The Jade Dragon Temple or the the Yu Lung San Tien En Si Temple (玉龍山天恩寺) is located 27 km away from Sibu town. It is believed to be the largest not only in Malaysia but in South-east Asia as well, comprising 3 different forms of practice under one roof – Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
The colourful wall fronting the main Sibu-Mukah/Bintulu & Miri road has a nice dragon design…
…on top.
There are a few big temples inside including this one…
…and this one…
…for instance, and other interesting structures…
…and arches…
…and pavilions…
…all over the sprawling compound and some intricate carvings (or carved tiles) and lovely paintings…
…here and there…
There is also this circle of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac/horoscope surrounding a feng shui ball…
Probably, there is a fountain in the middle but it was not turned on when we were there that morning.
I did mention in an earlier post that we would drive past every Sunday when we sent our girl back to her school some 99 km away from Sibu but we never stopped by despite having heard a lot about this place of interest. That was why when my blogger friend, Nick, from Sungai Petani in Kedah, was here, I took the chance to come here on a visit.
If I am not wrong, this had been earmarked as a must-visit for tourists to Sibu but when I looked around at the place, I was somewhat disappointed by the dire need for good and proper maintenance. Some of the tiles had come off or were cracked or badly stained and there was some litter here and there. The toilets were obviously hardly ever used, not exactly dirty but I would not say they were very clean – as a matter of fact, the one that my missus used was not functioning properly – there was no water in the tank.
I don’t know if there is a permanent staff there to look after these things – I did see some building material and equipment being dumped all over the place but there wasn’t anybody working other than the two guys who were giving the wall a new coat of paint. 2017 being Visit Sibu Year, the authorities concerned should get into action quickly to spruce up the place so that it…
…would be truly a place worth visiting while one is in Sibu.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 