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Introduction:

Temples are not only popular tourist destinations but also important part of Chinese culture. No matter it’s Buddhism, Taoism, Confucian, Ancestral, or any memorial one, it is a piece of cultural essence. It contains intangible value in architecture, art, religion, and sociology, etc.  From these different temples, we can know Chinese culture from a unique angle.  So temples are always among the best places of interest to travel. Here, I list top 10 temples in China with wikipedia links and google earth kml files. Let’s begin our trip in the virtual world.

Top 10 Temples in China with Google Earth Links

City/Province: where the temple locates. | Wk: wikipedia link.
GE: Google Earth kml file (view lots of Panoramio pictures and others)

Name	中文名	Description	City/Province	Wk	GE
1. White Horse Temple	白马寺	First Buddhist temple in China	Luoyang/Henan
2. Jokhang Temple	大昭寺	Top in Tibetan Buddhism	Lhasa/Tibet
3. Famen Temple	法门寺	Buddhist resort w/ true Buddha Relic	Fufeng/Shaanxi
4. Guandi Temple (Xiezhou)	关帝庙	Epitome of loyalty and righteousness	Yuncheng/Shanxi
5. Jinci Temple	晋祠	One of the best ancestral temple with beautiful surroundings	Taiyuan/Shanxi
6. Confucius Temple (Qufu)	孔庙	Largest&oldest Temple of Confucius	Qufu/Shandong
7. Labrang Monastery	拉卜楞寺	Best preserved academic system of Tibetan Buddhism	Xiahe/Gansu
8. Shaolin Monastery	少林寺	Origin of Chinese martial arts and Shaolin Kung Fu	Dengfeng/Henan
9. Kumbum Monastery	塔尔寺	Birthplace of the founder of Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism	Huangzhong/Qinghai
10. Hanging Temple	悬空寺	High on a sheer precipice combining Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian elements	Hunyuan/Shanxi

All 10 places in one kmz file here .

Note:

1. The Jinci Temple does not have a english wikipedia item. Link to Chinese item.
2. The Guandi temple (Xiezhou) does not have a wikipedia item. Link to the page about the hero Guan Yu himself.

Some quick stats:

1. Temples types: 6 Buddhism (including 3 Tibetan Buddhism), 1 Confucius, 1 Hero Worship, 1 Mixed (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucius), and 1 ancestral temple.
2. Location: 3 in Shanxi (山西), 2 in Henan (河南), 1 in Tibet (西藏), 1 in Qinghai (青海), 1 in Shaanxi (陕西), 1 in Shandong (山东), 1 in Gansu (甘肃).

These temples will be introduced individually in the future.

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[Chinese Keyword]
十大寺庙