Puxian Monastery sits on a strategic mountain ridge shaped like a galloping horse halting its pace. Facing east toward the wide waters of Dianchi Lake, this historic sanctuary at the foot of Xishan Mountain has long welcomed weary travelers.

In the early Ming Dynasty, a monk named Yulin arrived at this wild slope. He cleared the thick brush with his hands, chopped timber for a simple hall, and cut grass to thatch his hut, establishing the monastery. Over the centuries, the temple grew. In 1689, the Yunnan Governor Fan Chengxun ordered the monks to break through the southern brick wall, connecting the Buddhist compound with the adjacent Sheng'an Ancestral Temple. This physical union allowed the scent of ancient ginkgo, Podocarpus, and a two-hundred-year-old citron tree to drift freely between the two courtyards. The front courtyard housed the hall of Samantabhadra, while the rear courtyard, flanked by wings named Shuxia and Youyue, was dedicated to Guanyin.

In 1638, the geographer Xu Xiake rested at this quiet temple during his epic journey through Yunnan. Today, the rebuilt halls serve as his memorial museum. Visitors stand before a bronze statue of the traveler, surrounded by maps of his routes and historical documents. The mountain still halts its gallop at the water's edge, and the wind rustling through the camellias carries the same quiet stillness that greeted travelers centuries ago.