Longhua Temple Shanghai Guide 2025: Tickets, Vegetarian Food & Peach Blossom Season

📖 What to Know

Longhua Temple is Shanghai's oldest and largest Buddhist temple, founded in the Eastern Wu Kingdom (AD 242) — meaning it predates Shanghai itself by over a thousand years. The 40-metre octagonal Longhua Pagoda next to the temple dates from the 10th century and is one of the few wooden Song-dynasty pagodas still standing in China.

Unlike many Chinese temples that feel like museums, Longhua remains an active place of worship. Morning prayers happen at 7am with monks chanting, incense burning, and elderly devotees placing offerings — an atmosphere that's genuinely moving regardless of your beliefs.

The temple complex is large and well-maintained. Plan 1.5–2 hours. The adjacent peach orchard is the main draw in late March when 3,000+ trees bloom — the city's most popular urban blossom event.

🌸 Best Season to Visit

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March
Peach blossom festival — 3,000 trees bloom. Arrive early weekdays to avoid festival crowds.

☀️

Summer

Hot but lush green. Fewer tourists than spring. Morning visits essential.

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Autumn

Beautiful golden ginkgo leaves. Comfortable temperatures. Good for photography.

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Winter

New Year ceremonies (late Jan/Feb) are significant. Very atmospheric but crowded.

🙏 What to See Inside

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Longhua Pagoda (龙华塔) — The 10th-century Song-dynasty pagoda outside the main gate. Can't enter, but photograph from the adjacent Longhua Park for the best angle.
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Great Hall (大雄宝殿) — The main worship hall with three giant gilded Buddhas. Often has incense and devotional activity. Respectful quiet is expected.
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Bell Tower (钟楼) — The temple bell is struck 108 times at midnight on New Year's Eve (lunar calendar), a famous Shanghai tradition. If you're here in late January/early February, this event is worth attending.
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Peach Orchard (桃花园) — Adjacent to the temple. Free to enter (separate from temple ticket). March blossom festival is crowded but genuinely beautiful.

🍜 What to Eat Nearby

The vegetarian restaurant inside the temple is a rare experience. Outside, Longhua Road has simple local food.

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Temple Vegetarian Restaurant龙华寺素斋

Inside the temple complex — Buddhist vegetarian cuisine (素斋), served monastery-style. Dishes are meat-free but often simulate meat dishes using tofu and gluten. A genuinely unusual experience. Open for lunch; limited hours. Reservation sometimes needed during holidays.

¥50–80/person

📍 Inside Longhua Temple (龙华寺内)

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Longhua Road Local Restaurants龙华路小馆

The streets around the temple entrance have simple noodle shops and local canteens catering to neighbourhood regulars and temple workers. No English menus, local prices, honest food. The kind of place guidebooks never mention.

¥20–40

📍 Longhua Road (龙华路), temple area

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Temple Fair Snacks (During Festivals)庙会小吃

During the Longhua Temple Fair (龙华庙会) in spring, a street market surrounds the temple with traditional snacks: sugar-coated haws (冰糖葫芦), sesame cakes, steamed buns, candied nuts. One of Shanghai's few surviving traditional temple fairs.

¥5–20 per item

📍 Temple surroundings during festival season (March-April)

🚇 Getting Here

L11/12
Longhua Station (龙华站) on Lines 11 and 12. Exit 1, then 5-min walk north on Longhua Road to the temple main gate.

Add Longhua Temple to Your Shanghai Trip

Plan a morning visit — temple is most atmospheric before 10am

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