Longhua Temple is a historically significant and large-scale ancient temple in the Shanghai area, with a history of over 1,700 years. The name of the temple is derived from the Buddhist scripture that recounts the story of Maitreya Bodhisattva achieving Buddhahood under the Longhua tree.
The central axis of Longhua Temple stretches from south to north and includes the Maitreya Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Three Saints Hall, the Abbot's Chamber within an enclosed courtyard, and the Scripture Repository, totaling six halls. The Mahavira Hall is solemn and majestic; the front features three golden statues including Manjushri and Samantabhadra, while the back displays an exquisite statue of the海岛观音 (Island Guanyin). The walls on both sides of the great hall are engraved with twenty heavenly kings and sixteen arhats.
To the east and west of Longhua Temple are the bell and drum towers, respectively. There is an additional fee to ring the bell in the bell tower, and inside the drum tower is a large drum with a diameter of 1.7 meters. The eastern and western side halls house the Guanyin Hall and the Arhat Hall. To the east of the Three Saints Hall are the Ranxiang Tower and the Peony Garden.
Inside Longhua Temple, visitors can pay to enjoy vegetarian meals. The vegetarian food is particularly delicious, and almost all tourists who come to burn incense at Longhua Temple will buy a bowl of vegetarian noodles, often leading to scenes of queues waiting to eat the vegetarian meals. Every year on Lunar New Year, Longhua Temple hosts a bell-ringing event to welcome the new year, and many citizens go there to ring the bell and offer incense, praying for a year of peace.
Next to Longhua Temple stands the Longhua Pagoda, which is said to have been built by Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period to honor his mother. The pagoda was destroyed in the wars at the end of the Tang Dynasty and was rebuilt in the second year of the Taiping Xingguo period of the Northern Song Dynasty. Due to the soft soil quality in Shanghai, the Longhua Pagoda has tilted, and for protection reasons, the pagoda can only be viewed from the outside and cannot be climbed.
Address:
No. 2853 Longhua Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Opening Hours:
07:00-16:30
Official Phone:
021-64571440
