A short trip on bus 5 (¥2) or taxi (¥15 to ¥20) outside town takes you to the entrance of a shabby park (admission ¥2), at the back of which is this temple, a fascinating active monastery. The Three Sages Hall (Sānshèng Diàn) contains a ‘hermaphroditic Guanyin’ (it’s at the back of the temple). Dating to the Ming dynasty, the raised Wúliàng Palace (Wúliàng Diàn) was once used to store sutras but now houses a reclining Buddha in a glass cabinet. In addition to a venerably old post-and-beam interior (check out the fading carvings and paintings on the main posts), an absorbing feature is the minute pavilion to the right of the entrance containing a well whose ‘magic waters’ (神水; shénshuǐ ) are said to connect by subterranean streams to a Holy Lake (圣湖; Shènghú) in the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Drinking the well water is said to cure myriad ailments.
