Guangsheng Temple

Guangsheng Temple stands on and below a hill in Hongdong county in two parts. The upper temple carries the Flying Rainbow Pagoda, built in 1515, a thirteen-storey octagonal tower faced entirely in glazed tiles of yellow, green and blue that make it one of the most striking glazed structures in China. The lower temple held Yuan dynasty wall paintings of exceptional quality; in the 1920s, with the temple in disrepair, monks sold sections to fund repairs, and they now hang in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City and elsewhere, with the empty walls and remaining fragments still visible. The nearby Water God Temple keeps Yuan murals including a rare depiction of theatre performers.

What you actually see

• The Flying Rainbow Pagoda - a 1515 tower faced in coloured glazed tile.
• The lower temple - the halls whose Yuan murals were sold abroad.
• The Water God Temple murals - Yuan paintings including a famous theatre scene.
• The upper and lower complexes - two temple groups linked by a hill path.

When to go

April to October; Shanxi winters are cold and the site exposed. It is quiet compared with major destinations. Reaching it needs a taxi from Hongdong or Linfen.

Honest expectations

The most celebrated murals are in American museums, not here, and the blank walls are part of the visit. The pagoda's interior stair is steep and sometimes closed. English interpretation is essentially absent.

Nearby

Hongdong's Great Locust Tree ancestral site is close; Linfen lies south.