It is not crowded when we went and you can easily purchase tickets at the door. We could not go upstairs and were told it is off limits. The temple and artifacts are beautiful and worth the visit. If you want a good view of the city, I suggest the Baiyun Mountain or Canton Tower.

I would suggest to go to this temple mid morning and I recommend you catch a taxi to get there unless you join a tour and this site is included! I think they have a “red” hop on hop off bus travel service - check with your hotel!

First one has to consider that "buddhism" is a broad name for several views; hinayana, mahayana, tibetan, korean, vietnamese, japanese, ... which means each one has different views and different names for the same buddha. But in general here are these three buddhas of that 6 (liu) banyan trees (current name given by Su Dongpo, a writer during the Song dynasty on his way to the North). Maitreya is a "boddhisatva" that is, has still to come after the dharma disappeared to put it again in order: a kind of "messiah" (cf. the Hindu Kalki avatar). he is also the "apothecary/medicine" buddha (bhaisajyaguru) who takes care of the sick people with a big smile, the buddha of the future, and of the East. Dipankara or Amitabha brings light to and protects the traveller, the navigator, he is a kind of "good Samaritan" and is thus associated with "charity", he is the buddha of the past and of the West. Shakyamuni (the sage of the S'akya) is the buddha of the present and faces the North. Some confuse Buddha and Mahavira (cf. the name of the hall where these three buddha statues are placed) while Mahavira is the one who gave his actual form to Jainism, but both lived at the same time that is, VIth century BC.

Se não sabe ler chinês, é SEMPRE melhor apanhar um táxi e mostrar o nome do estabelecimento (em chinês) ao motorista. O taxi lá é muito barato e muito mais fácil. De transporte público é complicado porque não há qualquer informação das paragens ou direcções noutra língua, só em Chinês.