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The narrow lane along Liurong Si's northern boundary leads west through a street market on to Haizhu Bei Lu. Turn south and then west again along Jinghui Lu for the entrance to Guangxiao Si (daily 8am-5pm; Y4; Ximen Kou metro), the oldest of Guangzhou's Buddhist temples. In 113 BC this was the residence of Zhao Jiande , last of the Nanyue kings, becoming a place of worship only when the 85-year-old Gandharan (Kashmiri) monk Tanmo Yeshe built the first hall in 401 AD. The temple was later visited by Buddhist luminaries such as the sixth-century monk Zhiyao Sanzang, who planted the fig trees still here today, and the Indian founder of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, Bodhidharma . Though none of the original buildings survives, the grounds feel nicely peaceful and spacious, due more to their well-ordered design rather than actual size. To the right of the entrance is the oldest surviving structure in Guangzhou, a mushroom-shaped pillar from 826 said to be inscribed with an "awful curse" - against whom isn't clear. Around the gardens are pavilions concealing wells and engraved tablets from various periods, while three buildings at the back house some imposing Buddha images; the westerly one is unusually reclining, while a more ordinary trinity fills the central hall. Under one of the older trees is a statue of Hui Neng , a Guangdong monk who became the sixth Chan patriarch in 676 after bettering the vague preachings of the incumbent abbot. Over to the west is a courtyard containing the lower three storeys of a three-metre-high iron pagoda , cast in 963; its twin is hidden away in the temple warehouses. There are also several vegetarian restaurants outside Guangxiao, open through the day.
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