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The Phoenix Hall of Byōdō-in reflected in its pond, Uji
Two-country journey

From Chang’an to Kyoto: a Japan–China architecture tour

One private journey through both countries, following timber halls, pagodas and city plans from Tang-dynasty China to the Japanese temples built in their image.

Plan this journey
The idea

One story, told in two countries

In the 7th and 8th centuries Japan sent envoys and monks to Tang China and brought home Buddhism, writing, law and a way of building. Nara’s capital, Heijō-kyō (710), and Kyoto’s, Heian-kyō (794), were both laid out on a grid modelled on the Tang capital Chang’an, today’s Xi’an.

Much of China’s timber architecture from that age was later lost, and some of the closest surviving echoes of it stand in Japan. This journey sees both sides: the Chinese originals that survived, then their Japanese descendants.

The route

China first, then Japan

The order and pace are set around you. The journey can also run in reverse, Japan first.

Part one China: the originals

  1. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an above a garden in bloom

    Xi’an

    Once Chang’an, the Tang capital and the model for Japan’s first planned cities. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda was first built in 652 to hold the sutras the monk Xuanzang brought back from India.

  2. The Hanging Temple built into a cliff face near Datong

    Datong

    Capital of the Northern Wei. The Yungang Grottoes, carved from the 5th century, hold tens of thousands of Buddhist statues; nearby, the Hanging Temple is pinned to a cliff face below Mt Heng.

  3. Yingxian

    The Wooden Pagoda of Fogong Temple, built in 1056, is the oldest and tallest all-timber pagoda standing in China, at about 67 metres.

  4. Mount Wutai

    Two of China’s oldest surviving timber halls: the main hall of Nanchan Temple (782) and the East Hall of Foguang Temple (857), which the architects Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin identified in 1937.

Part two Japan: the descendants

  1. Stone lantern before the Golden Hall of Tōshōdai-ji, Nara

    Nara

    Hōryū-ji, whose buildings are among the oldest wooden structures in the world; Tōdai-ji and its Great Buddha Hall; and Tōshōdai-ji, founded in 759 by the Chinese monk Jianzhen (Ganjin), who reached Japan on his sixth attempt.

  2. The timber Great South Gate of Tōdai-ji among trees, Nara

    Tōdai-ji’s Great South Gate

    Rebuilt in 1203 in a style brought from Song-dynasty China: a second wave of Chinese influence, five centuries after the first.

  3. Uji

    Byōdō-in’s Phoenix Hall (1053), the hall on Japan’s 10-yen coin, built as a vision of the Pure Land paradise on the edge of its pond.

  4. The Yasaka Pagoda above a stone lane in Higashiyama, Kyoto

    Kyoto

    Laid out in 794 on the Chang’an grid. Its temples and pagodas show how Chinese forms became distinctly Japanese over a thousand years.

How it runs

Private from start to finish

Your own guides in each place, chosen for what they know about these buildings; private vehicles; and stays picked for character rather than size. We handle the crossing between the two countries, so the journey runs as one trip, not two.

It suits architects, designers and anyone who wants to understand why a temple in Nara looks the way it does. Every trip is priced to your dates and group: tell us what you have in mind and we will send a costed proposal.

Carved stone Buddha in a niche at the Yungang Grottoes, Datong The Great Buddha Hall of Tōdai-ji under a summer sky, Nara

Plan your architecture journey

Tell us your dates, who is travelling and what you have in mind. We reply within one business day with ideas and next steps. No obligation.