Lama Temple (Yonghegong) (雍和宫)

Temple · Beijing. A Tibetan Buddhist temple with halls, courtyards and active worship.

Also called: Yonghe Temple.

Source: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/lama-temple · Data checked 2026-10-06 · Rendered for 2026-10-08 (Asia/Shanghai). Facts carry their status; "not found yet" means we searched and found no reliable source.

Why go

Yonghegong (雍和宫) is both a working Tibetan Buddhist temple and a museum of Buddhist art. Walk through its successive courtyards to see painted roofs, ritual objects and the scale of the main halls. Book your slot and carry your passport before you set off, because entry is by real-name reservation.

What to do

• Walk the temple axis. Enter from Yonghegong Street and follow the halls north in order. The courtyards read like a former princely residence that later became a temple, and the route is easy to follow on foot.
• Watch active worship. This is a working temple, not a museum set. Give worshippers room, follow staff instructions, and treat the prayer halls as places of worship rather than photo spots.
• Study the roofs. Pause between halls for glazed roof tiles, timber brackets and painted surfaces. The architecture feels very different from Beijing's open hutong streets.

• Don't miss: Keep the booking QR code and your original passport together for entry.

• Best time: Morning for a slower courtyard walk

Practical details

• Hours: 09:00–17:00 Apr–Oct; 09:00–16:30 Nov–Mar
• Apr–Oct (04-01 to 10-31), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 09:00–17:00, last entry 16:30
• Nov–Mar (11-01 to 03-31), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 09:00–16:30, last entry 16:00
• Posts disagree on the opening time: 自然卷卷不卷 (Jan 2026) says the gate checks tickets from 08:30, while 腿长两米 (Aug 2026) says to go at the 09:00 opening and 火锅吃重辣 (Oct 2025) advises arriving before 08:30 on weekdays. The official guide says 09:00.
• Admission: Ticketed · ¥25
• Adult: ¥25
• Concession: Children aged over 6 to 18; full-time undergraduates; visitors aged 60+ ¥12 (Original eligibility document)
• Free: Children aged 6 or under or 1.2 m or shorter (Original age document where applicable)
• Booking: Reserve and buy in the official WeChat account
• Yonghegong Visitor Service (雍和宫游客信众服务) — WeChat → search 雍和宫游客信众服务 → 预约购票 · passport: yes
• Passport accepted: yes — Full-fare passport bookings enter with the QR code; concession bookings require service-center exchange.
• A passport full-fare booking uses the entry QR code; passport concession ticket holders take the booking number and original document to the ticket service center.
• Last admission: Last entry 16:30 Apr–Oct; 16:00 Nov–Mar
• Time to allow: 1.5–2 hr
• Getting there: Lines 2 / 5 · Yonghegong station
• Metro Line 2/5 to Yonghegong (雍和宫), Exit F, about 6 min walk
• Show a taxi driver: 东城区雍和宫大街12号 雍和宫
• Four Chinese posts from Oct 2025 to Aug 2026 name Exit F (火锅吃重辣, 腿长两米, 玛格丽特看世界, memory的旅行日记), two of them with a walk of about three minutes; one Jan 2026 post (自然卷卷不卷) names Exit C. A Sept 2025 post (踮起脚尖够) said F was closed then and suggested G; no 2026 post says which exit to use while F is closed on 1–7 October.
• Foreign visitors: Passport accepted in official booking

Not found yet

• foreignVisitors.foreignPhone: Official booking instructions do not state whether an overseas phone can register. (searched: operator guide, government travel portal, Reddit/TripAdvisor, English travel blogs, Xiaohongshu)
• foreignVisitors.payment.foreignCard: Foreign-card checkout is not specified. (searched: operator guide, government search, Reddit/TripAdvisor, English travel blogs, Xiaohongshu)

