Located in the southwestern side of Datong City, Huayan Monastery is an essential attraction very popular among visitors in Datong. Built in the Liao Dynasty (907 - 1125), it is the largest and best preserved monastery of the Liao Dynasty in existence in China.

The Emperors in the Liao Dynasty sincerely believed in Buddhism, so during Liao Dynasty there built built many monasteries and the Huayan Monastery is one of them. The Huayan Monastery was originally the ancestral temple for emperors of the Liao Dynasty holding the sacrificial activities. In the middle period of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), the temple was divided into two parts: the Upper Huayan Monastery and the Lower Huayan Monastery.

The Upper Huayan Monastery referred to as the Grand Hall containing five large Buddhas of the Ming Dynasty. The main hall is called the Mahavira Hall, which was originally constructed in 1062, destroyed in 1122 and then reconstructed in 1140. Covering an area of 1559 square meters, the Mahavira Hall is the largest Buddhist hall of Liao and Jin dynasties in existence today. In the hall, there sits five enshrined Buddhas. The central three are made of wood and the other two on both sides are made of clay. Besides the five large enshrined Buddhas, there are also 20 Dharmapalas standing on the two sides. On the walls of Mahavira Hall, there painted the magnificent Buddhist murals in bright color. It is a large scale and well-preserved Buddhist murals painted in Qing Dynasty.

The Lower Huayan Monastery referred to as the Sutra Temple containing a library with about 18,000 volumes of Buddhist writings. According to the belief and inhabitation convention of Qidan (an ancient nationality in China founded Liao Dynasty), all the buildings are oriental-seated. The lower monastery consists of the stone Jingchuang, pavilion-style sutra cabinets, Tiangong Pavilion, the Heavenly Kings Hall, two side halls and a gate hall. The main hall is the Bhaga Repository Hall where kept the Buddhist sutra. There are 31 sculptures in the hall among which the Bodhisattva with a pious prayer pose is the most famous one. The wooden library containing the Buddhist scriptures is exquisitely and elaborately designed.

Huayan Monastery is one of the largest wooden Buddhist temples still in existence in China today. The historical building with the history of one thousand years is really worth a visit in Datong.