Temple closing to reject commercialization reopens

A temple in Southwest China's Yunnan province closed its door to tourists on Aug 15 because it rejected the local government's plan to commercialize it. But on Aug 17, local government announced that the temple was reopened after discussion.

On the morning of Aug 15, the gates to the Panlong Temple had been shut and a board placed outside the door read: "Since the county and township governments plan to upgrade the temple, commercialize and corporatize it, which will disrupt the temple's order, the temple has decided today to temporarily shut the gates for a quiet meditation environment. Please understand and forgive us."

The Panlong Temple, one of the three major Buddhist destinations in Yunnan Province, is about 3 kilometers from Jincheng township in Jinning county. Established in 1347, the Panlong Temple attracts many tourists and Buddhists from home and abroad.

Closing Panlong Temple followed a local government meeting with the temple on Aug 14 about upgrading the Wanghai Pavilion that is part of the temple complex, according to the Chuncheng Evening News, a newspaper in Yunnan province. Local officials proposed establishing a museum and a multimedia room inside the pavilion.

The abbot and the monks of the monastery would not accept the proposal. "We monks can't live a life of commercialization," said Ren Qing, a monk from the temple.

Speculation also went around that the local government intended to raise ticket prices.

Two days after the closing, the local government announced on its official Weibo account on Aug 17 that it would not push forward with its plans.

It said on the announcement that the local government only intended to upgrade the Wanghai Pavilion and build it into a place to show the culture of the Panlong Temple and Yunnan region. It did not propose to commercialize the temple. The misunderstanding was caused due to lack of "sufficient communication".

"After several meetings and enough communication, the misunderstanding has been cleared," the announcement said. The temple reopened at 11:30 am on Aug 17.