Atlas of China
Cross Temple 十字寺遗址Shízì Sì Yízhǐ
National heritage site · Beijing, Beijing
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours with the walk
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Beijing
- Region
- Beijing
- Type
- Heritage
- Listed as
- National heritage site
About Cross Temple
The ruins of a hillside temple that was Buddhist for most of its history but was used by Christians of the Church of the East during the Yuan dynasty, one of very few such places of worship known in China. Foundations, column bases, two old ginkgo trees and two marble steles remain, a Liao text recut in the Ming and a Yuan stele topped by a cross; two stones carved with crosses and a Syriac psalm verse, found here in the early 20th century, are now in the Nanjing Museum.
How to get to Cross Temple
On the Jinzushan hills north of Chechang village in Zhoukoudian town, Fangshan District, about 45 km south-west of central Beijing, reached by a walk on hill paths; it is an open, unmanaged ruin about 1 km from the Jin imperial tombs.
Nearby
- Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site 周口店北京人遗址 under 10 km
Limestone caves on Dragon Bone Hill where the fossils of Peking Man were found - Tanzhe Temple 潭柘寺 20 km
Terraced temple courtyards in the western hills, shaded by ancient ginkgos and cypresses - Marco Polo Bridge 卢沟桥 30 km
An 800-year-old stone bridge lined with hundreds of carved lions, by a walled Ming fort - Cuandixia Village 爨底下村 40 km
Ming and Qing courtyard houses stacked in tiers up a hillside in the western mountains - Fragrant Hills Park 香山公园 40 km
Wooded former imperial hills that turn red with smoke-tree leaves each autumn
Also within 20 km: Jin Dynasty Imperial Tombs 金陵 (under 10 km), Shihua Cave 石花洞 (under 10 km), Wanfotang and Kongshui Cave 万佛堂、孔水洞 (under 10 km), Yao Guangxiao's Tomb Pagoda 姚广孝墓塔 (20 km), Shenglian Mountain 圣莲山 (20 km), Liulihe Bridge 琉璃河大桥 (20 km).
On the map
Open Cross Temple on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it and what else is close, and to add it to a trip.
Open Cross Temple on the map