1,500-year-old mystery! Exploring the spectacular Hanging Temple of Shanxi, China.

Hello, welcome to Xinhua Live. I'm Miranda Gao. I'm Shilo. We are both with China's Xinhua News Agency. Look, there is an old temple hanging on the cliff. Yes, this is China's famous Xuan Gong Temple, or we can call it Heng Ying Temple. Yes, I must see it from the movies. I think it's a thousand and five hundred years of history. And today we are going to go up to the cliff and experience this fantastic and unique experience. Are you excited? I'm so excited. Me too. And today we will invite some experts and other colleagues to join us to discuss why this temple can hang on the cliff for thousands of years. And now we have our Russian friend Alina. Welcome. Hello, I'm Alina and I'm happy to be here with Xinhua today. Welcome, welcome. And we have another guest that is our tourism feature story writer and also Xinhua journalist Wang Xuetao. Hello, I'm Wang Xuetao. Very glad to join. Now we'll split into two pairs and to discover this Heng Ying Temple together. Are you ready? Yes. Let's go. Sheila, where is the location? Well, this temple is built into a cliff and is near Hunyuan County in Datong City of North China's Shanxi Province. Yeah, and it's in the Heng Mountain, one of the five most famous mountains in China. Oh, that's cool. And as you can see now, we can see from the side very clearly wood structure exposed to the air and the crossbeams under the temple. This Heng Temple founded in 491 CE during the Northern Wei Dynasty. Although it has been expanded over the years, it is ancient and magical. Yes, and this temple is 75 meters above ground. Yes, and we are already climbing a twisting walkway to here. And you can see those terrifying scenery ahead of us. And we are just going to explore. Okay, let's go. Those are the stone walkways. As we walk up, we can see the fantastic blue sky and those very ancient old building temples. I think woods are very fragile, but it can stand for so many years. Now we appeared on a stone courtyard just before in front of the old temple. Yes, and you can see this stone yard provides me a feeling of stability. But when I look at the wood structures lying ahead of us, I think my knees are getting a little weak. Me too. I don't know if I can still stand that high. And if you see from outside, you can see those red brazed walls around us. This is the kind of structure that was built to set this courtyard off the cliff and the sky. It's very beautiful. You can also see the scenery from outside. Green and blue sky. It's quite amazing. If the camera turns back, you can see some colorful paintings and some details of the tattoo. It's very rare, right? It's dragon and cow. Clouds and flowers. Good luck in Chinese culture. It's a pretty typical kind of Chinese pattern on ancient buildings. And it's a miracle that it's preserved so well after 1,500 years. Now the sun is rising. Xida, say hi to the drones. Hi. Well, spectacular view, right? For those who just tuned in, there are beautiful mountains around. We are live. On Xinhua Facebook, Twitter, YouTube channel, about our painting temple, it is listed by Time magazine as the world's top 10 most dangerous and odd buildings. Mr. Zhang, head of the Cultural Relics Administration. Hi. Welcome to have you with us. It's our great honor. How long have you been working for this place? Mr. Zhang said that he has been working for this painting temple for two years. Now we're wondering how and why this temple was built. Can you tell me why and how this temple was built? They said there is a Northern Wei Dynasty building. And they typical for those plank. Mr. Zhang told us because at the ancient time, the ancient nationality, Xianbei, they come to this side and build this temple. And they build this temple as the military use. So why the wood structure can stand so many years without beaten by ant? Why the temple is not fallen is because the location. The location is the key point. First of all, this anti-bug pillar. The wood used in the Xuan Kong Temple is the hardest iron wood in our local area. And it is soaked in copper oil for seven days and seven nights before it is used. But the location of the Xuan Kong Temple is just in the middle of the desert. The wind does not affect it. The rain does not fall on it. And the mountain on the other side effectively blocks the sun. So the wind, rain and the sun have no effect on it. So this is the main reason why the Xuan Kong Temple can stand for thousands of years. Mr. Zhang told us actually there are some caves on the cliff. So actually the temple is built into the caves. Although they are propped out of the cliff, but actually half of the body is inside the cave. So it is why it is so steady. And also there are some cover on the top, on the ceilings of the temple. And some of the cliffs are popping out. So that is acting like an umbrella. So the temple will not be affected by the rainfalls. And also the location, all the mountains around it. So it blocks the sunshine. So the temple will not be so much exposed to the sun. So that is why the temple can preserve so well. Now let us see another group. How they are doing for their discovery. Let us cut to the group 2. Welcome to group 2. Alina and I are standing beside