Baoguo Monastery - Chengdu, China

We stayed 2 nights in Baoguo, a Buddhist monastery in a garden setting where the local monks live and pray. We awoke at 5 a.m. to chanting, the smell of insence and the dim light of candles burning. 

The monastery closed to the public at 6 p.m. so we had it to ourselves throughout the evening and night to view several large golden Buddhas, witness the monks praying, chanting and striking the gong and to contemplate enlightenment in our own way.