Tianmen Mountain Temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty as a center of Buddhism in the area of western Hunan. The present Tianmen Mountain Temple is rebuilt on the basis of the original site with a plot area of more than 10,000 sqm. It adopts an official style of the Qing Dynasty and the buildings in the Temple compare well with the famous classical houses at home. The Temple is located in the mountain hollow with a broad vision. If one gazes into the southeast, all the hills seem to be so small that the Temple is really like an overlord.
Heavenly Gate Mountain Temple is nestled in a natural hollow in the mountain ridge, providing a modicum of lee from the seasonally raw winds. Since the temple structure is large while all of the surrounding trees are dwarfs (bonsai-sized, though not the potted plant size that fits on your window ledge), it is as if the temple, by its very size relative to its surroundings, achieves its fitting position of symbolic dominance in the mountaintop's larger metaphysical scheme of things. Standing well apart from the temple is a pagoda that you should definitely visit, but which can only be accessed from Heavenly Gate Mountain Temple, either on foot (an arduous climb of 45 minutes!) or via a (ski) chair lift, which will set you back about 25 Yuan.
To those who may be on the lookout for a completely different kind of culture here at the temple (think: yoghurt, i.e., food), the temple operates a vegetarian restaurant that lets you fill your plate for a mere 35 Yuan, and the fare is said to be so tasty that you'll hardly notice that it lacks amino acid, i.e., the building block of red meat.
Back on the road after a filling meal, take care not to take the wrong turn, else you will soon be back at the upper gondola stop near Yunmeng Fairy Summit. Instead, look around for the trail that leads over to the southeastern face of the mountain (you might want to consult your compass), to Yu Hu Peak...
