Chinese temple Wenchang Pavilion on Fenghuang Mountain burns after tourist candle incident triggers blaze

A temple fire sparked by what officials bluntly described as a tourist’s “irresponsible candle use” and sloppy incense handling tore through the Wenchang Pavilion on Wednesday, November 12, turning a quiet morning on Fenghuang Mountain into a viral spectacle.

Footage posted across Chinese social media showed flames punching through the three-story structure as thick black smoke swallowed the sky, the blaze engulfing the modern reconstruction commissioned in 2008 and completed in 2009.

While the building itself was contemporary, the site’s spiritual lineage runs far deeper.

The pavilion was overseen by the neighbouring Yongqing Temple, a religious institution tracing its origins back roughly 1500 years to the Liang Dynasty (around 536 AD). The ancient complex eventually fell into ruins before being rebuilt in the 1990s, but its heritage remains significant.

Authorities confirmed there were no casualties and, crucially, no ancient architecture was housed inside the pavilion. Fire crews contained the flames before they could spread into the surrounding forest, avoiding what could have been a far greater disaster.

Local officials have signalled more action to come as the investigation continues, including tightened safety protocols aimed at preventing future fires. Once inquiries wrap up, restoration crews will begin rebuilding the pavilion in its traditional architectural style, news.com.au reported.

The incident follows a string of heritage scares across China, including a 2023 inferno at the centuries-old Shandan Great Buddha Temple in Gansu province’s Shandan County. That blaze left much of the site destroyed, except for a giant Buddha statue that survived, partially intact.

It also arrives on the heels of another alarming act of damage, this time allegedly not accidental. On May 30, a domestic tourist jumped into a protected pit housing a member of the 2000-year-old Terracotta Army at the Museum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in Shaanxi Province, severely damaging two statues before being apprehended.

Authorities say the 30-year-old man, described as suffering from mental illness, leapt over a guardrail and plunged nearly 6 metres into the excavation zone. A viral video shows stunned bystanders yelling, “What are you doing?” as the man tumbled into the pit.

The online reaction was immediate and furious.

“What an absolutely disgusting person. What is wrong with some people disrespecting the past? Hope they throw the book at him” one user wrote.

Another demanded, “He should do at least 15 years,” while others lamented, “People are so disrespectful and entitled these days. Things like this are happening far too often lately.”

Local sources said the man began “pushing and pulling” the clay warriors, damaging two to varying degrees.”

Footage from the aftermath shows him lying among the toppled statues, clutching his head in pain as security personnel moved in. The pit was immediately closed and visitors were evacuated while authorities dealt with the fallout.

According to the Independent, police stated the perpetrator was a “domestic tourist”, attributing his action to a mental breakdown linked to an unspecified mental illness.

But for many critics, the larger concern was how a UNESCO World Heritage Site could be breached so easily. The fact that a visitor was able to leap into the burial pit without intervention has reignited longstanding questions about cultural-heritage security.