The best time to visit Zhongqin Temple: Climate: Shandong Province has a mild climate, concentrated rainfall, four distinct seasons, and a warm temperate monsoon climate. The southerly wind prevails in summer, which is hot and rainy, while the northerly wind blows in winter, which is cold and dry. The weather in spring is changeable, with early dryness, less rain and more wind and sand. In autumn, the weather is sunny and cool, and the temperature is moderate. The annual average temperature is 11℃-14℃, decreasing from south to north and from west to east. The average temperature in southwestern Shandong is mostly above 13℃, and in Jinan, Zaozhuang and other places it is above 14℃. The Jiaodong Peninsula and the Yellow River Delta are the lowest, mostly at 12℃ or even below 11℃. The average temperature in the province in January is -1~-4℃, and in July the average temperature in the province is 24~29℃.
Best travel time: any time of year.
Zhongqin Temple, also known as the Wang Family Ancestral Hall, is located in the north of Xinli Village Street, Xincheng Town, Huantai County. It was built to commemorate Wang Chongguang of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Chongguang, courtesy name Yanxuan, was born in Xincheng, Shandong Province. He was a Jinshi in Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, and was promoted to the left minister of the household department. Later, he died in a royal affair while serving as a governor in Guizhou. Emperor Jiajing praised him for his loyalty and diligence, and issued an order to the Minister of Rites, Wu Shan, to write "loyalty and diligence to serve the country" as a reward. In the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), a temple was built in Yongning, Guizhou to worship Wang Chongguang, and it was named Zhongqin Temple.
The temple was first built in 1588 (the 16th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty). It was large in scale at that time, but its existing area is only one-third of its original size. The ancestral hall is 88 meters long from north to south and 43 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of ??3,784 square meters. There are five main halls in the courtyard and three outbuildings in the middle. It is 22 meters long, 14 meters high and 9.65 meters deep. It is a brick and wood structure with tiles on the ridge and wooden rafters with single eaves. There are 8 round wooden pillars in the hall, the top beams are decorated with colorful paintings, and 85 stone tablets are inlaid on the inner walls, which are well preserved. The inscription is a collection of calligraphy written by famous calligraphers from past dynasties: Zhong Yao, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Ouyang Xun, Liu Gongquan and Yu Shinan. It is available in Zhen, Cao, Li and Zhuan. In the hall, there are also engraved and painted portraits of Wang Chongguang and his subordinates Wang and Zhang Er. There are three back halls, called Sima Temple. They were originally the ancestral halls of Wang Xiangqian, Minister of the Ministry of War in the late Ming Dynasty, and are now the Wang Shizhen Memorial Hall.
There are three couplets in the east and west wings in front of the main hall. In front of the hall, there are two ancient cypress trees hugged by two people. They are symmetrical and about 20 meters high. In the southeast corner of the courtyard, there is a monument on four sides, on which are engraved the names of those who offered sacrifices when the temple was built. 50 meters east of the temple is the original stele corridor courtyard, with 9 existing stone stele. In 1984, the state renovated Zhongqin Temple and designated it as a key cultural relic protection unit at the municipal level.