Huating Temple, National Key Buddhist Temple in Xishan District, China

Huating Temple is a Buddhist temple in the Xishan District of Kunming, Yunnan. Its central axis runs through the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Mahavira Hall, the Guanyin Hall and the Buddhist Texts Library, with over ten side halls. The Mahavira Hall enshrines five-metre statues of the Buddhas of the Three Times, with 500 arhat statues carved in niches along the side walls.

The temple was founded in 1320 by the monk Xuantong Yuanfeng and completed in 1334, first named Yuanjue Temple. In 1441 Emperor Yingzong of the Ming renamed it Huating Temple and sent the eunuch Li Yi to renovate it in 1453. After Ming-era war damage, governor Wang Jiwen rebuilt it in 1687; it was damaged again in the 1857 Hui Uprising and restored in 1883. Tang Jiyao invited Hsu Yun to supervise reconstruction in 1920.

The name reflects the temple's location high in Kunming's western mountains. Visitors encounter religious statues and artwork throughout the grounds that shaped daily practice for monks and pilgrims across generations.

The temple sits on a mountain slope near Kunming and is reachable by local transport. Wear comfortable shoes since some paths are steep and shade is limited throughout the grounds.

The temple's two guardian figures outside the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings sit rather than stand, with the left one open-mouthed holding a demon-subduing club aloft and the right one tight-lipped gripping his. This seated pose sets them apart from guardian statues elsewhere. The hall's Maitreya shrine also carries a couplet by Qing calligrapher Qian Feng.