Adjacent to the Lama Temple in the northeast of the old city, the Confucius Temple is the second-largest in China (after the great temple in Qufu, Shandong). The complex is quieter and less visited than the Lama Temple next door, which makes it the more pleasant of the two for unhurried exploration. The main hall contains a statue of Confucius and the 13 stone classics — a complete set of Confucian texts carved on 189 tablets in the 18th century.
The adjacent Imperial Academy (Guozijian) was the highest educational institution in imperial China. Its central building, the Biyong Palace — a square hall surrounded by a circular moat — is architecturally distinctive and rarely crowded. Combine both sites in a half-day with the Lama Temple.