Traveler tips

• Book in the temple's WeChat account and pick passport. Search WeChat for 雍和宫游客信众服务 and open 预约购票 (reserve and buy), choose your date and a morning or afternoon slot, then enter your passport name and number. The ticket is ¥25 and real-name: one ticket per person per day. Carry the same physical passport to the gate and keep the confirmation QR code ready. source
• Full-fare QR entry or concession exchange. A full-fare passport booking is checked by scanning the admission QR code at the entrance. If you booked a half-fare ticket with a passport, take the booking number and the original document to the 票务处理中心 (ticket service center) on your visit day; staff check eligibility and issue the paper ticket before you go on to the security check. source
• Watch the seasonal last entry. In the Apr–Oct season, ticket sales and entry stop at 16:30; in Nov–Mar they stop at 16:00. The temple clears visitors at closing, so the last-entry time leaves little time for its multiple halls. Caveat: Matches the official Apr–Oct and Nov–Mar split; a Jan 2026 post (自然卷卷不卷) and an Oct 2025 post (火锅吃重辣) agree with it. One Aug 2026 post (腿长两米) gave 16:00 as the summer last entry, earlier than the official 16:30; it is not adopted. (2 travelers) source
• Carry concession proof. Children, full-time undergraduates and visitors aged 60 or above have published discounted categories. Bring the original age or student document; the published full-fare amount is ¥25 and half fare is ¥12. Caveat: The XHS posts (自然卷卷不卷, Jan 2026; 腿长两米, Aug 2026) mention only student and senior half-price (¥12) with ¥25 full fare; the published categories for children and undergraduates come from the official guide. (2 travelers) source
• Give worshippers space. Yonghegong is a working temple. Move along the courtyard axis without blocking hall doorways, follow the posted rules on photography, and keep your voice down. Dress modestly and avoid revealing clothes. Caveat: A July 2026 blog visitor compared the visit to touring a church during a service. (3 travelers) source
• Daily quota and morning or afternoon slots. The temple caps visitors at 40,000 a day, released as 20,000 morning and 20,000 afternoon tickets. Each WeChat account can buy up to three tickets, each person one per day. Morning slots sell out first at busy times, so book your slot as soon as your dates are fixed. Caveat: The 2022 launch notice sets the quota; the February 2026 Spring Festival notice repeats 40,000 tickets a day through the same WeChat account. The 40,000 figure is the 2022 launch and February 2026 Spring Festival quota; the current ordinary-day quota was not checked. source
• Official channel only, and what a Trip.com buyer did. The temple says it has never authorised any third-party platform to sell tickets, and warns that such tickets can mean you cannot enter and cannot get a refund. It names the WeChat account 雍和宫游客信众服务 as its channel; book there. Caveat: One July 2026 blog visitor (Kitty71; the post says it may contain affiliate links) pre-ordered through Trip.com for about US$8.57, entered by scanning the QR code and received an audio guide. The temple has not confirmed this route. source
• Walk one way: south gate in, back gate out. Enter at the south gate on Yonghegong Street (雍和宫大街) and walk north through the courtyards to the Wanfu Pavilion (万福阁). The route inside is one-way, so you cannot leave by the gate you came in; the exit is at the back (north) of the compound. Plan any pickup or onward trip from there. Caveat: The official Spring Festival 2026 notice states the one-way route for that holiday period; only one July 2026 blog visitor (Kitty71) describes it as the normal layout on an ordinary day. Two Chinese posts (跟着暖暖去野游, Apr 2026; 火锅吃重辣, Oct 2025) also give a hall-by-hall order from Zhaotai Gate to the exit; 跟着暖暖去野游 says not to retrace steps, partly as a wish-making custom, and 火锅吃重辣 puts the whole walk at about 1.5 hours. (3 travelers) source
• Take the free incense, three sticks. Visitors may not bring their own incense; free incense is handed out at the temple. Three sticks are the norm, never four, because four sounds like the word for death in Chinese. Do not light incense inside the halls or while walking the courtyards. Caveat: Three Chinese posts (玛格丽特看世界, 跟着暖暖去野游, 火锅吃重辣) say free incense is handed out beside Zhaotai Gate and that you need not bring your own; they do not mention a ban on your own. Masked commenters wrote on 2026-02-17 that there was nowhere to light incense that day and on 2026-10-04 that lighting was not allowed that day; they are not counted as authors and the reason is not stated. (4 travelers) source
• No luggage storage or parking. The temple has no parking lot and offers no luggage storage on site. Leave bags at your hotel and carry only what you need, since you also pass a security check at the entrance. Caveat: Stated in the Spring Festival 2026 notice; no other period was checked. source
