Jing'an Temple (静安寺)
Temple · Jing’an · Shanghai. A gold-roofed working temple on West Nanjing Road, home to a 15-tonne silver Buddha.
Source: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/jingan-temple · Data checked 2026-10-02 · Rendered for 2026-10-03 (Asia/Shanghai). Facts carry their status; "not found yet" means we searched and found no reliable source.
Notices in effect
- 2026-09-19 to 2026-10-07: Light installations in Jing'an Park (opposite the temple) and along West Nanjing Road, 18:00–22:00 nightly, free.
Why go
Jing'an Temple (静安寺) is an active Buddhist temple in the middle of Shanghai's West Nanjing Road shopping district, with gilded roofs set against office towers. The temple traces its history to 247 AD, and the present halls were rebuilt from 1983. Inside you see a 15-tonne silver Buddha, Shanghai's largest seated jade Buddha and a 6-metre camphor-wood Guanyin, in about an hour.
What to do
- See the silver Buddha. Climb to the main hall, the Mahavira Hall (大雄宝殿), where a Buddha cast from 15 tonnes of silver was installed in 2009, flanked by smaller silver statues of bodhisattvas and disciples.
- Find the jade and camphor statues. East of the main hall, the Guanyin Hall (观音殿) holds a 6.2 m Guanyin carved from camphor wood. Opposite it, the Jade Buddha Hall has a 3.8 m seated jade Buddha.
- Read the pillar at the gate. Before the gate stands a tall stone pillar topped by gilded lions facing four ways; the front reads 正法久住 and the back is carved with the Diamond Sutra.
- Photograph the gold roofs at dusk. From the footbridge where Yan'an West Road meets Huashan Road (华山路), you see the temple's gold roofs framed by traffic and towers. The roofs are lit after dark on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Don't miss: The Ming-dynasty bronze Hongwu bell, about 3.5 tonnes, is one of the oldest objects in the temple.
- Best time: Weekday morning; avoid lunar 1st and 15th
- Skip if: Skip the paid interior if you have already seen a larger temple such as Longhua or the Jade Buddha Temple and only want a photo; the gold roofs are best seen from the street.
Practical details
- Hours: 07:30–17:00 daily
- Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 07:30–17:00
- Opens earlier on lunar 1st and 15th days and Buddhist festivals; listings give 04:30 or 05:30.
- Spring Festival has separate hours and higher ticket prices.
- A July 2024 post lists 07:30–18:00 and an 18:00 last entry in a general information section, without defining when that schedule applied. Newer 2025–26 sources and the existing listing give 17:00 closing. The older claim remains unresolved; do not explain it as a holiday-only exception.
- Admission: Ticketed · ¥50 incl. 3 incense sticks
- Incense-and-flower ticket (香花券): ¥50 (Normal days)
- Free: Visitors 70+ (Senior card or ID card)
- Free: Children 1.3 m and under
- Free: People with disabilities; active and retired military; Buddhists with a refuge certificate (Own certificate)
- The ticket is called an incense-and-flower ticket and includes three incense sticks.
- Historical only: the 2024 Spring Festival list gave ¥1,000 for Lunar New Year’s Eve, ¥200 for day 1 and ¥100 for days 2–15. These are not current or annual prices; check the new year’s notice.
- Booking: No booking; buy at the gate or in WeChat
- Ticket booth at the West Nanjing Road gate (南京西路山门售票处)
- Shanghai Jing'an Temple (上海静安寺) — WeChat → follow 上海静安寺 → 古刹导览 → 香花券 → 门票 → fill in details and pick a date → 立即请购
- Fuhui Baisi (福慧百寺) — WeChat → search 福慧百寺 → 门票
- Passport accepted: unknown — The WeChat form asks for personal details; whether a passport number is accepted was not found.
- Online tickets cannot be refunded; you may change the date once for free.
- Last admission: Gates close 17:00
- Time to allow: 1–1.5 hr
- Getting there: Line 2/7/14 · Jing'an Temple · Exit 1
- Metro Line 2/7/14 to Jing'an Temple (静安寺), Exit 1, about 2 min walk
- Show a taxi driver: 请送我到静安区南京西路1686号 静安寺
- Map: Apple Maps · Amap 高德
- Exit 1 is given by two 2025–2026 guides (about 60–100 m); the station sits directly under the temple.
