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	Feb. 10 – Feb. 14	Free
2	Longtan Park Temple Fair	Feb. 10 – Feb. 14	CNY 10
3	Summer Palace	Feb. 10 – Feb. 15	CNY 20
4	Grand View Garden Temple Fair	Feb. 10 – Feb. 14	CNY 40
5	Chaoyang Park Temple Fair	Feb. 10 – Feb. 14	CNY 5
6	Badachu Park Temple Fair	Feb. 11 – Feb. 15	CNY 10
7	Old Summer Palace Temple Fair	Feburary	CNY 10
8	Shijingshan Amusement Park Western Temple Fair	Feb. 10 – Feb. 15	CNY 10
9	Beihai Park Temple Fair	Feb. 10 – Feb. 24	CNY 5
10	Taoranting Park Temple Fair	Feb. 10 – Feb. 15	CNY 10
11	Lianhuachi Temple Fair	Feb. 10 – Feb. 15	CNY 10
12	Gubei Water Town - Great Wall Temple Fair	Feburary	CNY 140

 Note: Time and ticket prices in 2024 are based on that of previous years' temple fairs. We will update information as soon as there are official announcements.
 

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: Feb. 10 – Feb. 14, 2024 (the 1st to the 5th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: Free
  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 and 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: Feb. 10 – Feb. 14, 2024 (the 1st to the 5th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 10
  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

 The combination of traditional elements, such as the Southern Water Street, landscaped gardens, the royal cultural folk performances and joyful festive decorations, reproduce the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty. Dragon drum performance is also staged in the Summer Palace.
  Time: Feb. 10 – Feb. 15, 2024 (the 1st to the 6th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 20
  Location: No. 19, Xinjiangongmen Street, Haidian District
  Transportation: Take subway line 4 and get off at Beigongmen Station; take bus 303, 331, 332, 346, 508, 579, or 584, and get off at Summer Palace Station.

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: Feb. 10 – Feb. 14, 2024 (the 1st to the 5th 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 operas performance will be given.
  Time: Feb. 10 – Feb. 14, 2024 (the 1st to the 5th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 5
  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: Feb. 11 – Feb. 15, 2024 (the 2nd to the 6th 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: Feburary
  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: Feb. 10 – Feb. 15, 2024 (the 1st to the 6th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 10
  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.

Beihai Park Temple Fair

Beihai Park is known as the Winter Palace, where the emperors of the Qing Dynasty held grand ceremonies of blessing. The Park is divided into five parts respectively themed by 'blessing’, 'prosperity’, 'longevity’, 'joy’ and 'fortune'. You can watch or participate in various events, such as the Royal Blessing Ceremony, the intangible cultural heritage performances, and ice entertainment.
  Time: Feb. 10 – Feb. 24 (the 1st to the 15th day of the first lunar month)
  Ticket: CNY 5
  Location: Beihai Park, No. 1, Wenjin Street, Xicheng District
  Transportation: To the south and southwest gates of the park: take bus 5, 101, 103, 109, 124, 128, or Sightseeing bus 1 or 2, and get off at Beihai Station; to the east gate: take bus 5, 58 or Sightseeing Bus 3, and get off at Xibanqiao Station; to the north gate: take bus 3, 13, 42, 107, 111, 118, 612, or 701, and get off at Beihai North Gate Station.