With a history of over 1700 years, the Longhua Temple is an ancient temple with a long history and a large scale in Shanghai, The name of the Longhua temple comes from the allusion in the Buddhist scriptures that Maitreya Bodhisattva became a Buddha under the Longhua Tree.
On the central axis of Longhua Temple, from south to north, there are Maitreya Hall, the Shakya ManiHall, Sansheng Hall, Abbot's Room in the closed courtyard, and Sutra Pavilion, with six halls in total. The the Shakya ManiHall is solemn and solemn. On the front are three golden bodies, such as Manjusri and Samantabhadra. On the back are exquisite sea island Avalokitesvara statues. On both sides of the hall are carved twenty heavens and sixteen Arhat along the walls. There are bell and drum towers on the east and west sides of the temple, and additional payment is required to ring the bell inside the tower. The drum tower houses a large drum with a diameter of 1.7 meters. There are Guanyin Hall and Luohan Hall in the east and west side halls. There are Ranxiang Tower and Peony Garden to the east of the Sansheng Temple.
In Longhua Temple, you can pay to eat vegetarian food because it is very delicious. Tourists who come to Longhua Temple to burn incense almost always buy a bowl of vegetarian noodles, and often see scenes of waiting in line to eat vegetarian food.
Longhua Temple has a bell ringing activity to welcome the new year, and many citizens want to ring the first bell with incense to pray for a safe year. 3. In April, there is a Longhua Temple Fair. There is an old saying in Shanghai that goes, "On the third day of the third lunar month, go to Longhua and see the peach blossoms." It is said that the third day of the third lunar month is the day when Maitreya transforms into a cloth bag monk.
There is a Longhua Pagoda next to the Longhua Temple. It is said that it was built by Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period to honor his mother. It was destroyed in the flames of war in the late Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in the second year of the Taiping Xingguo reign of the Northern Song Dynasty. Due to the soft soil in Shanghai, the Longhua Tower has already tilted. For protection purposes, the tower can only be viewed from outside and cannot be climbed.
Travel Tips
Address: No. 2853 Longhua Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Tel: 021-64571440
Opening Hours: 09:00-16:30
Ticket price: CNY10