a bigger rock. First let us share a story about this bigger stone. Oh really? This stone has a story? Can you tell me about these two words on this stone? Yes. More than 1000 years ago, there is a famous Chinese poet Li Bai came here and saw the beautiful, wonderful view. So he wrote down two Chinese characters, meaning amazing. However, one Chinese character was wrongly written. So nowadays, people wonder why this famous poet made such a mistake. Maybe he was drunk. Oh, he was drunk? But why he was drunk? He was frustrated in his native life. So he only drank some wine to drive away his sadness, his sorrows. Yes, it is a very interesting story. I was so amazed about this temple on the mountains. Because it is my first time when I see something like this. Yes, what do you expect? I am really excited. But I am a little bit afraid to go upstairs. But I think it is time to go and to have a look. Yes, let's go. Let's turn to group 1 and to see how they explore this hanging temple. Careful, careful. It has a very narrow balcony. The width is just for only one person. You can see from the right side, the roof which is above the ground for 75 meters. 75 meters? Above the ground. I think it is not high. Yes, but don't look down. Just go ahead. Tell yourself don't look down, okay? And the cameraman, if you see up in the ceiling, you can see very beautiful structure. And it is very antique style, right? Thousands of history. It is like the skin of dragon. Yes, a lot of patterns like clouds. Some of the visitors said that they have very impressive feeling about those paintings on hanging temple. It is quite beautiful. Yes, some like the skin of the dragon, some like the cloud. Yes, very beautiful. And touch the wood. The wood is thousands of years of history. How do you feel about it? It is very smooth and it feels very comfortable. It has been touched by so many people. Yes. It is very clean. Now, you know, look ahead. There is a stone stairs ahead of us. And it is pretty narrow. And carefully walk step by step. Yes, okay, carefully walk. And you can see some of the little short wall beside the camera on the right side. And just around our knees, right? Okay. Okay, now we are walking on the stone walkway. And looking ahead, we can see totally very clear the understructure of the temple, right? Yes. And you can see there are some cross beams under the temple to support it. It is pretty strong and large. And some of the vertical wood supporting from outside. And actually those are just for decoration. And there are altogether 37 cross beams and 54 vertical wood supporting the hanging temple. And you know, two-thirds of the weight is counting on those cross beams. And they are fully inserted into the cliff. Yes. As you can see, the width on the walkway is enough for only one person. And everyone has to walk so slowly and carefully. Yes, one step by one step. And pay honor to the God and the nature. Yeah. You know, I really like those walls on this side. You can see, because Heng Mountain is famous for its very strong and firm. You can see the stone structure here. One layer by layer, very dense. So why there is no landslide and no other rock falling on this Heng Mountain. So that's why this temple is so strong. Solid and firm. Yes. Look at it. Very dense. It's been here for thousands of years. Let's go. Now let's continue to walk. And now we are walking to the wood structures here. And here, it's pretty, pretty tall and high. So we walk this way or upside? Upstairs. Okay, so I can walk upstairs. Those are the wood stairs. They are covered by some iron. So people won't fall down from the stairs. But it's pretty tall and steep. Uh-huh. It's just like... Very steep. Okay, let's go. And each step is very high. Okay, let's go. Careful. Now we are walking to the main structure of the temple. I think the best way to keep on walking is not to look down. And don't think about the reef, which is 75 meters above the ground. But I think the wood structure is very standing. And when I touch the handrail, I can feel the wood. Very smooth, very comfortable. And, you know, everyone walk here just hold the handrail. Turn this side? Okay. Oh my god, I'm so clumsy. Careful. Left foot first. Okay. Wow, it's pretty tall. I try not to look downstairs. I just look ahead. Okay. It's a very beautiful scene. And, you know, the paintings and the ceilings of this old temple. Touch it, you can feel peaceful inside of my heart, actually. You know, normally I would feel very frightened by this height. But now, you can see... Come here. Those are the statues. The Buddha statues, right? Uh-huh. Can you see clearly? They are kind of standing in the middle of the air. You can see those clouds. And there are altogether 80 statues in this temple. Absolutely. Marvelous. 