• Bring your passport to security even with a QR code. Carry your passport to the entrance even if you booked online. The booking instructions say to bring the original document used to book. For a full-fare passport ticket the visit notice says the admission QR code is scanned at the gate; a half-fare ticket must first be checked against the original document at the ticket service centre. Caveat: Experiences differ. Travela-dic (Oct 2023, Trip.com Moments) reported the passport being scanned at security; Kitty71 (Jul 2026) entered by scanning a Trip.com QR code. Two Chinese visitors differ in the same way: 璇子不摆烂 (Aug 2025) wrote that an advance WeChat booking let them enter with the QR code and no ID, while 火锅吃重辣 (Oct 2025) wrote that the original ID must be carried and was scanned at entry. Neither is a foreign-passport account. (2 travelers) source
• Allow 1.5–2 hours; go on a weekday morning. A walk through the halls takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. Weekday mornings are quietest, and the 1st and 15th of the lunar month and national holidays fill up fast. Book ahead, and much earlier for holidays. Caveat: The 'before 10:00' and 'reserve 1–3 days ahead' figures come only from a commercial NetEase lifestyle account (旅游行业观察, Jul 2026). 火锅吃重辣 (Oct 2025) says about 1.5 hours and a weekday arrival before 08:30 because the 1st and 15th of the lunar month are busy; 腿长两米 (Aug 2026) says to arrive at the 09:00 opening for the fewest people; memory的旅行日记 (May 2026) says allow at least two hours. The booking window is not set in the official guide. (4 travelers) source
• No photos inside the prayer halls. Do not take photos inside the prayer halls. Stay in the outer courtyards for pictures; photographing worshippers is considered disrespectful. Caveat: Reddit user keebba (Jan 2026) wrote that a security guard stopped a visitor photographing through a prayer-room window, in a thread about Chinese temples in general; the Reddit date shown is the thread's. Five Chinese posts (火锅吃重辣 Oct 2025, 自然卷卷不卷 Jan 2026, 玛格丽特看世界 Oct 2025, 跟着暖暖去野游 Apr 2026, 璇子不摆烂 Aug 2025) list no photos inside the halls; 自然卷卷不卷 adds that the red walls and ginkgo outdoors are fine. The posts do not say which halls have signs. (7 travelers) source
• Pair the temple with Guozijian and Wudaoying. After the temple, walk on to the Imperial College (Guozijian) and Wudaoying Hutong. Caveat: Suggested by one Reddit commenter (polarislin); the date shown is the thread's, and the commenter's own location is not stated. source
• Pass through a side doorway of Zhaotai Gate, not the middle one. After the avenue of trees, the Zhaotai Gate (昭泰门) has three doorways. Walk through the left or right one and leave the central doorway empty. Inside each hall, step over the threshold instead of on it. Caveat: Three Chinese posts agree on the side doorways. 跟着暖暖去野游 (Apr 2026) says the central one is for monastics; 火锅吃重辣 (Oct 2025) calls it the empty gate and gives a wish-luck reason; 玛格丽特看世界 (Oct 2025) adds a men-left, women-right rule. Reasons are the authors' own; the temple's signage was not checked. (3 travelers) source
• Souvenir shops: one needs no ticket, one sits beside the blessing room. Yonghegong has three Buddhist-goods shops (法物流通处). One sits at the ticket-check area and can be used without a ticket, but its range is small. The widest range is beside Zhaotai Gate and is crowded. The third is west of Yongyou Hall (永佑殿), next to the free blessing room where you can bring a bracelet or personal item. Caveat: The three posts (火锅吃重辣 Oct 2025, memory的旅行日记 May 2026, 玛格丽特看世界 Oct 2025) describe the ticket-free shop as at the entrance, west of the ticket check, or beside the exit, so its exact spot is not settled. Only 玛格丽特看世界 and 火锅吃重辣 describe the blessing room's rules; 玛格丽特 says ID cards are not accepted there. Masked commenters on 2026-05-26, 2026-07-22 and 2026-09-21 asked whether the shops were open; no answer appears in the collected comments. (3 travelers) source
• Buy souvenirs inside the temple, not from sellers at the gate. The temple's own shops (法物流通处) are the proper place to buy bracelets and charms. Treat fortune-tellers, pushy sellers at the gate and donation boxes that are not the temple's own with caution. Give donations only in the official boxes inside the halls. Caveat: Two Chinese posts: 跟着暖暖去野游 (Apr 2026) warns about fortune-tellers, high-priced incense and unofficial donation boxes; 踮起脚尖够 (Sept 2025) says to be careful with the many street vendors at the gate. Neither names a specific vendor or a price; masked commenters quoted bracelet prices from about ¥220 to ¥950, which are not counted. (2 travelers) source
• Ask the taxi to stop at the south gate, not just 'Yonghegong'. Set the taxi destination to 雍和宫南门 (Yonghegong South Gate) or 雍和宫大街 (Yonghegong Street). A plain '雍和宫' pin can send the driver to the north gate, which is on the other side of the compound from the entrance. Do not drive: parking around the temple is very limited. Caveat: One Aug 2026 post (腿长两米) gives this advice; other posts do not address taxi drop-off. It matches the official one-way layout of south gate in and north exit out. source
• Wishes: Chinese visitors advise one specific request. Many people come to Yonghegong to make a wish and burn incense. If you join in, state one clear request — some add a time frame and what they will do themselves — rather than a vague wish. You can visit as a sightseer without making any wish. Caveat: This is popular folk belief and personal stories (自然卷卷不卷 Jan 2026, 火锅吃重辣 Oct 2025, 粉橘菠萝 Oct 2025, 三七言. Jun 2026, 达尔理理 Sep 2026), not temple teaching, and none of the outcomes can be verified. (5 travelers) source

