The Hanging Temple – XUANKONG SI – CHINA

The Hanging Temple or Hanging Monastery is a temple built into a cliff (75 m or 246 ft above the ground) near Mount Heng in Hunyuan County, Shanxi province, China. The closest city is Datong, 64.23 kilometers to the northwest. Along with the Yungang Grottoes, the Hanging Temple is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area. Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it includes Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements. The structure is kept in place with oak crossbeams fitted into holes chiseled into the cliffs. The main supportive structure was hidden inside the bedrock.