The birthplace of China's Buddhist Association has undergone renovation and taken on a new look. The location of the temple has moved several meters south while the look of the buildings remain authentic. And an important find was made during the renovation.

Walking into the Pi Lu Temple, visitors will see a brand new Grand Hall of Buddha. All of the beams, pillars, the carved windows and the stone bases have been taken directly from the original hall, to keep the building's authentic look.

The hall, which was built 124 years ago, saw a severe sinking of its foundation, putting the whole hall in danger. So, experts suggested moving the one-hundred-year-old hall to the south by a dozen meters.

Yang Xinhua, deputy director of Bureau of Cultural Relics of Nanjing, said, "The original site of the hall was just meters away to the north. Over time, the base had sunk. But the renovation keeps its original materials, original style and looks. For example, the pillar is the same pillar from the original hall, also the base of the pillar, and the beams are just the ones used in the original hall."

The Pi Lu Temple was first set up in the Ming dynasty during Jia Qing's reign. But during Qing dynasty's Guang Xu emperor's reign, it was enlarged to its current size, by the command of high official Zeng Guofan's brother, another general Zeng Guoquan, who asked its troops to donate money and ordered woods from Hengshan mountain for the effort. From then on, Pi Lu Temple gradually becomes the center of China's Buddhism. The temple became the home of China's Buddhist Association since 1931.

During the 2011 renovation, construction workers discovered an important relic. The inscriptions of Zeng Guoquan, and the donors of the temple were found on the beam on the roof, otherwise this fact would still be kept in oblivion like it had been for over a century.

Yang Xinhua said, "It has been said that the temple was concerned by high official Zeng Guofan, saying he had come to donate and even dispatched military costs to the building of the temple. But there hadn't been proof for it. Now we can conclude that he has arranged his brother Zeng Guoquan to build this temple and come to know who the donors were. This discovery reveals history."

After the facelift, the Bi Lu Temple are expected to receive crowds of believers and visitors from home and broad.