Big Bell Temple

Big Bell Temple Review

This 18th-century temple shields China's biggest bell and hundreds of smaller bells from the Ming, Song, and Yuan dynasties. The Buddhist temple—originally used for rain prayers—has been restored after major damage inflicted during the Cultural Revolution. The bells here range from a giant 7 meters (23 feet) high to hand-sized chimes, many of them corroded to a pale green by time.

Food For Thought

Before it opened as a museum in 1985, the buildings were used as Beijing No. 2 Food Factory.

Highlights

Ding-dong. The two-story bell, cast with the texts of more than 100 Buddhist scriptures, is also said to be China's loudest. Believed to date from Emperor Yongle's reign, the 46-ton relic is considered a national treasure. People used to throw coins into a hole in the top of the bell for luck. The money was swept up by the monks and used to buy food. Enough money was collected in a month to buy provisions that would last for a year.

Play with handbells. Pretty much everything you'll ever need to know about bells you can find at the Ancient Bell Museum—from displays on how bells are cast to their long history. There are also more than 400 bells and gongs to see here.

Tips

You can ride the subway to the temple: transfer from Dongzhimen on Line 2 to the aboveground Line 13, and go one stop north to Dazhong Si station.

The biggest bell weighs some 46.5 tons, and was cast during the reign of Yongle at the beginning of the 15th century. Look closely and you'll see all 230,000 Chinese characters adorning the bell's exterior.

The ringing sound of the Yongle bell can carry more than 15 km (10 mi) when struck forcibly. The bell rings 108 times on special occassions like Spring Festival, one strike for each of the 108 personal worries defined in Buddhism.

The temple sometimes plays host to bell concerts, and also sells CDs of bell music.