Puning Temple is also called Big Buddha Temple because of the big Buddha in it. The temple was built from the twentieth year to the twenty-third year of Emperor Qianlong in the style of the earliest monastery of the Tibetan Buddhism-Sanmoye Temple. It is of a gigantic scale and covers an area of 23,000 square meters.

Inside the temple, there are gate hall, bell-drum tower and inscription pavilion on the middle axes. In the inscription pavilion stand the monuments of A Record of Puning Temple, A Record of Pacifying Other Tribes and A Record of Pacifying Their Descendents. Right behind the inscription pavilion are the Heaven King Palace and Daxingbao Palace. And further interior lays the Dacheng Pavilion, which is a standard Tibetan-style building with a height of 36.75 meters.

Inside the pavilion stands the gilded statue of the Kwan-yin Bodhisattva with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, which is carved with the wood of pines, sypresses, elms, basses and firry lumbers. It is the largest wooden statue in China and has been recorded in the Guiness Encyclopedia. Shancai and Longnv stand in mellow posture on the two sides of the statue. A Miaoyan Room and Scripture-telling Hall flanking the pavilion were for the emperors to listen to the scripture and have a rest.

During the Qing dynasty, Puning Temple would hold temple affairs regularly during the time from lunar December 25th to December 27th and from lunar January 8th to January 15th each year. The Lamas of the Eight Outer Temples gathered to give performances of Buddhist dances, which attracted endless stream of villagers around the area.