Fahai Temple's murals breathe life into past

Around the same time the lofty dome of the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower first amazed the city of Florence in Italy, a temple on Beijing's western outskirts displayed the brilliance of Eastern aesthetics on par with the Renaissance.

In 1439, commissioned by imperial order of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the finest artisans from across China gathered to construct the Fahai Temple, now located on Moshikou Street in Beijing's Shijingshan district. Fifteen painters serving the royal court created 10 exquisite murals spanning 236.7 square meters on the walls of its main hall.

Using intricate lines of gold, pearl, or other mineral pigments, they portrayed deities, mythical beasts and human figures surrounded by auspicious clouds and flowers. For modern viewers, they create a naked-eye 3D effect.

When British journalist Angela Latham visited the temple in 1937 and wrote an article claiming the frescoes rival the splendors of Renaissance Florence, this secret place gained a global reputation overnight.

Times have changed since. Some of the temple's original layout vanished, and the sitting Buddhist statues in front of the murals no longer exist. However, the murals, never repainted and rarely renovated for nearly six centuries, remain surprisingly intact, making them among the best-recognized Chinese murals in history and rivaling the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu province.

"But the Mogao Caves were folk creations, while these are rare surviving examples of a royal commission," Xu Ke, a relic custodian from Fahai Temple's protection institution, says with pride.

Experts estimate that over two kilograms of gold were used.

Growing up in a neighborhood near Fahai Temple, Xu is sentimental towards the site. He guides visitors through the dark temple every day, a job always full of "wows".

To protect the murals from light, photographs are banned from being taken indoors. Curtains completely shade the sunlight. Wearing shoe covers, visitors may use only cool-beam flashlights to explore: All the splendor hides in the darkness.

"People's consciousness to protect relics is developing," Xu says. "The rise of social media has made this temple popular again. It must be protected."

Fine art fans are eager to purchase limited-reservation tickets as only seven groups of up to 25 people can enter the hall per day. The murals take Mondays off to rest. The cap is based on scientific analysis of tourism impacts on the hall's micro-environment.

However, the wait is worthwhile.

Among these treasures, the 4.5-meter-tall Water-Moon Guanyin is the most stunning. Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, wears an almost translucent white sash composed of many subtly portrayed hexagonal diamond flowers, almost invisible unless you can get a close-up look.

Guanyin's mount, a golden-haired mythical beast called Jinmaohou, also demonstrates the painters' skills: Its fur is painted in strand-by-strand gold lines.

"Zoom into its ears. Inside them, we can see their capillaries," says Dong Zhuo, vice-dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts' school of restoration. "This mural is so exquisitely beautiful. To me, this is the best mural among all the Ming Dynasty murals in China."

Multilayered effects and the background color create a contrast that brings out the main figures.

"The mural takes on a halo-like glow," Dong says.

For people visiting the site today, seeing the full mural by flashlight doesn't do it justice, and groups are only allowed for about 20 minutes.

Other than replicas of some of the temple murals, digitalization may offer a solution.

Systematic high-definition digitalization of the Fahai Temple murals began in 2016. In 2023, the Fahai Temple Mural Art Center opened beside the temple. There, a nearly four-hour explanation of the murals, with life-size digital projections, offers an immersive experience. For tourists unfamiliar with the murals, the center is an ideal place to learn about them.

"People can better understand the murals," Li Xuming, a manager overseeing the Moshikou area's urban renewal, says.

Thanks largely to Fahai Temple's newfound fame, the 1,500-meter-long Moshikou Street, the "western gate" of the business route leading to the center of Beijing, has become a popular tourist destination, with 7.55 million visits to the area in 2025.

Cheng'en Temple, another Ming-era temple commissioned by the imperial court, is less than 1 km from Fahai Temple.

Meanwhile, many traditional courtyards also offer visitors a vivid glimpse of old Beijing's urban life.

"The whole neighborhood is like a living museum," says Chen Chao, head of a cultural relics research institute in Shijingshan district. "The area witnessed the hustle and bustle of camel caravans and settlements. The dynamics of the area will evolve with newly made memories."

Cao Meiqiao and Li Ren contributed to this story.