The Yuan God Temple stands at the foot of Huqi Mountain in Hongshan Village, Hongshan Town, Jiexiu City. It was built right above the source of the Hongshan Spring. Also known as the Yuezhuo Spring, it was named after a legend that a mythical Yuezhuo bird sang here whenever the spring gushed forth.

Surrounded by serene scenery with an ancient temple beside the spring pond, Hongshan Yuan God Temple boasts exquisite architecture and has long enjoyed the reputation of a "magnificent palace". The well-preserved buildings cover an area of 711 square metres. Facing west, the whole complex rises tier upon tier along the mountain slope.

Walking past the spring pond and crossing a stone arch bridge, visitors arrive at a tall memorial archway covered with colourful paintings. Engraved on the front are five bold and elegant gilded Chinese characters: Only the rooted endure. The calligraphy is traditionally attributed to Wang Shouren, a great Neo-Confucian scholar of the Ming Dynasty, derived from Zhu Xi’s commentary: "Extensive and all-embracing like the great way, deep and steady like a spring with an enduring source." On the reverse side are four large characters Broad as ocean, deep as spring, written by Wang Yikui.

Further up the stone steps stands the Dragon-Tiger Hall, now marked by the plaque of the Hongshan Water Conservancy Museum. Behind the hall is the main gate bearing the horizontal board inscribed "Yuan God Temple".

After climbing dozens of steps through the gate and an intermediate hall, you enter a small courtyard. Facing due east is the main hall of the temple. It stretches five bays wide and two bays deep, with a single-eaved overhanging gable roof. The openwork spandrels beneath the horizontal beams and stone railings in front of the hall feature extremely delicate carvings.

Opposite the main hall stands an opera tower erected above five cave dwellings, flanked by the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. The opera tower, also called the "Jade Resounding Tower", has a curved roof with three bays across and two bays in depth. The Bell and Drum Towers adopt a hexagonal pyramidal roof. Below them are five cave dwellings: the middle one serves as a passage, while the other four on both sides are called "Cloud Chambers". Song Tingkui, a renowned local scholar and artist during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, once lived and created works here. The surviving plaque reading Resting amid Clouds is his authentic handwriting.

The entire opera tower is stately, luxurious and resplendent. The courtyard layout is ingenious, with painted beams, multi-layered eaves and upturned corners, fully demonstrating the extraordinary imagination and superb craftsmanship of ancient artisans.

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Jiexiu Hongshan Water Conservancy Museum was recognised as China’s first water conservancy museum in 1993.