Tianning Temple and Pagoda 天宁寺塔: A Beijing Hidden Gem

天宁寺塔

Tianning Temple and Pagoda A Beijing Hidden Gem: Gazing out of the taxi window, stuck in one of those infernal Beijing traffic jams on our way to the cavernous Beijing West Train Station 北京西 for the umpteenth time, I always found my eyes fixing on a huge pagoda majestically rising above the sprawl of residential buildings. I can’t count the number of times I said to Margie, “we must find out what it is”.

However, once on the train and out of Beijing, our thoughts moved on to the new adventures that lay ahead and our curiosity in the pagoda waned until the next time we were yet again on our way to Beijing West 西站 and the pagoda again caught our attention.

Tianning Temple and Pagoda A Beijing Hidden Gem: Finding it.

Sometimes, we asked our friends living in Beijing if they knew the pagoda. Most just shrugged their shoulders and told us it was obviously the famous Bai Yun Si 白云寺 (White Cloud Temple). However, that just couldn’t be so.On the map, the Taoist White Cloud Temple is on your right as you drive west towards the station, this pagoda was on the left. It had to be something else.

With a few days to spare in Beijing on our last trip, we decided to find out what this mysterious pagoda was. And what a find!

After visiting the White Cloud Temple we headed south west crossing under the six-lane elevated highway that heads towards Beijing West train station and entered Fengtai District. From there we basically followed our instincts until we knew we had to be close. From ground level it is almost impossible to glimpse the pagoda even when you are so near. We eventually had to ask several locals to help us locate the entrance to the pagoda and temple complex.