Best Temple Fairs in Beijing

Temple fairs play an important role in the celebration of the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) in Beijing. The best temple fairs in Beijing usually take place around the Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival from the 1st day to the 15th day of the first month on Chinese Lunar Calendar. They offer visitors a chance to enjoy traditional folk performances, handicraft works, and local snacks. As they are scattered across the city, visitors can easily go to the nearest one.

 

No.	Temple Fair	Date	Entrance Fee
1	Ditan Park Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	CNY 30
2	Longtan Park Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	CNY 30
3	Grand View Garden Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	CNY 40
4	Chaoyang Park Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	Free
5	Badachu Park Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	CNY 10
6	Old Summer Palace Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	CNY 10
7	Shijingshan Amusement Park Western Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	CNY 70
8	Hongluo Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 2	CNY 54
9	Changdian Temple Fair	Jan. 29 – Feb. 4	Free
10	Gubei Water Town - Great Wall Temple Fair	Jan. 22 – Feb. 13	CNY 160

 

Making Dough Figurine

Ditan Park, known as the Temple of Earth, opened up a unique Intangible Cultural Heritage Square, where the representative inheritors of over 10 intangible cultural heritage projects demonstrate respectively the production process of pottery, paper cutting, shadow play, homespun weaving, etc. The imitation of the sacrifice ceremony to the earth reproduces the scene that emperors of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) prayed to God of the Earth for blessing. In addition, authentic unique skills such as diabolo, ancient magic and ventriloquism are staged, together with Tibetan folk songs and dances, traditional Chinese comedic crosstalk and other folk artistic shows.
  Time: Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2025 (the 1st to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 30
  Location: Ditan Park, Andingmen Outer Street, Dongcheng District
  Transportation: Take subway line 2 or line 5 to Yonghegong Station, get out from Exit A and walk around 250 meters (300 yards) toward the north. Or take bus 18, 75, 104, 108, 113, 119, 124, 125, 301, 426, 430 or Special Line 11 to the west gate of Ditan Park.

It is famous for its particular fitness-featured project. You can watch the wrestling, judo, tae kwon do, free combat performances made by professional players, as well as sports stars exercising with visitors. In addition, visitors can play the game or go chess with national players. Other interesting activities include performances of minorities with unique ethnic customs as well as carnival themed by snow culture including snow-capped mountains surfing, snow sculpture viewing, snow playing, sledding, snow farm, snow live CS ( A game named Counter-Strike), etc.
  Time: 08:30 - 17:00, Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2025 (the 1st to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 30
  Location: Longtan Park, No. 8, Longtan Road, Dongcheng District
  Transportation:
Take bus no. 8 or 12 and get off at Longtan Lake Station and enter the park from the North Gate.
Take bus no. 12, 84, 139 or 352 and get off at Longtan Park Station and enter the park from the Northwest Gate.
Take bus no. 12, 139, or 684, get off at the Longtan Lake Swimming Pool Station and enter the park from the West Gate.
 

Folk Activities of the Temple Fair

Grand View Garden Fair

You can take part in the outstanding costumed mothering parade of Imperial Concubine Yuan, experiencing the scene described in the famous book, Dream of the Red Chamber. Puppet shows and shadow plays display the typical scenes described in the book, such as Granny Liu’s drunkenness and the wedding ceremony of Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai. Intangible Cultural Heritage items are displayed in the Grand View Garden, such as prints, facial makeup, shadow puppets, paper cutting, etc. Visitors can participate in interactive activities and learn manual skills from folk artists.
  Time: Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2025 (the 1st to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 40
  Location: No.12, South Caiyuan Street, Xuanwu District
  Transportation: Take bus 56 or Night Line 12 and get off at Grand View Garden Station.

The most distinguishing feature in Chaoyang Park is its richness of world-style performances. You can enjoy the authentic exotic performances of Britain, France, the Netherlands, Russia and Greece, etc. The entertainment activities reproduce the Beijing citizens' life of different times and the folk dances, traditional Chinese opera performances will be given.
  Time: Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2025 (the 1st to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: Free
  Location: No. 1, South Road of Chaoyang Park, Chaoyang District
  Transportation: Take Subway Line 14 to Chaoyang Park. Or take 421, 682 or Zhuan 114 to Jingyuan station.
  Badachu Park is a popular place for blessing. You can see the citizens striking the bell and praying for richness, peace and health for the coming year, and beating the big drum which symbolizes peace and harmony. Watching various cultural performances including traditional comedy, magic and face-changing is the best way to feel the rich folk culture. The snack stands sell the typical Manchu food and exquisite snack preferred by the Qing royal family.  
  Time: Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2025 (the first to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 10
  Location: No. 3, Badachu Road, Shijingshan District
  Transportation: Take subway line 1 to Bajiao Amusement Park, take Exit A and transfer to bus Zhuan 215, get off at Badachu.
  In the Qing Dynasty, the Old Summer Palace held ice play show and skating race every winter for the emperor, which became a national tradition. Now here are professional skating performers, wearing the soldiers’ uniform in Qing Dynasty, giving their ice play show. Besides, the Spring Festival Market with over 100 booths sells traditional snacks, cultural and creative products, folk artworks and so on. Visitors can also watch the traditional dance show, instrument performances, and magic shows.
  Time: Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2025 (the first to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 10
  Location: Old Summer Palace, No. 28. West Qinghua Rd., Haidian District
  Transportation: Take Subway Line 4 and get off at Yuanmingyuan Station. Get out from Exit B and you can see the south gate of the park. Or take bus 332, 432, 508, 579, 594, 584, 601, 664, or 686 and get off at Yiheyuan Rd. East Station. 

 You can have a taste of the unique charm of the combination of traditional Chinese culture and western culture in Shijingshan Amusement Park. Enjoyable activities include craftsmanship shows, folk artistic performances like flag pole performances, wrestling and lion dance.
  Time: Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2025 (the 1st to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Opening hours: 16:30 - 21:30
  Ticket: CNY 70
  Location: East Bajiao Street, Shijingshan District
  Transportation: Take subway line 1, and get off at Bajiao Amusement Park (Bajiao Youleyuan) Station, take Exit A and walk westward to the south gate. Or take bus no. 318 or 663 to the west gate of Shijingshan Amusement Park.

 

Hongluo Temple Fair

2024 Hongluo Temple features a series of diversified cultural and entertainment activities, such as lantern shows, guessing interesting riddles, folkloric performances such as dragon dancing, dancing on the land boat and so on. The plum blossom tossing in the slight wind and the pine and bamboo put forth buds in early spring. Visitors can climb the mountain with locals and enjoy the scenery along the way.
  Time: Jan. 29 – Feb. 5, 2025 (the 1st to the 7th day of the first lunar month)
  Opening hours: 08:30 - 17:00, 04:00 - 17:00 on Feb. 10.
  Ticket: CNY 54
  Location: Hongluo East Road No. 2, Huairou District
  Transportation: Take bus no. 916 at Dongzhimen Transportation Hub to Huairou Bus Station and then transfer to H57 to Hongluo Temple. Also, there are direct tourist buses from Sihui or Liuliqiao Bus Station to the temple.