Zhengding's Longxing Temple and the Four Pagodas

I took a bus from downtown Shijiazhuang to Zhengding. Because I overslept, I didn't leave until almost ten o'clock. By the time I arrived at Longxing Temple, it was already past eleven. Along the way, I saw four ancient pagodas, had lunch, climbed the city wall, and it was just after three in the afternoon when I got on the bus back to the city. 1. Longxing Temple: Longxing Temple has six wonders: the Mani Hall, Guanyin sculpture, Longzang Temple stele, Thousand-Handed Guanyin, prayer wheels, and Wanli Buddha statues. The temple is quite large, and it took almost two hours to visit. Most of the cultural relics are remnants from the Song Dynasty. If you're short on time, just seeing the Guanyin sculpture is enough. I like it, and so did Lu Xun. He once had a photo of the Guanyin sculpture standing on his desk. 2. The Four Pagodas: After visiting Longxing Temple, I began my walk. First, I visited the Tianning Temple Pagoda, which seems to be solid. There's not much inside, so it's enough to just look at it from outside the walls. I ate donkey meat Huoshao next to Tianning Temple, and it was really good. Moreover, it's cheaper than the school cafeteria. Then I walked to Kaiyuan Temple. This Tang Dynasty temple has a Tang Dynasty pagoda and a bell tower (presumably). There's also an interesting archaeological site inside. After passing a city tower, I saw the Linji Temple Pagoda from a distance. It's located in a temple that's still in use and can be entered for free. In front of the temple, there's a tree with no leaves that will grow into a heart shape in summer. The last pagoda is called Guanghui Temple Pagoda. A relic from the Jin Dynasty, it's quite beautiful. Upon closer inspection, the top of the pagoda is adorned with small animals of various styles. The Guanghui Pagoda is so distinctive, it's hard to find a similar style in China. Climbing up the South Gate city wall, I saw the four ancient pagodas standing in this small ancient city, extending from north to south. Tickets: Longxing Temple 50, ancient pagodas 15. Linji Temple is free. In a hurry to go back to the city to rest, I missed many attractions. The Temple of Literature, Zhao Yun Temple, and others were all skipped. If you only have one hour to visit Zhengding, you must see the Guanyin sculpture at Longxing Temple, the essence of Zhengding.