Just returned from Shijiazhuang, this obscure ancient pagoda is more worth visiting than the Zhaozhou Bridge

Located 1h drive from Shijiazhuang, Zhao County is most famous for the Zhaozhou Bridge, but the place locals prefer to visit is the Berlin Zen Temple. After all, even the Zhaozhou Bridge had few tourists when I went, but the crowded Berlin Zen Temple really surprised me, and the prosperity of its incense offering was astonishing. It's no wonder, this ancient temple, which was founded at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, has a history of 1800 years. It is also revered as one of the ancestral courts of Chinese Buddhism's Chan (Zen) school, and the birthplace of the Zhaozhou Chan master's 'go drink tea' case, as well as the source of Zhaozhou's Chan tea culture. Unfortunately, almost all of the Berlin Zen Temple that can be seen today was rebuilt in 1992, with the only ancient relic being the Berlin Temple Pagoda, which was the focus of this visit. The Berlin Temple Pagoda, also known as the Congshen Chan Master's Relic Pagoda, was established to commemorate the great Chan master Zhaozhou Congshen (778—897), and was built in the third year of the Yuan Dynasty's Tianli era (1330), with a history of over 680 years. The Berlin Temple Pagoda is a brick and wood structure with a dense eave style, an octagonal seven-story pavilion style, and a height of 39.5 meters, which can be considered a tall pagoda. However, the believers who circled the Berlin Temple Pagoda were endless, and many times one could only stand at the base to properly appreciate it. The pagoda is made of brick and sits on a 2.5-meter-high square base. The base is divided into upper and lower layers, with the lower layer built of stone and the upper layer of brick. The lower part of the pagoda is a Sumeru base, above which is an imitation wooden bracket to support the flat seat. Around the flat seat, a lattice fence is built, and above it, four layers of upturned lotuses support the first layer of the pagoda body. What is special is that the first layer of the pagoda body is relatively tall, accounting for about one-third of the total height of the pagoda. The east, west, south, and north sides are carved with brick pot doors, and the other four sides with brick lattice ridge windows. Above the south door, a stone plaque is inlaid with the inscription 'Specially Granted Great Yuan Zhaozhou Ancient Buddha True Realm Light Ancestor Master's Pagoda', and on the left side is carved the year 'Tianli three years, early Mengchun, auspicious construction'. Upon closer inspection, the details of the Berlin Temple Pagoda are also worth savoring, where the flying eaves of the first layer are made of wood, and from the second to the seventh layer, they are changed to brick carvings. The length of the eaves converges layer by layer, and the eaves corners of each layer are all made of wood, with an iron Arhat statue standing on the ridge, and wind bells hanging below, which are also exquisitely crafted. 'The temple holds the true realm pagoda for a thousand autumns, the gate faces the Zhaozhou Bridge spanning ten thousand miles.' After seeing the Zhaozhou Bridge in Shijiazhuang, this national treasure Berlin Temple Pagoda is indeed worth a special visit. 🏠Name | Berlin Temple Pagoda 🎫Ticket | Free ⛳Address | No. 23, Shita East Road, Zhaozhou Town, Zhao County, Shijiazhuang City 🚗Transportation | Navigate to 'Berlin Zen Temple' by car