Baiyun Temple is a Taoist monastery in the old town area, unusual in a city where Buddhist temples dominate the religious landscape. The complex is smaller than the major lamaseries but well-maintained, with a series of halls dedicated to the Taoist pantheon — celestial officials, the Eight Immortals, and the jade emperor — rendered in the colourful, exuberant style of Chinese popular Taoism. The contrast with the austere Tibetan Buddhist interiors of the nearby lamaseries is instructive.
The temple has a reputation among locals as a place for fortune-telling and divination, and visitors requesting guidance on travel, business, or personal matters are a constant presence. The Taoist priests here offer a range of traditional divination methods including yarrow-stalk I Ching consultation. The temple courtyard has one of the better collections of old stone stelae in the city, including several inscriptions from the Qing period. Free entry.