Walking in Baiyun Temple （白云寺）- China

Baiyun Temple is a cursed temple built during the Ming Dynasty.

Before getting into this, let me tell you the legend about the origin of Baiyun Temple.

It is said that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, a peasant named Puen became a monk because he was enlightened by Guanyin Bodhisattva. Puen decided to cross the Yangliu River to prove his faith. But before crossing the river, he made a promise to himself: "If I survive, I will build a temple to honor Guanyin Bodhisattva." Puen smoothly crossed the river with a boat named 白云 (Baiyun) which means “white cloud” in Chinese. Then, he built Baiyun Temple.

Just as you enter, you are welcomed by a very spacious courtyard with elegant green trees and two pavilions. In the center, there is a place to light candles. If you go in the evening, you will always find a worker cleaning it.

In the next area, you can see one of the most beautiful images I have ever seen in a temple: the 9.9 meter high golden statue of Amitabha Buddha standing on the top of the mountain, and the 7 meter high bronze statue of Guanyin at the courtyard.

The upper part of the temple is reached by a carved stone staircase. At every level, there are sculptures and viewpoints where you could spend the whole afternoon reading.

The upper part is where Amitabha Buddha is located. It is a quite windy area, especially in the late afternoon.

Some people here say that Baiyun Temple is cursed because it was miraculously protected during the turmoil at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. But it began to fall into disrepair at the end of the Qing Dynasty. After the liberation, it was turned into a primary school and was completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

Although it had a stroke of bad luck and was damaged several times throughout history, it has now been reborn and the incense is flourishing once again.