If I had known about the Huayan Temple in Datong, I wouldn't have gone to Kyoto and Nara

The principle of dependent origination, the ancient temple in the clouds, embodies the Huayan Sutra. To get to the ancient city of Datong, navigate to Qingyuan Gate and walk 500 meters to arrive. The off-season ticket price is 40 yuan, and during peak season it's 50 yuan. Group ticket purchases require one person's ID card. Huayan Temple is located in the southwest corner of the ancient city of Datong, founded in the seventh year of the Liao dynasty's Chongxi era (1038 AD). The temple faces east and is laid out along two main north-south axes, with over 30 individual buildings including the mountain gate, Puguangming Hall, Daxiong Treasure Hall, Baojiao Scripture Depository, and Huayan Pagoda. The temple complex covers an area of 66,000 square meters and is one of the earliest and best-preserved Liao and Jin dynasty temple complexes in China. It was declared a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council in 1961. Historical records show that the Huayan school of Buddhism was prevalent during the Liao dynasty. Emperor Daozong personally wrote a ten-volume praise for the 'Avatamsaka Sutra' and had the entire 'Khitan Tripitaka' of 579 volumes carved and printed. These were placed in the Baojiao Scripture Depository of the Great Huayan Temple in the Western Capital, and stone and bronze statues of various emperors were 'reverently installed' within the temple, making the Great Huayan Temple a royal ancestral temple. By the end of the Liao dynasty, seven or eight out of ten temple buildings had been destroyed by war. The Jin dynasty rebuilt the temple on the same site, and by the early Yuan dynasty, it was still a grand temple in the clouds. During the Xuande and Jingtai years of the Ming dynasty, the temple was extensively renovated, Buddha statues were re-sculpted, and it flourished once again. From the mid-Ming dynasty onwards, the temple was divided into upper and lower sections, each with its own mountain gate and distinct layout, hence the terms 'Upper' and 'Lower' Huayan Temple. The temple suffered further damage in the early Qing dynasty, and although repairs were made in the early years of Emperor Kangxi's reign, its former glory was not restored. In 2008, Datong City launched a famous city revival project. Based on the records of the 'Golden Stele' in the temple, a huge investment was made to carry out large-scale renovations of Huayan Temple, restoring the grandeur of the Liao and Jin period. This northern Buddhist temple, which flourished during the Liao and Jin dynasties in the Western Capital, houses buildings, statues, scripture depositories, murals, flat ceilings, and caisson ceilings. With its long history, vast scale, and exquisite craftsmanship, it is known as the Liao and Jin Art Museum. The main hall, Daxiong Treasure Hall, was originally built in the eighth year of the Liao dynasty's Qingning era (1062 AD) and was rebuilt on the same site in the third year of the Jin dynasty's Tianjuan era (1140 AD). It is nine bays wide and covers an area of 1,559 square meters, making it the largest Buddhist hall from the Liao and Jin period still in existence in China. The Baojiao Scripture Depository was built in the seventh year of the Liao dynasty's Chongxi era (1038 AD). It is five bays wide, and inside, along the walls, there are 38 small wooden scripture cabinets arranged in a multi-story style, as well as five 'Heavenly Palace' cabinets. The craftsmanship is ingenious and exquisite, and it was praised by the famous architect Liang Sicheng as a 'unique treasure in China'. The central Buddha altar in the hall is adorned with 31 clay sculptures from the Liao dynasty, which are considered masterpieces of Liao sculpture. The smiling, clasped-hands bodhisattva is particularly lifelike, and the historian Zheng Zhenduo praised it as the 'Venus of the East'. The Huayan Pagoda is the second-largest pure wooden mortise-and-tenon structure pagoda in China after the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda. It stands 43 meters tall with a golden disc on top and a lotus pond below. Particularly notable is the Thousand Buddha Crypt beneath the pagoda, which spans nearly 500 square meters and is made of 100 tons of pure copper. It houses the relics of high monks and a thousand Buddha statues, shining with golden splendor. It is unique in the country and exemplifies the perfect combination of tradition and reality.