Alongside the city's Ming walls and Xuánwǔ Lake (Xuánwǔ Hú) is Buddhist Jīmíng Temple, first built in AD 527 during the Three Kingdoms period and rebuilt many times. The seven-storey-tall Yàoshīfó Pagoda (药师佛塔) offers views over Xuánwǔ Lake. Enter the base of the pagoda to the spectacle of hundreds of gold Buddha figures in cabinets. Walk up to the rear of the temple and out onto the city wall (admission ¥15; 8am to 4pm) for splendid jaunts along the overgrown ramparts.
The temple also has a small shrine to the Indian monk and godfather to Shàolín boxing Bodhidharma (Damo), illustrated with a solitary shoe. This temple is the most active in Nánjīng and is packed with worshippers during the Lunar New Year. By 2015 the temple will be served by its own namesake metro station (Jimingsi), on lines 3 and 4.
