Zhongwei Gao Miao (Chinese name: 中衛高廟; literally meaning ‘High Temple’) is located in the Zhongwei (中衛)County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (寧夏回族自治區), China. This temple is built symmetrically, layers upon layers to 29 meters high.
Gao Miao is a temple that has hosted Confucian (孔子), Buddhist, and Taoist ceremonies, now it is mainly a Buddhist temple.
Arhat Hall (羅漢堂) is one of the main attractions in Gao Miao, there are 500 lively arhat statues inside the hall, although they are not antique, it is still worth seeing.
Gao Miao was first built during the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), but then flattened by an earthquake in 1739 AD. After that, it was rebuilt and enlarged.
There are several distorting mirrors in a room, meaning ‘the distortion of human nature’, a prelude to the tour of The ‘Hell’.
The ‘Hell’ is actually a tourist attraction and the rendition of a Buddhist hell, revealing the scenes of torture, suffering and death.
The ‘Hell’ was converted from a bomb shelter built during the Cultural Revolution. Although the scenes in the ‘Hell’ look gruesome and horrible, they are nothing compared to the real horrors carried out during Mao’s revolution.
