Jade Buddha Temple

The Jade Buddha Temple, or Yufo Si, is one of Shanghai's best-known active Buddhist temples. Its story begins in 1882, when the monk Huigen brought two jade Buddha statues back to Shanghai by sea from Burma, gifts from a Chinese resident there. A first temple was built to house them, and after it was damaged in the upheavals of 1911 a new site on Anyuan Road was chosen in 1918. Building took about ten years, and the temple's halls date from that period.

The two white jade statues remain the reason most people visit. The seated Buddha is 1.95 metres tall and weighs around three tonnes, and the smaller reclining Buddha depicts the Buddha's passing into nirvana. The seated figure is kept in the Jade Buddha Hall, which has its own ticket. Elsewhere, the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings holds Maitreya and the guardian Weituo, while the Grand Hall, or Mahavira Hall, contains three gilded Buddhas surrounded by devas, arhats and a large Guanyin. In 2016 a group of new halls opened in the eastern part of the complex, including a Reclining Buddha Hall and halls to Manjushri and Guanyin.

This is a place of worship, so dress modestly and be quiet in the halls. The temple asks visitors not to bring anything flammable inside. Buy tickets only at the temple's own ticket office, where they are valid for one day, and ignore anyone outside offering them.

Allow about an hour, longer if you stop for a simple bowl of noodles at the temple's public restaurant or simply sit in the courtyards. It works well for solo travellers and anyone with an interest in Chinese Buddhism.

A 2026 visitor guide lists opening hours of 8am to 4.30pm, with earlier opening on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, and notes that general entry is free while the Jade Buddha Hall is charged. The temple also runs free sutra-copying sessions, booked by QR code, and incense may only be offered at the designated point in front of the Jade Buddha Hall. A vegetarian restaurant near the exit serves noodle dishes such as Arhat noodles. Some halls have high thresholds, which can be awkward with a pushchair.

Jiangning Road station on Line 13 is about 500 metres away, and many bus routes stop nearby. There is no car park on site, so taxis drop off outside. The temple is a short taxi ride from Jing'an Temple.