Fairy Lake Botanical Garden, Shenzhen

What is Fairy Lake Botanical Garden?

Fairy Lake Botanical Garden (仙湖植物园, Xianhu Botanical Garden) is Shenzhen’s main botanical garden and a research garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It fills a valley in Luohu District, on the east side of the city, between Wutong Mountain and Shenzhen Reservoir. It was founded in 1983 and opened to the public in 1988.

Think forested hillsides, a lake in the middle, around 12,000 plant species and 21 themed gardens. Sources disagree on the exact area — anywhere from 546 to 668 hectares — but either way you won’t see it all in a morning. A temple shuttle and a loop bus link the main areas.

Most people come for Hongfa Temple (弘法寺), which climbs the slope above the lake in terraces. Construction started in 1985 and the temple was consecrated in 1992; it’s a working Chan Buddhist monastery with dozens of halls and courtyards. The temple is free, but the only way in is through the garden gates.

YesGo’s take: this is Shenzhen’s best green day out, and the one place where a major Buddhist temple sits in forest rather than between towers. It is a half-day trip to the east of the city, though — not worth it for a quick hour.

How much are tickets and when is it open?

Adult tickets are ¥15. Children 1.2–1.5 m tall and students pay ¥5; children under 1.2 m (or under 6) go free. Guides mention free entry for over-60s with ID, but we couldn’t confirm that it applies to foreign passports. Hongfa Temple charges nothing on top.

The garden is open every day, 6:00–21:30. Tickets are needed 8:00–18:00; between 6:00 and 8:00 and from 18:00 to 21:30 entry is free, and the gates are shut overnight. Hongfa Temple is open 8:00–18:00. The cactus dome, bonsai and orchid gardens keep 9:00–17:00, and the Paleontological Museum is closed on Mondays.

Tickets come from the garden’s official WeChat account (深圳市仙湖植物园); around holidays, tickets bought elsewhere may be refused. During Chinese New Year and big flower shows, entry switches to timed bookings and cars are kept away from the gates. The ticket and hours pages on the garden’s own website don’t load without a full browser, so we mark these figures as being checked.

Hongfa Temple: getting up there and what to see

Hongfa Temple sits above the lake on the flank of Wutong Mountain. The easiest way up is the ¥3 shuttle from the main gate (7:00–18:00, leaving every few minutes, with one stop at Suoluo Lake). Walking means a climb by road and steps, so bring water and allow extra time.

The halls rise along a central axis: the Mountain Gate, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, a Buddhist culture exhibition building, the Mahavira (Main Buddha) Hall and, at the top, the Sutra Library. Side halls are dedicated to Guanyin, Ksitigarbha and a reclining Buddha, with a bell tower and drum tower. The higher you go, the wider the view over the wooded hills.

This is a working monastery, not a museum: people pray, incense burns and monks go about their day. It is busiest on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month and over Chinese New Year, when queues form and worshippers need to book a slot. On an ordinary weekday it is calm.

What to see in the garden

• Hongfa Temple — terraces of golden-roofed halls on the mountainside; the main reason to come.
• Cactus and succulent dome (仙人掌与多肉园) — a clear hemispherical greenhouse with rows of barrel cacti; the garden’s most photographed spot, open in the daytime.
• Fairy Lake itself — lakeside paths, bridges and pavilions, with the temple visible on the slope above.
• Fossil Forest — petrified tree trunks displayed in the open air, next to the Paleontological Museum.
• Suoluo Lake (桫椤湖), lined with tree ferns — on the way to the temple and a shuttle stop.
• Bonsai and pine gardens — the Chinese art of miniature trees, 9:00–17:00.
• Desert and palm areas — plants you won’t see growing wild anywhere in China.

Temple shuttle and garden loop bus

Two bus lines run inside the garden. The Hongfa Temple shuttle goes from the main gate via Suoluo Lake to the temple: ¥3 a ride, 7:00–18:00, leaving when full — roughly every 8 minutes. Children 1.2–1.4 m pay half, under 1.2 m ride free.

The loop bus covers almost 9 km, stopping at the south and north gates, Suoluo Lake, Hongfa Temple, the bonsai garden, the succulent garden and more. It runs 9:00–18:00 every 10–30 minutes; a ¥10 day ticket lets you hop on and off as often as you like.

Pay by scanning the QR code on the stop signs or through the mini-program. On weekends, public holidays and the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, temple shuttle tickets are sold at the main gate instead. Buses are sometimes suspended on big holidays, leaving you to walk the whole way.

Is Fairy Lake Botanical Garden worth it?

Yes, if you want a break from the skyscrapers and a living Buddhist temple in a forest setting. The temple, lake and cactus dome take 2.5–3 hours; the whole garden with the fossil forest and trails is a full day. Come for the 9:00 greenhouse opening, or earlier — it’s cooler and the temple is quiet.

Skip it if you only have one day in Shenzhen and want towers and shopping streets: the round trip alone takes more than an hour. And don’t expect peace over Chinese New Year or on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month — those are the temple’s busiest days.

Compared with the city parks, it’s a different kind of trip: Lianhuashan Park is a free hour on a hill with a skyline view; Fairy Lake is a proper day out in nature with a temple and greenhouses.

Fairy Lake vs other green spaces in Shenzhen

Details for the two parks come from their YesGo pages.

Shenzhen by the water

Shenzhen spots by lakes and the bay, rated by YesGo. Tap a column header to sort.

How to do it right

• Arrive by 8:00: entry is still free, the temple is quiet, and the greenhouses open at 9:00.
• Ride the shuttle up to the temple and walk down to the lake — much easier on the legs.
• Avoid Chinese New Year and lunar holidays: timed bookings, queues and road closures.
• Visit the cactus dome on a weekday — it’s the garden’s photo spot and only opens 9:00–17:00.
• The Paleontological Museum by the Fossil Forest is closed on Mondays.
• Mobile signal is patchy in the valley — download the garden map and your route back before you go.
• Afterwards, ride Line 2 back to Grand Theater and one stop on Line 1 to Dongmen Pedestrian Street.

Questions