Guangxiao Temple

Guangzhou


The ‘Bright Filial Piety Temple’ is the oldest temple site in Guangzhou, dating from the 4th century. By the time of the Tang it was well established as a centre of Buddhist learning in southern China. Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, taught here. Most of the current buildings date from the 19th century or later, including a double-eaved main hall containing a 10m-tall Buddha statue.

Transportation

  • metro: Line 1 to Ximenkou, exit C

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Guangzhou attractions

1. Temple of the Six Banyan Trees

0.24 MILES

This Buddhist temple complex was first built in AD 537 to enshrine Buddhist relics brought over from India and placed in the octagonal Decorated Pagoda …

2. Huaisheng Mosque

0.46 MILES

You can't miss the 36m-high minaret thrusting up over Guangta Lu like a lighthouse. Enter just east of it and you can stroll all the way through the…

3. Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

0.65 MILES

An all-in-one ancestral shrine, Confucian school and ‘chamber of commerce’ for the Chen clan, this compound was built in 1894 by the residents of 72…

4. Mausoleum of the Nanyue King

0.68 MILES

You'll feel like Indiana Jones/Lara Croft (select as preferred) as you descend the two-millennia-old steps into an actual Han dynasty tomb. This was the…

5. Five Rams Statue

0.75 MILES

Erected in 1959 in Socialist realism style, this statue on a knoll in Yuexiu Park depicts the symbol of Guangzhou: five mythical rams who bore five…

6. Guangzhou City Museum

0.86 MILES

First built in 1380 as a military watchtower, the red-walled Zhenhai Tower (镇海楼, Zhènhǎi Lóu) is now home to the Guangzhou City Museum, which ascends…

7. Guangzhou Big Buddha Temple

0.94 MILES

Spanning a whole block, this ritzy Buddhist temple complex is most noticeable by the monolithic Chinese building on Wenming Lu lit up at night like a…

8. Guangzhou Art Gallery

0.94 MILES

Not to be confused with the far more impressive Guangdong Museum of Art, this dusty old museum has middling displays of concession-era porcelain, silks…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "china/guangdong/guangzhou/attractions/guangxiao-temple/a/poi-sig/472234/355940",
      "destination": "Guangzhou",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "China",
      "city": "Guangzhou",
      "position": "superzone"
    }