Ningbo City God Temple

Ningbo City God Temple

The Ningbo City God Temple is a cultural heritage site under the protection of Haishu District.

Also known as Ningbo Prefecture Temple, the City God Temple is situated in the city’s busy downtown. The Ningbo Prefecture City God Temple is one of the largest existing City God Temples in China. Constructed in the fourth year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty, the temple was repeatedly damaged by fire, and the current structure was rebuilt in the tenth year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty. The temple complex features a screen wall, front gate, second gate, stage, main hall, rear hall, and more, all structurally intact and grand in scale. The stage is particularly exquisitely crafted. It has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, with a caisson ceiling shaped like a chicken coop, adorned with dragon and phoenix carvings and vermilion-gilded decorations that shimmer brilliantly from afar. The temple also preserves over 30 stone steles and ancient relics such as a Song Dynasty well. Today, the City God Temple has become Ningbo’s largest shopping center, bustling with shops and street food vendors, making it a fantastic place to experience local Ningbo culture. The Ningbo Prefecture City God Temple as a whole consists of a screen wall, main gate, ceremonial gate, stage, main hall, backstage area, east and west side halls, and left and right wing rooms.

The main gate is a symbol of architectural grandeur. The temple’s three vermilion-painted solid doors, each fitted with three brass door knockers, showcase the temple’s nobility and solemnity. The entire gate is not only majestic but also exquisitely crafted. Triple-layered bracket arms lift the eaves high, extending more than two meters outward. The appearance of the bracket arms outside the gate differs from the usual crisscrossing patterns; instead, they form an elegant design of diagonal interlocking grids. According to cultural scholar Mr. Yang Gucheng, this type of bracket arm is called a “floral bracket” (花拱), a rare and precious variation of traditional bracket arms, unique to ancient eastern Zhejiang architecture. However, even in eastern Zhejiang, such brackets are now seldom seen, remaining only in a few historic buildings in Ningbo, Ninghai, and Fenghua. The floral brackets outside the City God Temple’s main gate have stood for over a century, still fitting together perfectly without any gaps — truly a masterpiece of ancient architecture. The cloud motifs on the bracket arms were once gilded, but after a century of wind and rain, the red paint has faded and the gold has worn away. During a major restoration in 1983, the original gilded parts were painted chestnut brown. Today, faint traces of gold leaf can still be found in the corners, allowing later generations to imagine the former golden splendor of the gate.

At the center of the gate hangs a large golden plaque inscribed with the words “Ningbo Prefecture City God Temple,” measuring 3 meters wide and 1.7 meters tall. The six gilded characters were calligraphed by Qian Han, a master of modern calligraphy. During the Cultural Revolution, staff at the Tianyi Pavilion secretly hid the plaque inside the pavilion and covered it with a large signboard, thus saving it from destruction. When the temple was restored, the plaque was returned to its original place. Due to its great value, the restoration team went through complex procedures to obtain special approval from the People’s Bank of China in Beijing to use three-tone gold leaf, and then invited skilled artisans to reapply it, restoring the artifact’s former glory.

The lintel of the gate and the walls on both sides still preserve many fine examples of woodcarving, brick carving, and stonework. Each of the left and right doors features two exquisite wood carvings: one of a cloud dragon and another of two lions playing with a pearl. The cloud dragon carving is regarded as a masterpiece of woodwork, though it is now partially hidden behind a hanging sign, with only a corner visible. The brick walls on both sides display carvings such as magpies on plum branches symbolizing “joy reaching the eyebrows,” butterflies and flowers representing wealth and good fortune, along with other floral, scenic, and figure motifs. These brick carvings feature smooth lines, delicate craftsmanship, and diverse forms — all masterpieces from the past. Unfortunately, during recent renovations, construction workers, overly focused on form, inadvertently damaged these beautiful carvings with sooty mortar, obscuring their original rustic elegance.

On either side of the two main doors are small stone steles. The one on the right is an announcement declaring the temple as a key cultural heritage site of Ningbo, bearing the seal: “Published and erected by the Ningbo Revolutionary Committee on December 5, 1981.” The one on the left is a commemorative stele for the temple’s restoration: “The reconstruction of the Prefecture Temple began in November 1982 and was completed in November 1983. The project involved over 26,000 workdays and cost a total of 550,000 RMB.” It is signed by the “People’s Government of Zhenming District, Ningbo, 1985.” Though often overlooked, these two steles are highly significant, marking the end of one historical era and the beginning of a new one.

Beneath the western wall of the gate stands a small granite stele titled “Site of the Song Dynasty Jingfu Buddhist Temple,” inscribed by Japanese friend Murakami Hiroyoshi. A Japanese monk, scholar, and promoter of Japan-China friendship, Murakami visited China over 100 times between 1979 and 2005, traveling to Ningbo more than 60 times. He contributed significantly to Japan-China cultural exchanges and facilitated numerous important cultural events. He had deep expertise in Ningbo’s history and culture, especially the study of Buddhism in eastern Zhejiang. According to his research, from the Tang to the Song Dynasties, Ningbo was one of the most vital channels connecting China and Japan. Especially after the Southern Song capital moved to Lin’an, Ningbo became the essential gateway for Japanese visitors to China. The Song Dynasty Jingfu Buddhist Temple, once located on the site of the current City God Temple, was a must-visit place for Japanese in Ningbo and played a uniquely important role in promoting China-Japan relations at the time.

Inside the front gate, one ancient stele is preserved on each side — the west side holds a stele erected in the second year of the Jiaqing reign during the Qing Dynasty, though its inscription is badly damaged and illegible. The stele on the east side, erected in the eleventh year of the Zhengtong reign during the Ming Dynasty, is titled “Record of the Ningbo Prefecture City God Temple.” This is the oldest and richest-in-content stele currently at the temple, providing a detailed account of Ningbo’s historical development and the reasons for building the temple — an extremely valuable cultural relic.

Address: No. 22, Xianxue Street, Haishu District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province

Type: Themed Block

Recommended Visit Duration: 1–2 hours

Opening Hours:

Open all day

Ticket Information:

No admission fee.