Longhua Temple and Pagoda

Shanghai's oldest Buddhist temple complex, with the city's only surviving classical pagoda. Active monastery; Lunar New Year bell-striking ceremony.

Longhua Temple sits in the city's southern Xuhui district and traces its founding to the Three Kingdoms period — tradition holds it was established in 247 CE, though no physical structure from that era survives. The complex was rebuilt repeatedly through the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties; the current hall arrangement is primarily Qing-era reconstruction. The 7-storey octagonal brick pagoda dates in its present form to the Song dynasty (977 CE) and is the only major surviving classical pagoda in Shanghai — a rare piece of pre-modern religious architecture in a city that lost much of its historic fabric to 20th-century development.

The temple remains an active Chan Buddhist monastery and is not a museum set-piece. Morning ritual chanting can be heard from the entrance courtyard. The grounds are broad and organised around five successive gate-halls leading from the Maitreya Hall at the front through to the Tri-Precious Hall at the rear. The temple grounds include a plum-blossom garden, which is at its best in February. Adjacent to the complex is Longhua Martyrs' Cemetery, where Communists executed by the Kuomintang in the late 1920s are commemorated — a sombre counterpoint to the religious site.

The Lunar New Year bell-striking ceremony (the 108 bell tolls, one for each earthly affliction in Buddhist teaching) is a Shanghai institution, broadcast on city television and drawing large crowds. Outside this period, the temple is most peaceful on weekday mornings. Entry fees are low and photography of the grounds is generally permitted, though the main shrine halls restrict cameras.