Jing'an Temple Shanghai: Tickets, Opening Hours and How to Get There

Jing'an Temple is a working Buddhist temple on Nanjing West Road, with its own metro station underneath. It opens daily from 7:30 to 17:00, tickets are bought at the gate, and an hour covers the three main halls. This guide covers hours and tickets, how to get there, what to see, the incense and photo rules, where to eat, and where to stay nearby.

Jing'an Temple Opening Hours, Tickets and How Long to Stay

The temple opens every day from 7:30 to 17:00, with last entry usually around 16:30. Tickets are bought at the gate, so there is no need to book ahead. Allow 45 minutes to an hour and a half.

Ticket prices and opening hours are set by the temple and can change around festivals — confirm at the gate or on +86-21-62566366 before a special trip. Trip.com does not list a price for the site.

What the ticket covers

Entry includes three sticks of incense, handed over at the gate. The temple asks visitors to burn only that incense, so the bundles sold on the pavement outside are not allowed in. The courtyards, the three main halls and the upper walkway all come with the same ticket.

Prices move around Chinese New Year and major Buddhist festival days, and the 1st and 15th of the lunar month follow different arrangements from ordinary weekdays. Budget for a modest entry fee and keep some cash or a phone payment ready.

When the temple opens early

On the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar the temple opens early — often around 4:30 — for worshippers who come before work. Those mornings are busy with locals lighting incense, and the halls fill quickly. If you want the temple at its quietest, go on an ordinary weekday instead.

How long to allow

Forty-five minutes is enough to walk the three halls and the courtyard. Add half an hour if you plan to light incense properly, toss coins at the bronze ding, or climb to the second-floor walkway for the view over the golden roofs. Most visitors spend about an hour.

Where Is Jing'an Temple and How to Get There?

The temple sits at 1686 Nanjing West Road in Jing'an District, and Jing'an Temple station is directly beneath it, so the simplest arrival is metro to Exit 1 and a one-minute walk to the gate.

By metro

Exit 1 comes out at the main gate on Nanjing West Road. Exits 7, 8 and 9 lead into the underground shopping corridors that connect the surrounding malls, which is the better route in heavy rain or summer heat. Line 2 runs east to People's Square and the Bund side of the city, so the temple fits easily into a half-day loop.

By bus

City buses stop along Nanjing West Road. Routes 113, 40, 830, 824, 20, 15, 37 and 21 all serve the area around the temple. Pay on board; a transport card or phone payment is faster than finding change.

From Pudong airport

Airport Bus Line 2 leaves from the City Terminal next to the temple and takes about an hour in normal traffic. Metro Line 2 also runs from Pudong into the city and stops at Jing'an Temple, but expect to stand with bags during rush hour.

What to See Inside Jing'an Temple

Three halls carry the visit: the Mahavira Hall with its silver Sakyamuni Buddha, the Guanyin Hall with a camphor wood figure, and the Jade Buddha Hall with a Ming dynasty bell. Walk in from Nanjing West Road and take them in that order.

The Mahavira Hall and the silver Buddha

The Mahavira Hall is the main hall and the one most visitors remember. It holds a silver Sakyamuni Buddha weighing about 15 tonnes, installed in 2009, with gilded figures and carved woodwork around it. Light inside is low, so give your eyes a moment after stepping in from the courtyard.

Guanyin Hall, Jade Buddha Hall and the Hongwu bell

The Guanyin Hall holds a camphor wood statue of Guanyin standing 6.2 metres high and weighing about 5 tonnes. The carving is why many local visitors come, and the hall is busier than the rest on festival days. In the Jade Buddha Hall a seated jade Buddha measures 3.8 metres, and the bronze bell was cast during the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty, weighing about 3.5 tonnes.

The courtyard, the coin ding and the roof view

The central courtyard is where the temple feels alive: incense burners in front of each door, worshippers moving between halls, and a large bronze ding that people toss coins into for luck. Bring a few 1 RMB coins if you want to join in; the coin machines on site often run out by late afternoon.

For the photograph everyone takes, climb to the second-floor walkway and shoot down over the golden roofs with the office towers behind them. The contrast between the temple and the skyline is the reason this site photographs so well.

Jing'an Temple Visiting Rules: Dress, Incense and Photos

This is an active place of worship, not a museum. Cover shoulders and knees, keep your voice down, and treat the halls the way worshippers do.

