The Lama Temple is the most famous Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet and considered to be the most colorful temple in Beijing. From what I saw, I would agree with this statement. Many of the buildings and statues were much brighter than others we had visited.
The complex consisted of many different buildings, all of which housed different Buddha statues. You weren't supposed to take pictures inside each temple, but there were windows on each building so technically you could take the pictures from the outside. I don't know if this qualifies me as a rule-breaker, but it's all in the past now.
The most famous site at Lama Temple is a towering (55-feet tall) statue of the Maitreya Buddha carved from sandalwood. This picture doesn't do it justice: it's too dark and the statue was too big to fit in the frame, but you can get the general idea. Maybe it didn't turn out because I wasn't supposed to take it (shhhhhh...)
Everywhere we went, we saw colorful and unique statuary.
To me, the head on the scepter of this one looks like Jake Skellington (fans of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" will know what I'm talking about). I wonder if this is where Tim Burton got the inspiration for that character's design...
All of the buildings had places in front of them to offer incense to the various Buddhas.
It's easy to get worn out on this type of thing, but we found the Lama Temple to be another worthwhile excursion (especially for those of us who enjoy visiting temples).
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