龙华寺

Longhua Temple is a time-honored large-scale ancient Buddhist temple in Shanghai, with a history of over 1,700 years. The temple's name derives from the Buddhist allusion that Sakyamuni attained Buddhahood under the Longhua (Dragon Flower) tree. Along the central axis of the temple from south to north are the Maitreya Hall, the Grand Hall, the Hall of Three Sages, the Abbot's Quarters in a closed courtyard, and the Buddhist Scripture Depository, totaling six main halls. The Grand Hall is solemn and majestic: three golden statues including Manjushri and Samantabhadra are enshrined on the front, and the exquisite Guanyin Statue of the Sea Island is placed on the back. Carved along the two side walls of the main hall are the Twenty Devas and Sixteen Arhats. The Bell Tower and Drum Tower stand on the east and west sides of the temple. Ringing the bell in the Bell Tower requires extra payment, and the Drum Tower houses a big drum with a diameter of 1.7 meters. There are Guanyin Halls in the east and west side halls, as well as an Arhat Hall. To the east of the Hall of Three Sages are the Ranxiang Tower and a peony garden. Visitors can pay for vegetarian meals in Longhua Temple. The vegetarian food is so delicious that almost all tourists who come to burn incense at the temple will buy a bowl of vegetarian noodles, and queues waiting for vegetarian meals are frequently seen. Longhua Temple holds a New Year bell-ringing event, many citizens come to ring the bell and offer incense to pray for a safe whole year. The Longhua Temple Fair is held in March and April. There is an old saying in Shanghai that "On the third day of the third lunar month, head to Longhua to admire peach blossoms". Legend has it that the third day of the third lunar month is the day when Maitreya manifests as the Monk Budai. Next to Longhua Temple stands the Longhua Pagoda, which is said to be built by Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period to honor his mother. It was destroyed in the war at the end of the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in the 2nd year of Taiping Xingguo reign of the Northern Song Dynasty. Due to the soft soil in Shanghai, Longhua Pagoda has tilted. For protection purposes, visitors can only view the pagoda from the outside and are not allowed to climb it.