Next door to the Xumifushouzhi Miao, the magnificent Putuozongcheng Miao (Temple of Potaraka Doctrine; ï¿¥25) was built in 1771 and is based on the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Covering 220,000 square metres, it’s the largest tens- ple in Chengde, with sixty groups of halls, pagodas and terraces. The grand red terrace forms a Tibetan-style facade screening a Chinese-style interior, although many of the windows on the terrace are fake, and some of the white- washed buildings around the base are merely filled-in shapes. Inside, the West Hall is notable for holding a rather comical copper statue of the Propitious Heavenly Mother, a fearsome woman wearing a necklace of skulls and riding side-saddle on a mnle. According to legend, she vowed to defeat the evil demon Raksaka, so she first lulled hint into a false sense of security by mar- rying him and bearing hint two sons then swallowed the moon and in the darkness crept up on him and turned him into a mule. The two dancing fig- ures at her feet are her sons; their ugly features betray their paternity. The Hall of All Laws Falling into One, at the back, is worth a visit for the quality of the decorative religious furniture on display. Other halls hold displays of Chinese pottery and ceramics and Tibetan religious artefacts, an exhibition slanted to portray the gorier side of Tibetan religion and including a drum made fi:om two children’s skulls. Tine roof of’ the temple bas a good view over the sur- rouuding contryside.

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