Beijing Baoguo Temple Travel Guide

The Baoguo Temple which located in the Ming City Wall Site Park was first constructed in the Liao Dynasty and destroyed in an earthquake during the Ming Dynasty. It was reconstructed and expanded scale in the Qing Dynasty. Maybe it is not the biggest or oldest temple in Beijing, but it is really a good place to admiring the scenery of the ancient city wall. What's more, there is a Collection Market in the Baoguo Temple--the biggest folk collection market in China.

Unlike other antique market, the Baoguo Temple Collection Market attracts many collectors due to there are much more "real things" there. The Chinese Currency Shop, Chinese Ceramics Shop, Chinese Jade Shop, Chinese Comic Collection Shop, Poker Collection Shop, Chinese Painting Shop, Medal Collection Shop etc. altogether 18 collection shops show and sell their collections there every day. Most of the guests attracted from other cities visit the market continually to search something valuable or they are fond of.

Baoguo Temple is the favorite place of picture-story books collectors and investors. Here you can find almost all picture-story books ever been published in China. And the Poker Shop has more than 17 thousand kinds of pokers collected from China and abroad here. Of course, there is everything you expect to find here, such as the four treasures of the study (writing brush, link stick, paper and ink slab), ancient books, calligraphies and paintings, ancient currency and so on. It's especially bustling and excitement at weekend. If you come across the currency exchange meeting, picture-books auction assembling and fireworks exhibition conference held in the market, you will have the similar feelings like going a small temple fair.

Early in the Qing Dynasty, the Baoguo Temple had been a cultural market even earlier than the Liulingchang Antique Market. At that time, the emperor made a policy to treat the Manchu nationality and the Han nationality differently. This area became the inhabit region of Han people, especially for the scholars to take the national examination. Finally, a book market emerged and developed into a folk cultural market. No matter you are a collector or not, going to the Baoguo Temple Collection Market is the proper way to discover the folk collection culture extending until now.

The opposite of the Baoguo Temple is the Caishikou Department Store where is famous for its gold accessory trade now. You can hardly imagine that it once was the place of executing the criminal in the Qing Dynasty.