Chaozhou Ancient City 3H Extreme Punch Card 3 | The First Ancient Temple in Eastern Guangdong, Kaiyuan Temple

A 3-hour extreme punch card tour of Chaozhou Ancient City starts with a visit to Guangji Tower to see the Han River, then walking into the heart of the ancient city, passing through Paifang Street, where Western-style arcades and traditional archways blend perfectly, and you will see Kaiyuan Temple. Chaozhou has historically been the political center of Eastern Guangdong, serving as the seat of the state, road, and prefectural governments. In the 26th year of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty (738 AD), an imperial edict was issued to select ten major states and counties across the country to build large temples named after 'Kaiyuan'. Lifeng Temple, located in Ganlu Square of Chaozhou Ancient City, was one of them, later renamed Kaiyuan Temple, and is also one of the four existing ancient Kaiyuan temples in China. The Kaiyuan Temple complex consists of four sections, with a central axis, east side, and west side, forming a massive quadrangle compound. It is known as the 'First Ancient Temple in Eastern Guangdong' and is also the site of the Lingdong Buddhist College, enjoying the reputation of 'a blessed land for a million families, a jungle for three thousand worlds'. Entering Kaiyuan Temple, one can feel the strong Tang Dynasty atmosphere, with ancient cultural relics that have a long history visible everywhere, and the porcelain carvings on the rooftops are also very distinctive. The people of Chaoshan have a strong pioneering spirit, but at the same time, they place great importance on tradition, which perhaps is the core that drives them outward.