Old Beijing 古北京

Wofo is a Buddhist temple located near the Beijing Botanical Garden of Beijing. The temple is best known as the location of the 'Recumbent Buddha', a large sculpture of the Buddha lying down created in 1321. The temple was first built in the 7th century and known as the Doulu temple. During the following centuries temple was destroyed and rebuilt numerous times while also undergoing name changes. The current incarnation dates from 1734. The temple's first recumbent Buddha was carved in carved in sandstone. In 1321, during the Yuan dynasty the sandstone carving was replaced by a 5.2 meter long statue made of bronze and weighing 2.5 tons.

The 45.7-metre high artificial hill was constructed in the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty entirely from the soil excavated in forming the moats of the Imperial Palace and nearby canals. It is especially impressive when one considers that all of this material was moved only by manual labor and animal power. Jingshan consists of five individual peaks, and on the top of each peak there lies an elaborate pavilion. These pavilions were used by officials for gathering and leisure purposes. These five peaks also draws the approximate historical axis of central Beijing.