Introduction to Garden Songtsenling Monastery: Garden Songtsanling Monastery was founded in 1679. It is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan Province and one of the famous monasteries in Kham District. Songzanlin Temple, also known as Guihua Temple, is 5 kilometers away from Shangri-La County. When selecting the site for Songzanlin Monastery, the Dalai Lama received a divine prediction from a divination: "Clear springs appeared in the deep woods, and golden ducks fell from the sky to play among them." Today, there is a clear spring in Songzanlin Temple, which never overflows in spring and summer, and never dries up in autumn and winter. A pair of golden ducks can often come and go. The two main temples, Zhacang and Jikang, are built at the highest point and occupy the center of the whole temple. The main temple faces south and is a five-story Tibetan-style carved building.
The main hall of Songzanlin Temple has gold-plated copper tiles on the upper floor, and the cornices of the temple are kissed by animals. It also has a Chinese temple architectural style. The lower hall has 108 pillars and couplets, which represent the auspicious numbers of Buddhism. The left and right walls of the main hall are the "Ten Thousand Volume Cabinets" for storing scriptures. In the front seat of the main hall is a bronze statue of the fifth Dalai Lama, and behind it are the tombs of the remains of famous eminent monks. There are bronze statues of Tsongkhapa, Maitreya Buddha and the seventh Dalai Lama in the back hall, which are three feet high and lead directly to the upper level. There are eight Lacan rooms on the middle floor, namely the temples, the Dharma protector's hall, the Khenpo's room, the quiet room, the dining room, etc. The main building on the top floor has a special Buddhist temple dedicated to the fifth Dalai Lama and the seventh Dalai Lama, as well as Beiye scriptures, thangkas, and handed down instruments. There are many treasures from the past dynasties in Songzanlin Temple, including eight gold-covered Sakyamuni Buddha statues from the period of the fifth Dalai Lama and the seventh Dalai Lama, bay leaf sutras, colorful thangkas painted with gold juice, and golden lamps. The entire temple has ten volumes of "Tenjur" in its collection, two of which are handwritten in gold juice, as well as various exquisite gilt or silver incense burners, ten thousand year lamps, etc.
Transportation information: There is a bus in Shangri-La County that goes directly to the scenic spot, and the fare is 2 yuan; you can also take bus No. 3 directly to the scenic spot, and the parking lot is opposite the temple gate; a taxi in Shangri-La County costs 10 yuan.
Scenic spot location: Lower section of Niwang Road, Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Tel: 0887-8222455