The White Pagoda Temple

Before renovation

After renovation

Located in the western part of Beijing, the White Pagoda was built in the eighth year of the Zhi Yuan reign (1271 A.D.) and completed eight years later. The White Pagoda was designed by a well-known Nepalese architect and technologist, Arniger, and filled with Buddhist treasures. After its completion, a monastery of great dimensions was constructed around it and granted the name "the Monastery of Greatness, Holiness, Longevity, and Everlasting Peace and Tranquility." The monastery was one of the most important projects at the time when Kublai Khan, the first emperor to name his kingdom Yuan, built his great capital city at Dadu (today's Beijing). The White Pagoda, an upside-down alms bowl in design, is the biggest Buddhist pagoda from the Yuan Dynasty ever discovered and preserved in China and is the oldest Buddhist pagoda in the Beijing area.

In 1980, the White Pagoda Temple opened to the public. In 2000, the Beijing municipal government invested 30 million yuan (approximately 4.2 million US dollars) into its relocation project, and 35 million yuan (approximately 4.9 million US dollars) for its renovation. Now it has reopened to the public.