Temple of Literatus Dou

Temple of Literatus Dou is also named as Yingji Temple and Cracking Stone Shrine. It’s located in Shanglan Village, which is 20 kilometers northwest of Taiyuan city. It’s built on the left side of Gorge of Fen River with Two-dragon Hill to the north, Cracking Stone and Cold Spring on its left and Zhao Daiwen Temple on its right. It is a temple to worship Dou Chou, a literatus in Jin Kingdom in Spring and Autumn Period. Dou Chou, also called Ming Du had his feud in Taiyuan. He was commemorated by later generations for his irrigation project in Langmeng (Huangzhai Village, Yangqu County). He was conferred as Marquis Yingji by Emperor Shenzong in 1085 (the eighth year of Yuanfeng in Song Dynasty). Therefore, the temple was renamed as Yingji Temple. Its building age is unknown but there was a line in Cracking Stone Travel by Li Pin in Tang Dynasty, “Stop the horse to see Dou Chou Statue”. It can be known that the temple has already existed in Tang Dynasty. This temple was flooded by water from the Fen River in June,in the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Yuanfeng in Song Dynasty. It was rebuilt to the north of its original site, which was recorded in many tablet inscriptions of different dynasties. Among the existing buildings, Mountain Gate, Xian Hall, Grand Hall etc. were rebuilt in 1343 (the third year of Emperor Zhizheng of Yuan Dynasty). Part of the architecture styles are of Song and Jin Dynasties. The Xian Hall is a little bigger and the peripheral columns are replaced by pillars of central bay in Grand Hall, and the structure is very precise and unique.

Address: Shanglan Village, Taiyuan

TEL：0086-0351—3923530

Opening hours: 8：30—17：30 in peak-season and 9：00—17：00 in off-season

Ticket price: RMB20 in peak-season and RMB15 in off-season

Traffic: Buses, trams-based, 24-hour taxi can be seen everywhere in the city. For foreign tourists, it will be very important for foreign tourists to master the special tour line and transfer method. Bus fare in the urban area is 1.00 yuan, and it charges by section in the suburbans. The basic charge of taxi is 6 yuan for the first three kilometers, and 5 yuan/km for the exceeding.