Puning Palace, Chengde, China

The Puning Si Temple, of Universal Peace (built 1755) beside the Putuo Zongcheng Temple, is modelled after the Tibetan Potala Palace. A World Heritage site, it’s an active temple Buddhist monks of the Tibet Yellow Hat school Go calmly about their tasks Weaving out and in through wreaths of tourists It is alive with worshippers, Young Chinese pray and offer flowers and incense At many shrines and alters, where sparrows chirrup Dowdy beside the red robed monastery tenants Here is the wooden statue of Kwan-yin, 22.metres tall, flanked by a guardian and a dragon girl Pine, cypress, elm, fir, linden, are Her composites Here are lama pagodas, copper gold tiled roofs, Imperial eaves and elephants cut in stone Skull drinking bowls, the constant whirr of the prayer wheels Pouring blessings into the mountain air To be a Buddhist in Britain’s to be an oddity But here, amongst the chanting, churning stream Of pilgrim worshippers, is to feel very much For once, like coming home