Page 45 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Beijing

Places of Worship ❮❮ 43

years old, the mosque looks
splendid, having been renovated to
the tune of $2.4 million (see p76).
Fayuan Temple
8
This temple doubles as the
city’s Buddhist Academy. Founded in
1956, the Academy trains monks to
serve in monasteries throughout
China. The temple has an excellent
collection of sculptures, including a
giant reclining Buddha (see p74).
St. Michael’s Church
9
Facade of the Gothic North Cathedral MAP N5 • Dong Jiao Min Xiang
• Subway: Chongwen Men
North Cathedral
6 One of the city’s less well-known
churches, St. Michael’s is hidden
MAP J2 • Xishiku Dajie
• Subway: Xidan away in the old Legation Quarter
The white-trimmed blue facade of (see p76). It was built in 1901, with
this cathedral, a twin-towered piece three Gothic spires, to serve the
of Gothic confectionery, masks a area’s various embassies. Narrowly
bloody past: not long after the Jesuits escaping destruction during the
finished the church in 1889, it came Cultural Revolution, it was renovated
under siege during the Boxer by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic
Rebellion. Many of the congregation Church, to whom it now belongs.
sheltering inside were killed. Lama Temple
Niu Jie Mosque
7 0
One of the most notable
There are about 200,000
centers of Buddhism outside Tibet
Muslims in Beijing. The majority live until it was shut down during the
in the Niu Jie District, which is a busy Cultural Revolution, this temple was
area with halal butchers, bakers, and reputedly saved from destruction by
restaurants. The mosque is the city’s the intervention of the then president,
oldest and largest Islamic place of Zhou Enlai. The precincts are home
worship. Despite being over 1,000 to around 70 monks (see pp20–21).

Gilded statues at the Lama Temple, an important Buddhist center

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