Black Myth: Wukong: The Temples of Shanxi

Game Science did not only borrow the look of Chinese heritage: its team scanned real buildings and statues on site and copied them into the game or used them as a base for design. Datong's Yungang Grottoes, carved in the Northern Wei era and lying about 16 km west of the city, are on the list of filming sites, and the Northern Wei statues are meticulously recreated in the game.

Visitor guidance: The grottoes are about 16 km west of Datong.

A temple built into a cliff 75 metres above the ground near Mount Heng, the Hanging Temple is among the Datong sites on the game's list of scanned locations. Legend says a single monk, Liaoran, began building it at the end of the Northern Wei era. Today a 10-metre corridor links its two main towers.

Visitor guidance: The temple is in Hunyuan County, Datong City, near Mount Heng.

The wooden pagoda of Ying County, in Shuozhou, is on the Chinese Wikipedia list of the game's Shanxi filming sites. It was first constructed in 1056, during the Qingning period of the Liao dynasty, and reaches a total height of 67.31 meters. Its main structure is built of pine and elm wood, and inside it houses 34 colored Buddhist statues.

Visitor guidance: The pagoda is in Ying County, Shuozhou City.

Chinese Wikipedia names Nanchan Temple among the Shanxi places that appear in the game, and it is also on the list of filming sites around Mount Wutai. It was built in 782 under the Tang dynasty, and its Great Buddha Hall is currently China's oldest preserved timber building. Inside, the hall holds seventeen statues. The temple stands near the town of Doucun, in the Wutai mountains of northern Shanxi.

Visitor guidance: Near the town of Doucun in the Mount Wutai area.

Xiaoxitian, the "Little Western Paradise" on Mount Fenghuang in Xi County, is named by Chinese Wikipedia and by the Chinese press as one of the places that appear in the game. The temple's Upper Main Hall holds more than 1,000 polychrome clay sculptures, the largest as tall as 3 metres. Historical records say the travelling Buddhist monk Dongming began the temple. The game has no scene-by-scene credit for it, but cave temples full of Buddhist statues are part of its look.

Visitor guidance: The temple is on Mount Fenghuang in Xi County, Linfen City.

Guangsheng Temple in Hongdong has already been a Journey to the West set once: in 1986 its Feihong pagoda stood in for Tang Seng's sweeping scene in the TV series, and in 2024 Wikipedia says it became a filming site again for the game. The pagoda is octagonal, thirteen storeys and 47.31 metres tall, and is also called the Flying Rainbow Pagoda.

Visitor guidance: The temple complex is in Hongdong County, Linfen City.

Guanque Tower is named in Chinese Wikipedia as one of the game's filming sites. It is known for the Tang poem "On the Stork Tower", but the tower seen today is a modern rebuild that opened to the public in October 2002. It has nine storeys and stands 73.9 metres tall.

Visitor guidance: The tower is in Yongji, Yuncheng City.