Kaiyuan Temple..

The majestic pagoda at Kaiyun Temple
see all photos »

Leaving Putian, we continued our journey to Quanzhou city and we visited the very first Buddhist temple built at its West Street - Kaiyuan Temple (RMB10/person). Kaiyuan Temple was built in 686 (during Tang Dynasty) and it was renowned for its twin pagodas, namely The East (Zhenguo) and West (Renshuo) Pagodas, which looked extremely majestic and prominent in the temple courtyard. These 40 m tall pagodas were brownish, stony and octagonal.They had five storeys in total and each of them was exquisitely carved with simple yet vivid sculptures. In addition, both pagodas had an extroardinary past whereby it was said that they managed to remain intact despite the severe earthquakes, which took place thousands years ago. Thus, The East and West pagodas were also well known as 'The Pearl Of Architechture'  in China!!