Dai Temple is located on the southern foot of Mount
Tai and has long been the starting point for the ascent up the mountain.
In imperial times, it existed solely as the resting place for emperors
before their hike up the mountain.
The temple is extremely large covering an area
of 96,000 sq meters. The temple’s focus is the main hall, the Temple
of Heavenly Blessing (tiangong), which dates back to 1009AD.
The hall is an excellent example of traditional Chinese architecture
- it is on a terrace surrounded by a white stone railings, has red
columns and red doors with ornamental carvings, set against a yellow
glazed tile roof. Inside there is a stunning 62 meter (203ft) mural
depicting the procession of the god of Taishan.
In addition, there are stone steles, a bronze pavilion, an iron pagoda, religious stone structures all set in a lush pine tree filled complex.
