When the temple was first established in the first year of the Yongjia period, it was called Jiafu Temple. It would be renamed multiple times over the centuries, eventually becoming Xiuyun Temple under the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty. But the popular name stuck: 'Tanzhe' combines tan, for the dragon pool behind the main halls, and zhe, for the mulberry trees growing in the surrounding mountains. The temple reached its zenith during the Qing dynasty, when four consecutive emperors -- Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing -- made pilgrimages to worship Buddha here. Imperial patronage elevated the temple's status enormously, attracting pilgrims and donations that funded the expansion of its grounds across 6.8 hectares of mountainside.

The Hall of Guanyin holds one of the temple's most evocative stories. Princess Miaoyan, a daughter of Kublai Khan, is said to have renounced the Mongol court in the 13th century to enter nunnery at Tanzhe Temple. According to tradition, she spent so many years kneeling in prayer on the same stone that her knees wore visible indentations into its surface -- marks that visitors can still examine today. She is also believed to have been buried within the temple compound. Whether the details are literal or legendary, the story captures something true about the temple's character: this is a place where devotion is measured not in gestures but in lifetimes, where the evidence of faith is worn into the physical fabric of the buildings themselves.

The Mahavira Hall, the temple's central structure, is 24 meters long and 33 meters wide, topped with double-eave hip roofs covered in yellow glazed tiles -- a designation of high status in Chinese architecture. Under the eaves, the Qianlong Emperor inscribed a plaque reading 'Fuhai Zhulun,' evoking a great ship sailing toward the western paradise. But the most striking features sit at the ends of the main ridge: giant glazed chiwen, mythological creatures with dragon heads and fish tails, crafted during the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century. These were believed to prevent fire and protect the building. Legend holds that when the Kangxi Emperor visited, he noticed one of the chiwen appeared ready to depart and ordered a gilded chain and sword installed to keep it from escaping.

Beyond the main courtyards, nearly 70 tomb pagodas from different dynasties stand in a grove known as the Pagoda Forest. Built in styles ranging from stone columns to Tibetan overturned-bowl shapes, the pagodas house the remains of eminent monks and mark centuries of continuous Buddhist practice. Nearby, the Yigan Pavilion -- also called the Pavilion of Bestowing Wine -- features a white marble floor inscribed with channels winding in the pattern of a dragon and a tiger. Spring water flows through these channels from a stone dragon in the northeast corner, allowing visitors to sit and emulate an ancient custom called Qushui Liushang, in which a cup of wine floats along a winding waterway while companions compose poetry. Two 'Emperor trees' planted during the Liao dynasty, about a thousand years ago, still shade the Hall of Three Sages, their canopies spreading wide enough to shelter dozens of people.