Badachu 八大处

About Badachu

Its name refers to eight sites, so the attraction is a landscape of separate compounds rather than one temple courtyard. Lingguang Temple, Dabei Temple, Xiangjie Temple, and Baozhu Cave are among the named places in the complex. Choose a limited temple route and let the hillside setting shape the day; reaching every upper site involves a different outing from seeing the lower compounds and their architecture.

The temples were built during the Sui, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and the Qing-dynasty Minister of Rites Guiqing (贵庆) lived here in retirement in his later years. They were damaged by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, and after 1949 the complex was restored and opened as Badachu Park; during the Cultural Revolution, Buddha statues and ritual objects at the temples suffered severe damage. Religious activity gradually stopped at the temples, though Lingguang Temple resumed it in the 1980s under the China Buddhist Association.

The temples are spread across three hills at the southern foot of Beijing's Western Hills (西山): Cuiwei Mountain (翠微山), formerly called Pingpo Mountain (平坡山), the highest of the three and home to five of the temples; Jue Mountain (觉山), popularly known as Hutou Mountain (虎头山), with two temples; and Lushi Mountain (卢师山), which holds Zhengguo Temple and, according to local tradition, is where a monk named Lu Shi tamed two dragons at the end of the Sui dynasty and buried them.

In 1957 'Xishan Badachu' (西山八大处) was placed on the first list of Beijing Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Units (北京市文物保护单位). Badachu Park is also rated a national AAAA-level tourist attraction (国家AAAA级旅游景区) and designated one of Beijing's model parks; the five-character park name was written by Zhao Puchu (赵朴初).

What to look for

• Lingguang Temple: look at the pagoda and the temple’s position within the lower religious landscape.
• Dabei and Xiangjie temple settings: compare separate compounds on the wooded slopes rather than treating them as one building.

Location & getting there

Getting to Badachu

The complex lies at the foot of the Western Hills in Shijingshan. Use Badachu Park as the arrival destination and select a temple circuit from the entrance map.

• The temples occupy different heights and slopes; a direct line between map pins is not a pedestrian route through the park.