Features
The park has eight ancient temples, which is why people called it eight main points park. The eight ancient temples were built during the late Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty, and then went through further construction in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The natural scenery of the eight main points is extremely beautiful, and the four seasons are picturesque.
Overview
The Badachu Park is located at the south foothill of Beijing's famous Xishan scenic spot. In spring, all sides of the hills are covered with apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, winter jasmine and fructus forsythiae, in succession. The clustered flowers are very beautiful. In the summer, the ridges and peaks are green and overlapping, verdant and elegant. Birds are singing and springs are flowing. In autumn, more than one hundred thousand trees of all varieties are scrambling to blossom, including the Common Smoke tree, the Twig and Leaf, the Torch Light, the Acer Truncatum and others. After an autumn frost, attractive scenery can be found everywhere. In winter, all is snowy white as the snow coagulates on the park to make the soil fertile; therefore, the park is becomes rich in vegetation, and the forest coverage rate reaches 97.2%.
Scenic spots of eight great sights
Lingguang TempleThe First Site: Changan Temple
Changan Temple was formerly known as Kind Temple and built at Ming Hongzhi in 17 years (in 1504). Years after its construction, it was expanded and then renamed as Changan Temple.
The second site: Lingguang Temple
Lingguang Temple is one of the most important existing temples of the eight main points, and was founded during the Tang Dynasty (766–779). Lingguang Temple enshrined and worshiped a pure copper statue of the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni, which was given as a present by the king monk of Thailand. In the Buddhist abbot sits a tower, FoYa stupa, built in 1958, and in the stupa sits is a gold Buddha tooth. It is said that only two gold Buddha teeth exist in the world, making Lingguang Temple a place of worldly Buddhist worship.
The third site: Three Mountains Temple
Three Mountains Temple is located among CuiWei Mountain, Flat Sloping Mountain and Lout Mountain. For this reason, it is named the Three Mountains Temple. Inside the temple are many statues, including one of Sakyamuni's, the founder of Buddhism and several different lifelike statues.
The fourth site: Temple of Great Mercy
Built during the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), this temple has on both its sides the eighteen disciples of the Buddha.
The Fifth site: Longquan Nunnery
The nunnery has five courtyards divided into three layers. The area is cool during summer, making it a suitable place for summer holidays.
The sixth site: Xiangjie Temple
This is the largest area of the eight point park. Emperors of past dynasties most enjoyed visiting this temple.
The seventh site: Pearl Temple
Inside a cave at the Pearl Temple, translucent gravel glitters like pearls, giving the temple its name. It is an excellent place for overlooking the beautiful city and for watching the sunrise.
The eighth site: Zhengguo Temple
Zhengguo Temple is the oldest temple among the eight main points. Inside the temple, a plant more than 600 years of age, named Pistacia chinensis Bunge, remains arborous in Beijing. Zhengguo Temple is also a place for an erratic glacial boulder, and its formation can be dated to 1 to 2 million years ago.
Other Activities
Cableway
The cableway of eight main points is a kind of cyclic cable car, and is the fastest and most convenient transportation available for reaching the peak. From the mountains, you can see marvelous evergreens, flowers and leaves during spring and autumn.
Mountain-climbing
Eight great sightspark is one of the most suitable places for mountain-climbing in the suburban area. Thousands of years of accumulated history and culture, rich and precious natural resources, and climate formed the three surrounded mountains, a special microclimate landform not too high or too low. This makes eight main points park the first place where people choose for climbing maintains.
Address: south foothill of Xishan scenic spot, Beijing (北京市西郊西山风景区南麓)
Open: 9:00 to 19:00
China Highlights can help you customize a tour to visit Badachu Park and other highlights in Beijing.