Zhenru Temple stands in the Putuo district of northwest Shanghai, in a neighbourhood that has grown up entirely around it. Most visitors never go there, which is precisely the appeal: it is an old, working, low-key temple in a part of the city that tourists do not otherwise have reason to visit.
The Yuan hall
The main hall is the oldest structure on the site and dates from the fourteenth century, in the Yuan dynasty. It is built of timber in the southern Chinese manner, with a heavy tiled roof, exposed beams and columns on stone bases, and bracket sets under the eaves. Most of Shanghai's historic buildings are of the nineteenth or twentieth century, so a wooden hall of this age is genuinely unusual. It has been repaired over the centuries but retains its original frame, and the proportions are noticeably different from the Qing buildings around it.
The rest of the temple
The complex has been restored and enlarged, with a sequence of courtyards and halls housing Buddhist images, a bell and drum tower, and a pagoda. There is also a garden and a pond, and a vegetarian restaurant that is well regarded locally. Because Zhenru is an active temple rather than a heritage site with a ticket gate, the atmosphere is quiet and domestic: local residents come to burn incense in the morning, chant in the halls, and sit in the courtyard.
Why it is worth the trip
Seeing a temple of this age without crowds is rare in Shanghai, and the contrast with the central sites is instructive. It also gives a view of an ordinary district of the city - a mix of older lane housing, markets and shops - that most visitors miss entirely. The temple holds services on the main Buddhist festival days, when it becomes busy with worshippers, and those days are atmospheric but harder to look around in.
Getting there
The temple is near Zhenru station on Metro Lines 11 and 14, in the Putuo district northwest of the centre, about twenty minutes from People's Square. There is a small entrance fee. Allow about an hour. It is easiest to combine with a walk through the surrounding streets or with the nearby Zhenru old town area rather than making a special journey across the city just for the temple.
