---

Two of our days in Chengdu we spent visiting Buddhist temples and monasteries and homes of famous poets. The temples and monasteries are as old as 1200 years. It is truly amazing to see that even through fires and wars the monks were able to maintain their religion and buildings to modern times. In visiting the monasteries and temples we had to be mindful of taking pictures. The monks have opened their churches to the public but like to keep their privacy and the main hall is always off limits to pictures.

We took a cable car up to the Monastery of Ten Thousand Years. Built in the 4th century, it has burned several times with the present brick building being built in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). In this hall is the statue of the Bodhisattva Puxian on a white elephant, 8.5 meters high and weighing 62,000 kilograms. Very impressive to see. We walked around the statue three times for good luck. You can never have enough good luck.

We visited the home of a very famous poet from the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) in Chengdu, Du Fu. He was a government official until he became disenchanted with the path the government was taking and turned to a life of writing poetry. His collection of more than 240 poems is still popular today and according to our guide is still taught in the schools. She said that the elementary school children study his poems about nature and then the older children study his poems on politics. In 2001 they found a village on the property that they believe was the original home where Du Fu had lived in 759 AD.

The final temple we visited was the Wenshu Temple which is the best preserved Buddhist temple in Chengdu. Originally built in the tang dynasty, it houses many cultural relics and is famous for its exquisite garden and solemn halls.

Next to the Wenshu Temple is Jinli Old Street which has been preserved as it was in Old China. There are many craftsmen working here and street foods of all kinds. We could have spent a day exploring here.

---