In the western suburbs at the foot of Ma’an Mountain is the beautiful Jietai Temple (Temple of the Ordination Altar). The temple was built facing east, giving visitors a beautiful view of the sunrise. Its oreientation is quite unusual, since houses built during that time would typically face south. The temple takes its name from its famous marble Ming dynasty altar. Due to its important status in Chinese Buddhism, the altar has in the past been used for ordination ceremonies into the most exalted rank in Buddhism, the Bodhisattva.
The temple was first built during the Tang Dynasty, but most of the buildings that stand today were added during the Qing Dynasty. The main hall is surrounded by beautiful courtyards, adorned with rockeries, and numerous pines and cypresses. Some of these trees are more than a thousand years old, and have been weathered into unusual shapes and given names such as the "Sleeping Dragon" Pine, the "Nine-Dragon" Pine and the "Mobile" Pine.
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