White Horse Temple

The White Horse Temple is a Buddhist temple in Luoyang, about twelve kilometers east of the city center, featuring five main halls and four courtyards across a 40,000-square-meter (430,556-square-foot) complex. The compound follows a traditional Chinese monastery layout with symmetrical buildings along a central axis, surrounded by gardens and shaded courtyards.

The temple was founded in 68 CE during the Eastern Han Dynasty and marks the first official Buddhist monastery in China following the arrival of the teaching from India. Over the centuries the compound was expanded and restored multiple times, with the current structure dating mainly from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The name comes from a legend in which two Indian monks carried sacred scriptures to China on white horses. Today visitors see two stone horses from the Song Dynasty standing before the main entrance, reminding them of this tradition and often photographed.

The compound opens daily from seven thirty in the morning until seven in the evening, and most visitors spend two to three hours exploring the halls and gardens. The entrance is located on a main road with bus connections from the city center, and the paths within the grounds are mostly level and easy to walk.

At the rear of the compound there is an international garden with temples donated by communities from India, Thailand, and Myanmar, each displaying their own building tradition. These sections are often quieter than the main halls and offer a comparison of different Buddhist architectural styles from across Asia.