Golden Palace
northeast of Kunming, 8 km from the city center, China
Description:
The Golden Temple was built on the top of the Mingfeng hill (translated from Chinese - "Singing Phoenix") in 1620 by decree of Emperor Wan Li. Being an ardent adherent of Taoism, Wan Li saw in a dream the legendary immortal Lu Dongbin. The immortal ordered Wan Li to reach the foot of Mount Inwu (as Minfeng was then called), which he did the next morning.
On the spot, Wan Li saw a lonely old shepherd. As soon as Wan Li approached him, he disappeared, and two clay pots remained instead. Putting the pots together, Wan Li saw the character in the form of the first letter of the name Lu Dongbin. The emperor considered this as a sign from above and ordered to build a temple on this very place.
In 1857, the temple was looted by Muslims. The restoration took many years and 250 tons of hard bronze.
The road to the temple is winding and long. It is designed to help throw away all worries and bad thoughts on the way to the great shrine.