Ordination Terrace Temple

Ordination Terrace Temple, also known as Jietai Si or Jietai Temple, the temple of the altar, located at Ma'anshan in the Western Hills about 35 kilometers west of Beijing, was originally built in 622 AD in the Tang Dynasty and has a history of over 1400. The temple is a nice place for buddhists or non-buddhists to travel to and visit. It was known as Wisdom Accumulation Temple in the past, with several renovations and many names since after. A monk named Fa Jun built in the reign of Xianyong of the Liao Dynasty built the altar here. Then Buddhist Monks came all the way to built temples here and help people attain full monk statues. The Ordination Terrace Temple was called Wanshou in the reign of Zhengtong Emperor in Ming Dynasty. Its current name derives from the altar that was built to ordain new monks there which also gives the temple the nickname of Jietaisi which means

"the place for selecting Buddhas" in Chinese. The Ordination Terrace Temple is the largest one of the Three Altars in China, with the other two beijing Zhaoqing Temple in Hangzhou and Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou. Most of the buildings currently at the temple were built during the Qing Dynasty. The buildings face east in a Liao Dynasty style with the central axis pointing to the Beijing City 70 kilometers away. Along the central axis, the buildings are the Entrence Hall, Bell and Drum Towers, Heavenly King Hall, Mahavira Hall, the Ruins of Thousand Buddha Hall and the Ordination Terrace in the northwest of the temple. Besides, there are many featured courtyards including the Abbot's Courtyard, South Palace Courtyard, the Peony courtyard and the upper and lower courtyards. The Ordination Terrace Temple is well known for its ancient pine trees, which date from the Liao and Jin Dynasties

and are still growing strong to this day. The main hall of the temple Mahavira Hall originally had ten Ming sandalwood chairs. Three were placed on a high platform for the Abbot and two elders; three were placed to either side to sit witnesses to the ordination. The Ordination altar itself is made from white marble and is carved into three tiers, each of which is over one meter high, and is decorated with exquisite carvings of various deities. The Ordination Terrace Temple has long preserved precious cultural relics such as stone tablets and columns carved with Buddhist scriptures from Liao Dynasty to the Republic of China. The temple is now best know for its unique pines, rare peony species and the altar. You can even spend the night in the temple when you visit there. Here's some guide information of the Ordination Terrace Temple
Location: Ma'anshan, Western Hills, Mentougou District, Beijing, China             Contact number: 86 10 69806611           Tickets: CNY35        Opening hours: 08:00 - 17:30 in summer; 08:00 – 17:00 in winter