Meida Zhao, Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Baotou, China.

Meida Zhao is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Baotou composed of multiple connected buildings organized around courtyards. The structures display traditional Chinese architectural features with colored tile roofs, carved wooden details, and prayer halls containing altars and religious sculptures.

Altan Khan, leader of the Tümed Mongols, built the walled town of Daban Sheng around 1571 and began the Lingjue Temple inside it in 1572. In 1606 Erketü Qatun added the Mahavira Hall's front hall and the Taihe Gate, and invited Maitreya Khutukhtu, whose name gave the site its popular name. The Qing court granted the name Shouling Temple; a three-storey gate tower was demolished in the Cultural Revolution and rebuilt in 1985.

The name "Meidaizhao" comes from Maitreya Khutukhtu, the Tibetan lama invited in 1606 to preside at the monastery; "zhao" means monastery in Mongolian. Each year on the 13th day of the fifth lunar month, a temple fair commemorating Altan Khan's conversion to Buddhism has been held for over four centuries, now combined with the San Niangzi tourism and culture festival featuring local operas such as errentai.

The grounds can be explored on your own, with informational markers at key buildings helping you understand what each hall is used for. Taking your time to walk around and observe the layout and architecture will help you appreciate the site.

The Taihou Monastery, northeast of the Mahavira Hall, holds a sandalwood pagoda with the ashes of Erketü Qatun, Altan Khan's wife. When the pagoda was dismantled in 1966, a crypt was found beneath it containing a packet of ashes, three combs, six rosaries, a silver-plated medicine box and two diamond earrings.