Longhua Temple, Shanghai

Longhua Temple tickets and entrance fee

Entry costs about ¥10, with a bundle of incense included; you pay at the main gate by scanning a QR code or at the ticket window. That is the figure in English Wikipedia and most guides, though one recent guide says entry is now free. With no official notice either way, treat the price as unconfirmed.

The pagoda stands outside the temple, in front of the gate, so you can see and photograph it without a ticket. Extra charges inside are for striking the bell in the Bell Tower, for premium incense and for food at the vegetarian canteen.

Paying: mobile payment rules in Shanghai. Link a Visa or Mastercard to Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly, and keep a few small yuan notes as a backup. The metro gates accept foreign contactless cards, so you won’t need cash to get there.

Longhua Temple opening hours

The temple opens every day, roughly 7:00 to 16:30 — the figure most guides give, though a couple say 7:10. There is no closing day. On the 1st and 15th of each lunar month, the traditional incense days, it opens earlier; guides disagree on exactly when, quoting anything from 5:00 to 6:00.

Arrive by 15:30 so you’re not rushed through the halls. Weekday mornings are the calmest. Incense days and Chinese New Year bring crowds of worshippers and clouds of smoke — busy, but the best time to see the temple fully alive.

Is Longhua Temple worth visiting?

Yes, if old Chinese temples are your thing. Longhua is the biggest temple complex in Shanghai, and its pagoda is more than a thousand years old. The courtyards are spacious and the place feels like a working monastery rather than a tourist stop.

The catch is distance. It sits in the southwest, well away from the Bund and Lujiazui, and the trip each way takes about 45 minutes. With one day in Shanghai, the Jade Buddha Temple or Jing’an Temple is a better fit. With two or three days, pair Longhua with Tianzifang and Xintiandi, which are a short metro ride north.

What to see at Longhua Temple

• Longhua Pagoda outside the gate — octagonal, seven storeys, with small bells hanging from every corner of the eaves.
• Maitreya Hall at the entrance — the laughing Buddha of the future, to whom the temple is dedicated.
• Hall of the Heavenly Kings — four guardians of the directions, each about four metres tall.
• Mahavira Hall — the main hall, with the Buddha flanked by bodhisattvas, twenty devas and eighteen arhats, plus a bell cast in 1586.
• Three Sages Hall — Amitabha with Guanyin and Mahasthamaprapta; behind it, the Abbot’s Hall and the sutra library.
• Bell and Drum Towers either side of the courtyard. The big bell is the star on New Year’s Eve; guides say you can pay to strike it on ordinary days.
• Vegetarian canteen at the back — simple arhat noodles, about ¥15 a bowl according to unofficial guides.

New Year’s Eve bell and the spring temple fair

Ringing in the new year at Longhua is a Shanghai tradition. On the night of 31 December the temple holds a bell-striking ceremony, with lion dances, New Year noodles and the pagoda lit up. Recent editions required a free real-name booking and the format changes from year to year, so check the rules well ahead if you’re in town.

The other big date is the temple fair in spring, on the third day of the third lunar month. It has run since the Ming dynasty and coincides with peach blossom in the area: crafts, street food and dragon dances. Great atmosphere, but pick another day if you want quiet halls.

A short history

Tradition says the temple was founded in 242 under Sun Quan, ruler of the Kingdom of Wu. War destroyed it at the end of the Tang dynasty, and it was rebuilt in 977 — the date of the pagoda you see today. The name, “Dragon Flower”, comes from a legend that a dragon appeared here.

The layout follows a Song-dynasty Chan monastery, with five halls on one axis, but most of the buildings are late-Qing rebuilds, and the whole complex was restored in 1954. Since 1977 it has been a protected Shanghai heritage site.

Longhua or another Shanghai temple?

Jade Buddha Temple hours come from its official website; the other temples’ prices and hours are unofficial — see each temple’s page for details.

Shanghai temples compared

Temples and shrines in Shanghai rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

How to do it right

• Come at opening time on a weekday — quiet courtyards and soft morning light on the pagoda.
• You can see and photograph the pagoda for free from the square, even if you skip the temple itself.
• On the 1st and 15th of the lunar month the temple fills with worshippers — fascinating, but crowded.
• Most signs are in Chinese only; a camera translation app helps.
• In peach-blossom season, combine the visit with the spring temple fair, but allow extra time.
• Google Maps and Google search are blocked in China without a VPN or roaming eSIM — save the address 龙华路2853号 offline.

Questions