Once in the temple, breathe deeply, close your eyes, and smell the incense. During your visit, you will be surrounded by monks, tour groups, and savvy travelers like yourself. The temple also has its own restaurant that, of course, specializes in vegetarian food, a pond of koi you can feed for a small price of 50 RMB, and several temple shops that sell jade, and “safe driving” car talismans. Although the temple might seem small on the outside, it is, in fact, rather large and features three major halls. Make sure to not rush through and miss one of them!
Jing’an Temple can take some time to get to, given its semi-remote location. If you’re willing to pay for a taxi, you’ll have no problem getting there, but if you opt to take public transportation, you will most likely have to switch lines a few times on the metro. The temple has its own metro stop, conveniently called Jing’an Temple.
The tough part might be finding the temple once you’ve stepped out of the station. If you are with someone who speaks Mandarin, asking for directions is always a superb idea!
Tip: The temple has a 30 RMB entrance fee
Tip 2: You can haggle in the temple stores.
Tip 3: Take a look around outside of the temple walls. The streets are teeming with locals going about their daily lives.
Depending on whom you ask, some will say to skip this temple due to it being “too touristy.” Ignore what others say and take this advice: Go.