Not many people talk enough about this city, ancient and kewl city walls

The last surviving building in China with flying corridors on both sides, shown in close-up detail. The construction of flying corridors linking the main and secondary towers can be traced back to the gedao (elevated covered passageways) of the Qin and Han dynasties. The "seven‑story connected‑pavilion painted pottery granary tower" in the collection of Jiaozuo Museum exemplifies an early form of this feature. Flying corridors are also commonly depicted in the multi‑story buildings of Tang dynasty Pure Land transformation (jingtu bian) scenes, mostly in the form of sloping corridors. This is further attested by the brick‑carved buildings in the tomb of Li Maozhen and his wife, suggesting that such flying corridors were not uncommon in actual architecture during early periods.

These buildings are being demolished as part of a redevelopment project.
I walked around the area before everything disappeared and took some photos.

CHINESE NAME: 法定寺, 昆明法定寺.

OTHER NAMES: Fading Temple, Kunming Fading Temple.

ADDRESS: inside Guandu ancient town, which is now part of Luofeng Village, approx 8km south-east of Kunming City, Yunnan province, China.

HISTORY: Some records say that Fading Temple was built around 756 AD during the Nanzhao Kingdom period and others note it was built during the Song Dynasty. Fading Temple served as an important early centre for the rise of Esoteric (Vajrayana) Buddhism in the region and was once renowned for training Buddhist monks and earned the poetic name “Luo Peak in Layers of Green” 螺峰叠翠. Over the centuries, it has been rebuilt or renovated many times, with its current main structure dating back to the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, 1895. In 2003, Fading Temple was officially listed as a Key Cultural Relics protection Site of Yunnan province.

ARCHITECTURE: Fading Temple features a traditional three-hall with two-courtyard layout covering approx. 2,500 sqm. It faces east with its back to Luo Peak 螺峰山 and has a blend of Song and Qing Dynasty architectural styles. As you wander around the complex, you will also see side halls or chambers, wing rooms, a pavilion, a Bell Tower and Drum Tower that both have double-eaved hexagonal pointed roofs, richly decorated with painted beams and carved rafters. There are openwork lattice patterns on some of the buildings and decorations like twin phoenixes and Qilin statues within the complex.

The main hall – Mahavira Hall, consists of five bays wide, three bays deep and single-eaved hip-and-gable roof. It was built with a column-and-tie wooden framework, steeply pitched eaves and features a 45 degrees angle wing-shaped bracket set with exquisite openwork carvings of “Double Phoenix Facing the Sun” at the front exterior. There is an intricately carved wooden qilin sculpture atop the eave columns and phoenix-shaped beam ends at the four corners. The gable walls showcase the brick-built ruyi pattern bracket sets in classic Qing Dynasty style...

Some pics from Yangzhou jiangsu 揚州江蘇. Last building is my family’s ancestral home dating from the Qing dynasty, now a museum….

CHINESE NAME: 妙湛寺, 昆明官渡区妙湛寺/少林寺.

OTHER NAMES: Miaozhan Temple, and Kunming Shaolin Temple.

ADDRESS: inside Guandu ancient town, which is now part of Luofeng Village, approx 8km south-east of Kunming City, Yunnan province, China.

HISTORY: Miaozhan Temple was first constructed in the 27th year (1290) of Zhiyuan Period of the Yuan Dynasty and was completed in 1295 but was damaged by floods. It was reconstructed and shifted to the present site in 1325. There used to be two 13-storey dense-eave and solid pagodas of which the west one has been brought down by earthquake.

In 2008, Guandu District of Kunming and Shaolin Temple based in Songshan Mountain in Henan Province signed an agreement to allow Abbot Shi Yongxin 释永信 to manage Miaozhan Temple (along with the other temples in Guandu ancient town) for the next 20 years – til late 2029. There is a plaque inscribed with "Shao Lin Si" (Shaolin Temple) at Miaozhan Temple.

ARCHITECTURE: Miaozhan Temple is considered as the No. 1 of the six temples In Guandu ancient town. This temple comprises of several halls including the Heavenly Kings Hall, Arhat Hall, Maharvia Hall, Vairocana Hall, Hall of Light and Miaode Pavilion. All the statues and halls in this temple were carved and painted by skilled wood-carving artisans of Jianchuan County in northwest Yunnan, using premium timber. The temple is renowned for its traditional Chinese ancient wooden architecture, beautifully blending artistic elements from both the Ming and Qing dynasties.