Shanghai Donglin Temple

Shanghai Donglin Temple

Shanghai Donglin Temple is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a cultural tourism site.

• A historic and renowned temple where you can view Asia’s tallest indoor statue of the Thousand-Handed Guanyin, majestic in scale.

Attraction Introduction

Donglin Temple is a famous temple in Jinshan District, Shanghai, located in Zhujing Town in the southwest of the city. Originally named Guanyin Hall, it was established in the first year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty (1308). Unlike those simple ancient temples, Donglin Temple presents a grand and imposing atmosphere. Here you can see the “Tallest Bronze Door” in the Guinness World Records — the Thousand Buddha Gate, the tallest indoor statue of the Thousand-Handed Guanyin, and the unique outdoor Mountain of Five Hundred Arhats in China, offering a distinctive Buddhist experience.

Donglin Temple has enjoyed enduring incense offerings for seven hundred years but has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt due to wars and fires. Before its last reconstruction, only the main hall remained, yet the incense offerings never ceased. In recent years, after a comprehensive renovation and expansion, the brand-new Donglin Temple was unveiled in 2007. The consecration ceremony was presided over by eminent monks including Master Yicheng, President of the Buddhist Association of China, praying for blessings for the people. To this day, it continues to attract thriving worshippers.

Today’s Donglin Temple features a unique architectural style. Its main structures are built against a towering artificial rockery, integrating mountain and temple. The entire temple complex includes attractions such as the Yuantong Hall, Mahavira Hall, Guanyin Pavilion, Shancai Pavilion, Buddha Head Statue, Thousand Buddha Gate, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Golden Wish Bridge, Five Buddha Crown, and Golden Lotus Pond (with a cloisonné Shancai Boy).

To enter Donglin Temple, you must first pass through the Three Gates, which embody the philosophy of Pure Land Buddhism and are unique and solemn among Buddhist temples in China. Then you’ll see the Golden Lotus Pond, at the center of which stands the country’s first cloisonné statue of the Shancai Boy, hailed as a “treasure unique to Donglin.” The temple also houses the diverse statues of the Five Hundred Arhats and China’s first bronze “Thousand Buddha Gate,” both signature features of Donglin Temple.

The revered Lingyu Guanyin enshrined in Donglin Temple is ranked alongside the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and the Grand Buddha in Wuxi as one of China’s Buddhist “Three Ling.” The Yuantong Treasure Hall features a “hall within a hall” crafted from brass, housing a Yuan Dynasty statue of Lingyu Guanyin, meticulously carved from a single piece of 1.8-ton Xinjiang Hetian jade. The solemn sculpture is regarded as the temple’s most treasured relic.

Address: No. 150, Donglin Street, Zhujing Town, Jinshan District, Shanghai

Type: Temple

Rating: AAAA

Recommended Visit Duration: About 2 hours

Phone: 021-57314019

Official Website: http://www.jsdls.com.cn

Opening Hours:

8:00—16:30 (on regular days); 5:00—16:30 (on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month)

Admission

Adult Ticket for Shanghai Donglin Temple: Official Price ¥30