White Cloud Taoist Temple (Bai Yun Guan)
Monastery
There are few people in China who don’t know about the Bai Yun Guan. The Taoist temple boasts a history of over a thousand years. Originally the Tian Chang Temple in Tang Dynasty (618 – 908 C.E.), it was renamed Bai Yun Guan in the early Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368 C.E.) and given to Taoist priest Qiu Chuji as a gift. Qiu is respected for his trip to the Western Regions to persuade Genghis Khan from slaughtering more innocent people and is more widely known in China as an upright Kong Fu master in Jin Yong’s wuxia novels. Tourists in the temple have two rituals for good luck: One is to toss coins through the center of the giant ancient coin hanging under the Wofeng Bridge; another is to touch the stone monkey in the temple.
