Baiyun Temple

Baiyun Temple is in a gully in the southeast of urban Taiyuan. It used the gully's high-low terrain to build steps and after walking up the stairs, visitors can find the Shanmen Hall. Pair of stone lions was placed in front of the temple, making tourists feel solemn.

In the hall's four corners are sculptures of Four Heavenly Kings and Maitreya sits in the middle of the hall. Behind Maitreya is Skanda, wearing an armor and holding a pestle.

Statues of Skanda usually fall into two types. The first one is putting palms together and the pestle laying on the two wrists and the second one is right hand akimbo and the left hand holding and leaning on the pestle tip. 

According to Buddhist traditions, temples housing the first kind of Skanda statues are reception temples and those housing the second one are not reception temples. Reception temples receive palmers from 10 directions. Thus the Baiyun Temple is also known as "Ten Directions Temple" in the south of Taiyuan and there is also a "Ten Directions Temple" in the north named Qianshou Temple.