Laojun Dong(Laojun Cave) is the largest and most important Taoist temple in the main urban area of Chongqing. It is located on Laojun Mountain, near the Huangjueya area in Nan’an District, Chongqing. Over hundreds of years, floods of visitors often burn incense sticks and candles in the temple and climb the mountain. It enjoys a booming pilgrimage on the 1st and 15th days of the lunar year as well as Tomb-Sweeping Day and Hungry Ghost Festival.
The gate
People say that Laojun Dong was the Guanghua Temple of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty. Others believe that it was a temple for Tushan-shi, wife of Yu the Great at that time. It experienced rebuilding in 1480 and expanding in the winter of 1574 in the Ming Dynasty. Because of wars in the late Ming Dynasty, Taoist priests took over the temple. They officially changed it into a Taoist temple named “Taiji Palace” (generally known as “Laojun Dong”). A Taoist abbot of Quanzhen School had conducted and reinvigorated it in 1739 in the Qing Dynasty. Since then, the temple became the Taoist rite for Dragon Gate Sect in Quanzhen School.
The carving on the wall of the temple
Neighboring the Yikeshu Viewing Platform at Nanshan Mountain, Laojun Dong also provides an ideal place for sightseeing. Visitors can catch a panoramic view of the Yuzhong Peninsula from there. However, Laojun Dong closes its gate in the evenings. If you want to stay here overnight, please enter the site before the gate closing. If you do, please do not talk loudly, as not to disturb the Taoist priests from their rest.
People will incense in the temple in front of the main shrine building