Puning Temple, Buddhist temple in Chengde, China

Puning Temple is a Buddhist sanctuary in Chengde that spans a large area with several main structures throughout the grounds. The site contains a Hall of Great Buddha, an Imperial Stele Pavilion, and a Mahayana Hall that visitors encounter as they walk through the complex.

Emperor Qianlong commissioned the temple's construction in 1755 following military campaigns against the Dzungar people in northwestern regions. The building served as a symbol of imperial authority and helped strengthen connections with peoples from the western areas.

The name Puning means "universal peace", chosen to express the wish that frontier peoples "live in peace and prosper". The temple is a Gelug school site and the only monastery in Chengde with resident monks, restored to religious activity in 1985. Monks hold daily rites and one or two large assemblies a year, and the adjacent Puning Street stages Qing-era folk performances.

The complex is built on a slope and faces south, covering 33,000 square metres with 29 main structures. The axis runs from the gate and stele pavilion through the Mahavira Hall to the Mahayana Hall, where the rear Tibetan-style section climbs the hillside. The site is an active religious centre, so visitors should keep to the marked routes and avoid disturbing worshippers.

The Guanyin statue inside the Mahayana Hall reaches 27.21 metres and weighs 110 tonnes, and in 1999 it was entered in the Guinness World Records. It is carved from pine, cypress, elm, fir and linden, and its crown holds a 1.64-metre figure of the Buddha Amitabha. Two attendants flank it, 15.6 metres tall.