Feeling I've been neglecting Buddhism a little, I took today to visit 潭柘寺 Tanzhe, the oldest temple in Beijing. Older, in fact, than Beijing - 3rd century CE - it's in the western hills, not quite two hours by public transit from here. If there are monks around, I didn't see them, but there were plenty of stands selling incense and candles, pendants, etc, and a full suite of buddhas, bodhisattvas and others to receive them. Here is 文武财神 Wenwu, one of several gods of wealth on the premise:
A historic ordination platform has been recently restored with hopes of spreading 中国佛教文化思想 "Chinese Buddhist thinking," whatever that might be. Like any monks, the "塔林 pagoda forest" was off limits to tourists, so on my way back I decided to check out 16th century 慈寿寺 Cishou, the temple for which my subway transfer station was named; a mural (above) recalls that Beijing was known as the city of pagodas. The pagoda stands in a lovely park; no trace of the rest of the temple.
Feeling I've been neglecting Buddhism a little, I took today to visit 潭柘寺 Tanzhe, the oldest temple in Beijing. Older, in fact, than Beijing - 3rd century CE - it's in the western hills, not quite two hours by public transit from here. If there are monks around, I didn't see them, but there were plenty of stands selling incense and candles, pendants, etc, and a full suite of buddhas, bodhisattvas and others to receive them. Here is 文武财神 Wenwu, one of several gods of wealth on the premise: 
