The center of heaven and earth

Now, there are over 400 rooms, covering an area of 100,000 square metres. It is the extant ancient Taoist architectural complex that is the most complete and has the largest scale. The main buildings include the Zhonghua Gate and the Tianzhong Pavilion, etc., spanning 6,500 meters from south to north. There are many precious cultural relics in the temple. Especially, its numerous inscriptions on tablets are now the important materials for calligraphic research. The principal building is the Main Hall, which displays very delicate craftsmanship and is the most grandiose building in the Zhongyue Temple. At present, the Zhongyue Temple can receive 1.5 million person-times of tourists and disciples every year.

Dengfeng Astro Observatory

The Astro Observatory, located at Gaocheng Town, to the southeast of and 15km away from Dengfeng, is the largest ancient observatory now existing in China. It is the cultural relics of significant value for scientific research and has the functions of measuring the shadow cast by the sun, observing celestial bodies, and telling time.

The observatory was in 1961 listed among the Key Cultural Relics under State Protection. At the request of the imperial order, the observatory was built up by Guo Shoujing and Wang Xun in 13th year of the Emperor Zhiyuan (1276 A.D.), Yuan Dynasty, and was one of the then 27 observation stations in China. The observatory, of masonry construction, consists of the body and the stone gnomon (or the nightblooming cereus, unofficially).