.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, August 1, 2025
A pagoda peeks past the Main Hall at Lingyanshan Temple in Suzhou, Jiangsu. King Fuchai of Wu built a palace on the site for his gorgeous concubines, including Xi Shi, one of the Four Beauties in Ancient China (and a spy for his enemy, King Goujian of Yue). Fuchai later converted the palace to a Daoist temple; the Buddhist temple was built on the site centuries later.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, July 11, 2025
This pyramid-like mound is all that remains of Yongning Temple Pagoda in Luoyang, Henan. The wooden structure that rested on it was once perhaps 147 meters (nearly 500 feet) tall, which would have made it then the world's tallest building. It burned in 534 in a fire that lasted for three months!
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, July 3, 2025
Not quite as impressive as its more famous, larger neighbor, still the Small Wild Goose Pagoda at Xiaoyan Temple in Xi'an, Shaanxi, has its own charm. Here I shot it from outside the closed grounds on a misty morning.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, June 18, 2025
These Twin Pagodas are one of two famous pairs in Kunming, Yunnan, China. They are all that's left of Dade Temple. Datting to 1477, they now stand in a tiny courtyard squeezed between buildings that appear to be a government office and an apartment building or dormitory.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, June 17, 2025
Hongshan Pagoda (completed in 1291) on the mountain behind Baotong Temple, Wuhan, Hubei, was built in memory of the Tang Dynasty Chan Master Ciren Lingji, founding monk of the temple and a direct disciple of the great Master Mazu Daoyi. Legend says Ciren could call down rain in times of drought.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, June 6, 2025
This kitschy statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva--the so-called "Laughing Buddha"--is seated in front of the base of the huge pagoda at Tianning Temple in Changzhou, Jiangsu. Opened in 2007, the pagoda stands at 505 feet (153.79 meters), and is claimed to be the tallest pagoda in the world.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 29, 2025
The unusually-shaped Haibaota Temple is in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, located on the edge of one of China's great deserts. The name, then, meaning "Sea Treasure Pagoda," may be ironic. The eleven-story pagoda stands 177 feet (54 meters) tall; the date of its construction is uncertain.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 27, 2025
Kunming, Yunnan, features two sets of Twin Pagodas that have "lost" their temples. One pair was at Dade Temple. The one shown here was at "East Temple" (its twin was at "West Temple"; the two are separated by some distance), here graced by a riot of purple flowers. Dongsi Ta and Xisi Ta were built in the late 8th or early 9th century.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 26, 2025
The Liuhe Pagoda (so-called for its prototype in Hangzhou) is all that remains from the time of the Qianlong Emperor at Yongyou Temple, Chengde, Hebei. It stands on what was once the grounds of the Qing emperors' summer retreat; I photographed it from outside of the walls.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 23, 2025
Zhizhe Tayuan is a small hall on Tiantai Shan housing a pagoda with the remains of Zhiyi, founder of Tiantai Buddhism. It lies in the mountains about five miles (8 km) north of Gaoming Temple, which was founded by Zhiyi (also called Tiantai Dashi and Zhizhe, "Wise One"), in the 6th century.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 22, 2025
The Twin Pagodas ("Shuang Ta") are at now-secularized Yongzuo ("Eternal Blessing") Temple, Taiyuan, Shanxi. Built in 1599 and 1609, each exceeds 54 meters in height. They are named Xuanwen ("declaring culture") and Wenfeng ("culture peak"), and are constructed of brick carved to appear like wood.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 12, 2025
The main compound seen from the top of the pagoda at Gaomin Temple, Yangzhou, Jiangsu. A young Canadian-Chinese monk I met on the bus lived there, and obtained permission for us to climb. (After such a kindness, how could I tell him: I hate stairs! But the views were spectacular.)
Posted to Reddit et al, May 7, 2025
The 1330 carved-brick pagoda holding the remains of Zhaozhou (Jp Joshu, 778–897) is the only ancient structure at Bailin Temple, Zhaoxian, Hebei.When asked if a dog has Buddha nature, Zhouzhou replied Wu (basically, "no"), leaving generations of students to puzzle out this gong'an (Jp ko'an).
Posted to Reddit et al, April 21, 2025
Lingxiao Pagoda, known as the "Wooden Pagoda" for its resemblance to wood (but its actual material is stone), stands on the site of the former Tianning Temple, Zhengding, Hebei. It is one of the famous "Four Pagodas of Zhengding," the best-known of which holds the remains of the Chan/Zen patriarch Linji/Rinzai.
Posted to Reddit et al, March 20, 2025
This small four-sided square stupa at Haizhuang Temple in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China has the Four Great Bodhisattvas portrayed in marble, one to a side.
Posted to Reddit et al, March 5, 2025
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| The stupa |
Posted to Reddit et al, February 17, 2025
