Jietai Temple

Located on Ma'an Mountain in Beijing's Mentougou District, the temple was built in the fifth year of Wude period of the Tang Dynasty (622 AD), and was originally named "Huiju Temple". It was also known as Jietan Temple because senior monk Fajun built a Buddhist altar here in the Liao Dynasty and many monks from all directions came to get ordained. The temple is famous for holding the largest Buddhist altar in the country.
The temple sits in the west and faces east, and the central axis of the temple is lined up with the Hall of the Mountain Gate, the bell and drum towers, the Hall of the Heavenly King, the Hall of the Great Hero, the Thousand Buddha Pavilion (ruins), the Hall of the Guanyin and the Hall of Buddhist Altar. Among them, the altar is the central building. The halls are built according to the mountain, which is very spectacular. The northwest courtyard has the largest Buddhist altar in China, which is known as one of the three largest Buddhist altars in China along with that of the Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou and the Zhaoqing Temple in Hangzhou.
Jietai Temple is especially famous for its pine trees. " Tanzhe Temple is famous for its springs, while Jietai Temple is famous for its pines. The active pine, the free pine, the nine-dragon pine, the holding tower pine and the reclining dragon pine are collectively called the five pines of the temple. Whenever the breeze comes, the pine wave bursts, forming a unique landscape of the " Jietai Pine Wave ".
Jietai Temple is a national key cultural relics protection unit, which is the temple that preserves the most and complete cultural relics of the Liao Dynasty in northern China. Specially, it has preserved pagodas, sutra banners, Buddhist altars and other rare treasures of the Liao Dynasty.