The Eastern Discovery Tour
Day 10

Day 10 saw a complete lack of anything to do with theme parks, not even a set of dodgems anywhere. I did though manage to tick of some of the last things I wanted to do on my sightseeing list. I did the Lama Temple in the mourning, followed by the Botanical Gardens in the afternoon. I then had enough time to visit Xiangshan Park, close to the Botanical Gardens.

To reach the The Lama Temple (or Yonghe Gong), I just walked from my hotel, as it was within walking distance. If your hotel isn't you can get the metro to Yonghe Gong (line 2 + 5) from where it's a short walk South.

The Lama Temple was on the touristy side, although not to the point where the experience was ruined. In fact the shops around the entrance were one of the better places to buy souvenirs at a fixed price.

The Lama Temple is seen as one of the most elaborate Temple complexes in the City, and with architecture like this you can see why.

The area around The Lama Temple also looked interesting as well. I'm told there's another temple, plus the Hutongs look good as well. If I had more time I would have taken some time to explore them.

One advantage of visiting here instead of the Forbidden City or Temple of Heaven is you are allowed in most of the buildings, allowing you to appreciate the interiors a lot more.

One of several impressive buildings down the centre of the complex.

I can't show you many of the buildings interiors, as your not allowed to take photos. This though is one of the smaller interiors, taken from outside the building.

Some of the buildings to the side also had some small museums in them, which contained some nice items, worth taking a look at.

The most impressive thing I saw, which I wasn't allowed to take a photo of was the Statue of Maitreya. As the sign above says it's a 28 metre high stature. This was platted in gold and enclosed in one of the temples, resulting in a breathtaking sight.

Overall I thought the Lama Temple was a good place to visit. I wouldn't say it's a must visit, but the fact it can be done in a few hours and it's convenient to reach by public transport makes it somewhere that would make any itinerary I would make if visiting Beijing again. It would be a good place to spend the afternoon after doing the Forbidden City or Summer Palace in the mourning.