Sources

• 雍和宫 (published 2021-03-13)
• 雍和宫 (published 2021-03-13)
• 北京地铁 (published 2026-09-30)
• 京报网（北京日报） (published 2026-02-06)
• 新京报 (published 2026-02-06)
• Beijing Municipal Government (published 2022-01-06)
• Kitty meets World (published 2026-07-14)
• Travela-dic (Trip.com Moments) (published 2023-10-13)
• 旅游行业观察（网易订阅） (published 2026-07-08)
• DKUN_of_WFST (published 2026-01-06)
• ExoticSir9 (published 2026-01-06)
• keebba (published 2026-01-06)
• polarislin (published 2026-03-01)
• 跟着暖暖去野游 (published 2026-04-09)
• memory的旅行日记 (published 2026-05-21)
• 火锅吃重辣 (published 2025-10-20)
• 腿长两米 (published 2026-08-12)
• 自然卷卷不卷 (published 2026-01-08)
• 玛格丽特看世界 (published 2025-10-31)
• 璇子不摆烂 (published 2025-08-14)
• 踮起脚尖够🌙 (published 2025-09-07)
• 粉橘菠萝 (published 2025-10-27)
• 三七言. (published 2026-06-02)
• 达尔理理 (published 2026-09-07)
• 小瑞在京 一路同行 (published 2025-08-02)

More places

• Pair with: Bell and Drum Towers, Beijing, Nanluoguxiang
• More in Lakes & hutongs: Nanluoguxiang, Beihai Park
• Book ahead: what to reserve before you go