Following the "Lang Lang Mountain Little Monsters", another trip to Shanxi! Wow! The Yong'an Temple in Hunyuan County, Shanxi, has once again amazed netizens with its fiery eyes!-Hengshan Mountain

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Following the "Lang Lang Mountain Little Monsters", another trip to Shanxi! Wow! The Yong'an Temple in Hunyuan County, Shanxi, has once again amazed netizens with its fiery eyes!

Publish Time:

2025-08-05 07:50

Source:

Following "The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain" to Explore Shanxi

Here we go again!

Wow! Yong'an Temple in Hunyuan, Shanxi

Once again, it has amazed netizens with its sharp eyes!

“How familiar this ‘solemnity’ is! The ‘Hall of Orthodox Dharma Transmission’ is so stunning! Wow! I didn’t expect that I just watched ‘The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain’ yesterday, and today I experienced it in person at Yong’an Temple in Hengshan Mountain. We are so lucky!” On August 4th, Mr. Liu’s family from Beijing walked into Yong’an Temple in Hunyuan Ancient City with a look of surprise, their excitement evident.

"The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain," a summer blockbuster that officially hit theaters nationwide on August 2nd, has amazed the industry since its release. Its box office revenue on the first day reached 71.5 million yuan, exceeding 100 million yuan the next day. Maoyan predicts its final box office will reach 490 million yuan, potentially surpassing previously released films such as "Detective Conan: The Culprit of the Crimson Eyes," "Liaozhai: Lanruo Temple," and "Legend of Luo Xiaohei 2," to claim the top spot for animated films in the summer box office.

In the fantasy world of "The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain," ancient Shanxi architecture serves as a "code library" driving the plot, and the surging wave of exploring Shanxi following the film is sweeping through. In the film, Jinci Water Mirror Terrace, the Puxian Pavilion of Datong Shanhuasi Temple, and the Bogajiao Zangdian of Huayan Temple all make appearances, but the most stunning is Hunyuan Yong’an Temple: The Yuan Dynasty Hall of Orthodox Dharma Transmission transforms into a "secret map" connecting the human and demon worlds. The animation team’s meticulous recreation makes the mural details into puzzle clues, turning this ancient temple in the county town at the foot of Hengshan Mountain into a cultural landmark that has become a hot topic among viewers. The film’s popularity continues to rise after its release, and the real-life Yong’an Temple has seen a nearly threefold increase in daily visitor traffic compared to before. The scenic area’s immersive "Ming Wang Dharma Performance" takes place every afternoon in the Hall of Orthodox Dharma Transmission, attracting crowds of people every day. Visitors enthusiastically watch the performance, making it a must-see experience.

As the first animated film from "Chinese Tales," Chen Liao Yu, the film’s producer and art director, and Yu Shui, the director and screenwriter, stated that the film is inspired by "Journey to the West" but presents a different story. It tells the fantastical adventure of four grassroots little monsters forming a "grassroots pilgrimage group." A little pig demon, forced to flee after offending the demon king of Langlang Mountain, teams up with a toad demon, a weasel demon, and a monkey monster, and they embark on a journey to the west by pretending to be Tang Sanzang and his disciples. Along the way, they stumble into the demon passage in the Puxian Pavilion of Shanhuasi Temple, solve the colored sculpture mechanism in the Bogajiao Zangdian of Huayan Temple, and activate the secret map of the water and land murals in Yong’an Temple, gradually awakening in the cultural codes of Shanxi’s ancient architecture.
Behind this phenomenal animation is the meticulous work of a team of over 600 people over two years. The creative team, formed by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio and Shangying Yuan Company, completed over 1800 shots, over 2000 scene drawings, and nearly 200 sets of character designs. To restore the charm of Shanxi’s ancient architecture, the team conducted on-site field research, collecting data on the bracket structure and mural textures of Shanxi’s ancient buildings, realizing the creative concept of "letting ancient architecture breathe in animation."
Based on the same worldview as the short film, the movie opens up a new parallel timeline. In the film, four grassroots little monsters—a little pig demon, a toad demon, a weasel demon, and a monkey monster—unexpectedly team up to embark on a journey to the west. The mismatched identities bring endless laughter and surprises, with the audience erupting in laughter from time to time. Behind the humorous and witty plot, the film gradually reveals the tragic core that resonated with the public in the original short film, with its profound portrayal of the hardships of "workers" and "unremarkable people," moving many viewers to tears.
It is reported that "China National Tourism" released "Exploring Shanxi with The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain" at 11:25 pm on August 3rd. "CCTV News" and "Shanxi TV" also released reports on the film. "Shanxi Tourism" revealed two days earlier that the director of "The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain," Yu Shui, is from Taiyuan, Shanxi, inviting tourists to unlock the ancient buildings of Shanxi featured in the film.
Yong’an Temple, also known as Yong’an Zen Temple, is located in Hunyuan Ancient City. It is one of the 27 filming locations in Shanxi for "Black Myth: Wukong" and one of the seven nationally key cultural relics protection units in Hunyuan County. Originally built in the Jin Dynasty, it covers an area of 6448 square meters. The main building, the Hall of Orthodox Dharma Transmission, has a single-eave hipped roof. The hall is five bays wide and three bays deep, rectangular in shape, and sits on a high platform. The highlight is the colorful water and land assembly murals inside the hall. The murals cover an area of approximately 180 square meters and depict 882 figures in 135 groups. The figures include Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, celestial officials, mountain gods, and typical figures representing loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness from Confucian teachings. They showcase the relationship between heaven, earth, and humanity through religious teachings, making it a "complete collection of images of ancient Chinese religious figures." It is a collection of Chinese religious deities and a highly valuable masterpiece of ancient painting. The murals are divided into three layers: upper, middle, and lower, and include eight sections such as "Ming Wang Dharma Performance" and "Transformation of Heaven and Earth." The integration of numerous secular elements into religious themes is a major characteristic of the Yong’an Temple murals. For example, the clothing, expressions, and actions of the figures have a strong human touch, making the religious images more relatable and reflecting the secular understanding and interpretation of religion at the time. (Mu Yanfei)

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This summer vacation, many people "climbed the Five Great Mountains in five days"

Following the "Lang Lang Mountain Little Monsters", another trip to Shanxi! Wow! The Yong'an Temple in Hunyuan County, Shanxi, has once again amazed netizens with its fiery eyes!