- Address: 上海市静安区南京西路1686号 / 1686 West Nanjing Road
- Foreign visitors: Passport and card use at the gate not confirmed
Not found yet
- booking.passport.accepted: 未找到窗口或公众号是否接受护照、是否实名的原文；官网 shjas.org 仅剩跳转页。 (searched: official, media, WebSearch, Trip.com Moments)
- lastAdmission: 只有一家英文攻略站写 16:30 停止入场，携程等只写 07:30–17:00。 (searched: OTA, blog, WebSearch)
- foreignVisitors: 无外国游客护照、外卡、英文标识的可追溯一手信息（Reddit/Tripadvisor/Exa 均不可用）。 (searched: WebSearch, Reddit/pullpush, Exa web)
Traveler tips
- Buy the ¥50 ticket at the gate. The entrance is the main gate on West Nanjing Road (南京西路), right above Jing'an Temple metro station; use Exit 1. The ¥50 ticket is called an incense-and-flower ticket (香花券) and comes with three incense sticks, so you do not need to buy incense from street sellers. On normal days you can simply buy it at the booth by the gate. Caveat: The claim that three sticks come with the ticket rests on earlier sources; check the current inclusions at the gate. source
- Or pre-buy in the temple's WeChat. To buy ahead, follow the WeChat official account 上海静安寺 (Shanghai Jing'an Temple), tap 古刹导览 (temple guide) → 香花券 → 门票 (ticket), fill in your details, pick the date and tap 立即请购 (buy now). The same ticket is sold in the 福慧百寺 mini-program. Online tickets cannot be refunded, but you can change the date once free of charge. If WeChat verification fails, explain the problem at the staffed gate and ask whether an Alipay purchase is available. Caveat: The WeChat steps are from a 2024 guide and may have changed. One Korean visitor, in a post published July 2025, described a failed verification without a Chinese number, then a passport-assisted Alipay purchase. The visit month is not confirmed; this does not establish a standing foreign-passport or overseas-phone rule. source
- No photos inside the halls. Jing'an is a working temple. Taking photos inside the halls, including of the silver Buddha, is not allowed; photos in the courtyards are fine. Dress modestly (no very short shorts or bare shoulders), keep your voice low, and step over, not on, the raised wooden door thresholds. Caveat: The photo rule comes from a guide site; follow any signs at each hall door. source
- Avoid lunar 1st and 15th days. On the 1st and 15th days of each lunar month and on Buddhist festivals the temple opens before dawn and fills with worshippers burning incense. For a calm visit, check the lunar date and come on an ordinary weekday morning, soon after the 07:30 opening. Spring Festival ticket prices can differ; check the notice for that year. source
- Shoot the gold roofs from the footbridge. For the classic photo of the temple among the towers, climb the pedestrian footbridge at the junction of Yan'an West Road (延安西路) and Huashan Road (华山路). The temple roofs are lit on Friday and Saturday evenings and for special events, coming on gradually around 18:00, and photographers arrive from about 17:30. The corner of Yuyuan Road and Jiaozhou Road behind the temple is a quieter angle. Caveat: The Friday–Saturday lighting pattern comes from a 2024 article citing online guides, not a temple notice. source
- Cross to Jing'an Park after dark. Jing'an Park (静安公园), across West Nanjing Road from the temple, reopened on 15 September 2026 after renovation. Until 7 October its old plane-tree avenue and lawn host free light installations every night from 18:00 to 22:00, part of the Jing'an light season. Visit the temple before 17:00, then walk across. source
- Allow an hour, then explore Yuyuan Road. The temple is compact: most visitors need 60–90 minutes for the halls, the pagoda courtyard and the main hall upstairs. Behind the temple, Yuyuan Road (愚园路) and the surrounding lanes have cafés and old houses for a walk afterwards, while West Nanjing Road's malls are in front. source
Sources
- Shanghai Municipal People's Government (published 2020-01-10)
- Jing'an District People's Government (published 2026-08-06)
- Ctrip
- Wikipedia
- Shanghai Municipal People's Government (published 2020-01-10)
- Jing'an District People's Government (published 2026-08-06)
- 上海本地宝 (published 2024-01-25)
- 上海本地宝
- 新民晚报（侬好上海原创） (published 2024-04-10)
- 纵相新闻 (published 2026-09-20)
- Hua0000 (Trip.com Moments) (published 2025-12-29)
- China for Travelers Editorial (published 2026-09-02)
- 行李记-行李寄存（知乎，寄存商家） (published 2025-08-17)
- Naver Blog (published 2026-04-12)
- Naver Blog (published 2025-07-30)
- Tistory (published 2024-07-23)