Excellent Ming-Era Architecture and Artifacts on Display at Re-Opened Zhihua Temple

Zhihua Temple, one of the best-preserved repositories of Ming-era architecture and artifacts in the city, has finally reopened after extensive renovations, and the results are much better than your average Beijing tourist site.

"The biggest highlight of the temple is now the ancient architecture itself," Yang Zhiguo, deputy director of the administration office for the Zhihua Temple told the China Daily.

Originally built in 1444 on the orders of court eunuch Wang Zhen (d. 1449), the temple has managed to survive into the 21st century, despite being surrounded by the detritus of modern Beijing including (literally) overshadowed by the nearby futurism of the Galaxy Soho.