Huayan Temple, in the southwest of Datong, Shanxi Province, was listed among China's Most Valuable Cultural Tourist Destinations for its unique architecture and Buddhist culture, Shanxi Daily has reported.

The selection was sponsored by the China Cultural Relics Protection Foundation to promote destinations and routes with historical value. These tourist sites provide a glance at China's ancient civilization.

Huayan?temple is an outstanding representation of the Buddhist culture of the Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties in China, with special architecture, layout, statues, and wall paintings.

It takes its name from the Avatamsaka Sutra, called Huayanjing in Chinese. It was separated into an upper and a lower temple in the mid-Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and rejoined in 1963.

The upper part is beautifully decorated and the lower is in an antique style. The tower has an underground place for worship with one thousand Buddhas, decorated with 100 tons of copper.