TVB takes a look at a hanging temple in Datong, Shanxi

The "Hanging Temple" in Datong, Shanxi, is famous for being "hung" on a mountainside. To protect the cultural relic, the site's management has been reducing the number of visitors' tickets year by year and plans to present it to the public in a completely new form. Viewed from a distance, the Hanging Temple looks as if it is hanging on Mount Heng's Cuiping Peak. It is one of the "Top Ten Most Precarious Buildings in the World", as selected by TIME magazine.

It appears that the vertical wooden pillars support the entire structure, but what actually bears the weight are the horizontal beams inserted into the rock. The highest point is nearly 60 metres above the ground.

The Hanging Temple was first built about 1,500 years ago during the Northern Wei period. It is a temple combining Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

This tourist said that in pictures, the temple appears flat, but seeing it in person, the temple becomes very much three dimensional.

This Hong Konger living in the US said that she is proud of herself for completing the route to go up to the temple. She recalls that the route has very uneven steps and is relatively difficult. After getting up to the temple, some parts are very narrow and slippery. Besides not being afraid of heights, visitors are also required to meet certain health requirements in order to come up here. For example, those weighing over one hundred kilogrammes are not suitable to come up.

{VO} To reduce the impact of human activity on the cultural relic, the number of tickets allowing tourists to go up the Hanging Temple has been cut down year by year. Last year there were about 3,200 per day, this year it has been reduced to about 2,400 per day.

This tourist found the arrangement reasonable. She said she booked tickets several days in advance. After all, this building is over a thousand years old and is made of wood. She said there certainly has to be a daily visitor cap.

The management says it is increasing the frequency of patrols and on-site inspections by experts.

The spokesperson for the scenic area says that they hope the Hanging Temple can receive as many tourists as possible over as long a period as possible. They are now preparing to build a digital centre for a visual experience, which can hopefully make up for an actual climb.

An evening light-projection show which uses the temple as background premiered in May this year and had its final performance in October. As of the eve of National Day, it received around 240,000 audience and generated revenue of about 37 million yuan. The management says the projection show does not conflict with the protection of cultural relic. She says the show uses cold light sources for projection throughout the entire process and would not damage the wooden structure.