What to wear

Cover shoulders and knees, and skip swimwear or bare torsos in the courtyards. In summer a light layer also helps, because the halls are cooler than the street. Shoes come off in some inner rooms, so wear something easy to slip on and off.

How to light incense

Take the three sticks included with your ticket, light them at the burners, and hold them in your left hand. If a flame appears, fan it out rather than blowing on it. Bow at the main burner in the courtyard, then place the sticks upright in the incense bed.

Photos and behaviour

Flash is off inside every hall, and some halls ban photography altogether — read the signs at the door. Do not photograph people while they are praying, and step around anyone bowing or lighting incense rather than waiting behind them. Step over raised door thresholds, never on them. Tripods and commercial shoots need permission from the temple office.

Where to Eat Near Jing'an Temple: Vegetarian Noodles and Cafes

The temple runs a vegetarian canteen that serves noodles at lunch, and the malls around it cover everything else. The noodles are cheap, quick and inside the temple walls, which makes them the most useful food tip in this guide.

The temple canteen

The canteen serves from about 11:00 to 13:00, and the queue builds between 11:30 and 12:30 — arrive at opening if you want a table. A bowl of luohan vegetarian noodles costs roughly 20 to 40 RMB, and the menu usually includes mushroom noodles, mock duck and a braised noodle with eight treasures. Cash and phone payment both work.

Around Nanjing West Road

Réel Mall and Jing'an Kerry Centre hold sit-down restaurants and coffee shops within a five-minute walk, and the side streets behind the temple have cheaper lunch spots. If the canteen has closed, the vegetarian restaurants in the surrounding blocks are the next best option.

What to Do Near Jing'an Temple on Nanjing West Road

The temple sits in the middle of one of Shanghai's main shopping streets, with a park across the road and three malls within walking distance — enough for a half day without taking another metro ride.

Jing'an Park

Jing'an Park is directly across the road from the temple gate, free to enter and open from early morning until dusk. Plane trees shade the paths, a small lake sits at the centre, and the benches fill at lunchtime with office workers. The north side of the park gives you the classic frame of golden roofs against the towers.

Shopping: Plaza 66, Réel and Jing'an Kerry Centre

Plaza 66, on the south side of Nanjing West Road, is the luxury end of the street: watch brands, designer floors and a food hall in the basement. Jing'an Kerry Centre sits a block east with mid-range shops and restaurants, and Réel Mall beside the park is the relaxed option for a coffee or a film. The three malls connect to Jing'an Temple station through underground corridors, so you can shop the stretch without crossing a road.

Photo spots, day and night

Inside, the second-floor walkway is the best frame for the golden roofs and the skyline. Outside, the footbridge over Yan'an Road gives you the wide shot of the whole complex. The temple is often lit on Friday and Saturday evenings, which is when the gold reads best against a dark sky.

Jing'an Temple History: Why It Looks New

The temple is more than 1,700 years old, but almost everything you see above ground was rebuilt in the last forty years.

From 247 AD to Nanjing West Road

The temple was first founded in 247 AD, during the Three Kingdoms period, when this ground lay outside the walled city of Shanghai. It moved to its present site in 1216, and the three main halls that shape the complex today were rebuilt in 1880.

The twentieth century and the restoration

The halls were damaged during the Cultural Revolution and the grounds were put to industrial use as a plastics factory. Religious activity resumed in 1983, and the temple has been restored in stages since then, which is why the gilding and timber look so fresh.

What to expect from a visit

Expect a working temple rather than a museum: worshippers come and go through the day and the smell of incense carries across the courtyard. The complex is compact, so the visit is about the halls and the atmosphere rather than a long walk.

🔥[Discount] Hotels Near Jing'an Temple, Shanghai

Three hotels sit within a few minutes of the temple gates, and the full list of stay options around the temple is on the dedicated page for hotels near Jing'an Temple.

The towers on Nanjing West Road

Jing'an Shangri-La, Shanghai backs onto the temple and puts the metro, Plaza 66 and the halls inside a five-minute walk. Atour Hotel Jing'an Temple Nanjing West Road is the mid-range pick on the same stretch, with smaller rooms and a lower nightly rate.

Cheaper rooms in the lanes behind

Xiangyang Hotel Shanghai sits by the metro exit on the temple side, and the lanes behind Nanjing West Road hold smaller guesthouses that cost less and stay quieter at night.