Hanging Monastery

The Hanging Monastery or Hanging Temple is located in a canyon at the foot of the Heng Mountain in the province of Shanxi, China. The temple is built into the cliff side, about 75 m above the ground, and stands propped up by hidden rocks corridor and wooden beams inserted into the mountain. Over 40 halls, cabinets and pavilions within an area of 152.5 sq m are connected to each other by corridors, bridges and boardwalks. They are evenly distributed and well balanced in height. Inside the temple are more than 80 bronze cast statues, iron cast statues, clay sculptured statues and stone carvings banded down from different dynasties. The temple was built to avoid terrible flood, and use the mountain as protection from rain, snow and sunrays. Today, it is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area.