Xiezhou Guandi Temple in Yuncheng

When visiting Yuncheng, of course you must go to the Xiezhou Guandi Temple. It's located in Xiguan of Xiezhou Town, Yuncheng City, about 20-some kilometers from the urban area. There are buses but you need to transfer, and the trip takes an hour and a half. We took a taxi, which cost over 50 yuan.

The main gate of Xiezhou Guandi Temple

The Xiezhou Guandi Temple is the ancestral temple of martial temples, located in Xiguan of Xiezhou Town, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province. It is backed by the Salt Lake to the north and faces the Zhongtiao Mountains. Built in the ninth year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (589 AD), it was expanded and renovated during the Song and Ming dynasties. In the 41st year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1702), it was destroyed by fire and took more than a decade to restore. The Xiezhou Guandi Temple covers a total area of 220,000 square meters with over 200 rooms, divided into the main temple and the Sworn Brotherhood Garden. It is the largest existing palace-style Taoist architectural complex and martial temple, honored as the 'Ancestral Temple of Guan Temples' and 'Crown of Martial Temples'. Inside the temple hang plaques inscribed by Emperor Kangxi's own hand: 'Righteousness Shines Across the Universe', by Qianlong: 'Divine Valor', by Xianfeng: 'Paragon for All Ages', and by Empress Dowager Cixi: 'Awe-inspiring Might'. The representative building is the 'Spring and Autumn Tower'.

Xiezhou Guandi Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a national AAAA-level tourist attraction. The 'Guan Gong Faith and Customs' have been included in the national intangible cultural heritage list, and the 'Guan Gong Cultural Festival' has been rated as one of China's top ten figure-themed festivals. In 2012, the 'Guan Sheng Cultural Architectural Complex' was added to China's tentative list of World Cultural Heritage sites.

Visitor center of Xiezhou Guandi Temple: the current ticket price is 60 yuan per person. Those aged 60 and above are free, and in 2021, it was free for residents of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

Guide map of Xiezhou Guandi Temple

Behind the Duanmen Gate of Xiezhou Guandi Temple

We visited the Guandi Temple in the rain for about two hours.