80 statues. Can you believe that? Hidden in those little caves inside the cliff and the hanging temple. I just wonder how ancient people can build this. How wonderful you see those paintings. It's actually 3D. Yeah. Different layers from inside to outside. Okay. It's great. It must work. I think it makes those visitors who are climbing such high can feel peaceful and comfortable when they walk. Yeah. And let's continue to explore. This is called San Sheng Hao. San Sheng means three things. Three things. Yeah. It's created by our ancestors. Now let's go to see the group two. What are they exploring? Oh, it's a miracle place. And do you know some interesting legends about this temple? Yeah, a long time ago, there was a monk on this mountain. And there was a monster on that opposite mountain. The monster destroyed the crops and the houses of people. So the monk helped people to fight with the monster and finally defeated the monster and killed him. So people want to memorize the monk and build this temple. Can you believe it? It's a very interesting story, but I can't believe it. Yeah. Let's go? Okay, let's go. I don't want to see downstairs because it's very, very narrow. For some people that are afraid of heights, they have to walk close to the wall. For those who just break it up like me, you can walk just like me. But if you are afraid of heights, move like Miranda do, like a crab stick to the wall. Yeah, crab! Okay, okay. Calm down, calm down. You know, see, there is some Buddha too. I can see them, their face inside the little cave. Careful. Thank you, our cameraman. Very, very beautiful Buddha statue. And see some lotus. And see outside. Wave. Hi. Okay, the drones. Okay, that's all. Let's continue. Okay. Yeah. Okay, actually, we are just walking in the most famous Chinese hanging temple now. We are at the highest point. The third floor, the highest point. And you know that it's quite very, very narrow. Actually, I do want to press the like button for our cameraman because he moves backwards. Oh my god. Careful, careful. Oh, there's a very big smoke behind us. Okay, don't worry. You just walk ahead. Don't worry about us. Yes. You just walk ahead. Don't worry, don't worry. Okay, so now it's much better now because looking ahead. So just grab some hand. Be careful. Yeah, you can grab some handrail. Yeah, you can see actually, Sheila, you can feel the woods are very firm, right? But I still feel my legs are shaking. Yes. Be careful. Here is a little bit... Okay. Hello, how are you? Hey, temple. Yeah, it feels awesome. You know, I can just feel the air. You can see those beautiful China here. It's green. The color is green. And a lot of Buddha statues. In the right side, there are a lot of Buddha statues. There's a big one. Pay honor to the god and nature, right? And just the left side beside us is a 75 meters high cliff. And we just walk. Everyone just climb down the... Yeah, it's very narrow. The walkway is very narrow. Okay, careful, careful. Everybody just... Okay, now we are going downstairs. It's a good news. We don't have to climb anything. Okay, I got it. We are walking into those stone structures. Wait, wait, which side? We can see those inside. Inside is a little cave. I think there are a lot of little caves in Heng Mountain. I think the geology part is that there are more dense layers of stone and rocks inside the cliff and cave. See, very, very strong. Yeah, firm. Okay, let's continue. It's very slippery. Yeah, let's go. Oh, I think I will have to climb down. Careful, careful, careful. Okay, let's go. Okay, now let's continue to walk downstairs. The stairs are very, very tall. Okay, hold your hands. Be strong and believe in yourself. Have courage. Embrace the life. Okay, let's go. Oh, wow, there is the Buddha too. And the analysis said that this is the only temple in China that combined three religions. Confucius, Buddha, and Taoism. You can see the colors are quite colorful. Yeah, some little girls stand beside the statue. Little girl statue and the main statue. Three of them. And the ceiling has a lot of dragons in a round circle with flowers and green leaves and some clouds. So it's still amazing that they can preserve it so well after 1000 years. Yes. Okay, let's go. There are lots of tourists behind us. They want to move fast because they are free. Yes, very beautiful sightseeing. I feel more comfortable when we're downstairs. I can't believe I have already finished such a hard task. You can just finish climbing the top 10 most dangerous and odd architectures in the world. Yes, and I think it's the longest walk in my life. Because I feel a little bit terrified when we're walking on the air. Uh-huh. When you're in the third floor, you can barely speak. Yeah, I'm speechless. You must come here to have this feeling because it's a test to your courage. I think most people feel the same way when they first came here because they're afraid of the heights. But when they think about that this temple has existed for 1500 years, they should take some faith of the Asian people who built this temple. And you can see it exists for 1000 years. It can protect from the erosion of rain and sunlight. Well, after you challenge your courage, you can enjoy the beautiful sea and the mountain and the sky. And also the sun let me feel very warm now. Well, it's a miracle that the temple can stand for so many thousands of years. Yes. We just feel so wondered that Asian people can build such an amazing temple into a cliff. That's quite spectacular. Yes, I hope you enjoy the tour with us. And maybe we can see you next time about more wonders in China. Next time when you come here, remember to bring a pair of good sports shoes. Yes, absolutely. Okay. See you next time. Bye. That's all for today. Bye.