Miaoying Temple

A Buddhist temple in the western old city best known for its towering white stupa, an early example of Tibetan-style architecture raised under Mongol rule in the thirteenth century. The bottle-shaped brick dome, whitewashed and crowned with a bronze canopy and spire, rises above surrounding grey-tiled roofs and lends the temple its common nickname. Inside the halls stand Buddhist sculptures and relics recovered from the stupa during repairs. Set among ordinary residential lanes, it offers a quieter counterpoint to busier monasteries.