The Gao Temple ( Gao miao ) is located within the town of Zhongwei , 170km southwest of Yinchuan. The temple was originally built in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), was flattened by an earthquake in 1739 AD, was rebuilt and enlarged after this and then razed to the ground by fire in 1942. The present temple is a magnificent jumble of buildings and styles covering an area of about four thousand square meters.

The Gao Temple is a structure that, like the Hanging Monastery near Datong, caters mainly to the three religions of Buddhism , Confucianism and Taoism (although the temple even goes so far as to celebrate Christianity and other religions that have tried to find their home in China). Statues of the Gautama Buddha , the Jade Emperor and the Holy Mother can still be seen here, under the roofs of the 250 temple rooms that make up the complex.

The present day Gao Temple is still mainly wooden in structure, and is beautifully interweaved, with tier upon tier, veranda under eave, presenting a most impressive aspect. The temple also has a gruesome face, however, in the caverns below the temple. These caverns, originally converted by the communists as a bomb shelter during the uncertainty of the Cultural Revolution Years (1966-76), have now be turned into a peculiar kind of Chinese religious hell, where devils are depicted torturing those souls who strayed from a righteous path. This basement is definitely worth the entrance fee.