Short answer
Yonghe Temple — also written Yonghegong and called the Lama Temple in English — is a working Tibetan Buddhist temple on a single north-south axis in north-central Beijing. Sixty to ninety minutes covers it at a comfortable pace.
Tickets are cheap and the entrance is real-name booked. The temple has run online booking with passport registration, a daily visitor cap and separate morning and afternoon allocations since 2022. Arriving without a booking on a public holiday is a gamble; booking a day or two ahead is not.
Get there on Line 2 or Line 5 to Yonghegong Lama Temple station — the station is named after the temple and the exits are signposted in English. Cover shoulders and knees, and treat the halls as a place of worship rather than an exhibit.
One temple, three names
Before anything else, the naming. Yonghe Temple, Yonghegong, and the Lama Temple are all the same place. The metro station carries both forms in its name, which is why English guidebooks and signage look inconsistent at first glance.
It is an active Gelug-school Tibetan Buddhist temple under the Chinese Buddhist administration, not a decommissioned heritage site. That single fact should shape how you behave inside it more than any ticket rule does.
What you actually walk through
The layout is a straight line. You enter from the south, pass through a series of courtyards and halls, and finish at the northern end. Because there is no branching route, you will see everything unless you deliberately skip ahead.
- The entrance courtyards and incense burners. This is where the atmosphere is densest and where most visitors stop first. Walk around the burners rather than through the middle.
- The main halls along the axis. Each holds statues and altar fittings. Photography rules change doorway by doorway; read the sign at each one.
- The rear pavilion. Home to the temple's best-known object, a colossal Maitreya Buddha carved from a single sandalwood trunk. It is the visual high point of the visit and the reason many people come.
The scale here is smaller than the Forbidden City or the Temple of Heaven, and that is part of the appeal. Yonghe Temple is one of the few famous Beijing sites you can genuinely finish in an hour without feeling that you skimmed it.
Tickets and booking
Yonghe Temple is one of the sites that moved to mandatory real-name online booking, and the framework it announced in 2022 still governs how entry works: a daily visitor cap split into morning and afternoon allocations, tickets released a fixed number of days ahead, and an online sales window that opens in the morning and closes in the evening.
| Item | Detail | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Full-fare ticket | Around ¥25 for an adult | Confirm the current price on the official channel — it is cheap either way |
| Half-fare ticket | Around half of the full fare, for eligible visitors | Eligibility categories are defined by the temple, not by age alone |
| Free admission | Very young children and small children below the height threshold | Check the current rules with the booking channel |
| Booking window | Released a set number of days in advance | Book two or three days ahead; earlier is pointless because tickets are not yet on sale |
| Daily cap | Total daily visitors split between two sessions | Choose a session when you book; the ticket is date and session specific |
| Identity document | Passport for foreign visitors | Book under the passport you will carry, and carry it |
Treat every number in that table as an order of magnitude. Caps, prices and release windows are administrative settings that get adjusted, and the official channel is the only version worth acting on. If you cannot verify a figure, the safe move is a qualitative plan: book a couple of days ahead, pick a morning session, and bring the passport.
Opening hours
Yonghe Temple keeps shorter hours than Beijing's parks and lakes, and it has no evening opening at all. Plan it as a daytime stop.
| Period | Published pattern | Last entry |
|---|---|---|
| 1 April – 31 October | Roughly 09:00 – 17:00 | Around 16:30 |
| 1 November – 31 March | Roughly 09:00 – 16:30 | Around 16:00 |
Two things to check before you go. First, published hours differ slightly between sources, including a shorter weekday variant in the temple's own notices. Second, religious dates change access — some days have extended or reduced hours, and specific observance days draw very large local crowds. One look at the official channel on the morning of your visit settles both.
A 09:00 arrival is the best slot. The light in the courtyards is good, the incense smoke is still thin, and you are ahead of the coach groups, which reach the temple in the mid-morning.
Getting there
- Line 2 or Line 5, Yonghegong Lama Temple station. The two lines interchange here, so you can approach from either direction. Follow the temple exits and walk a few hundred metres to the entrance.
- Exits C and F both work. Signage points clearly to the temple; the walk from the northern-side exits is slightly shorter.
- Taxi or ride-hailing. Fine, but the roads around the temple are congested and drop-off points are not right at the gate. The metro is faster in practice.
- On foot from the Drum Tower area. A longer walk south through the hutongs toward Shichahai makes a good half-day if the weather is decent, and the route is covered in the Beijing guide.
Payment and network logistics apply here as everywhere in Beijing, so sort your payment app and data before you set out — the Beijing guide covers the practical setup.
Etiquette that visitors get wrong
This is a temple, and the rules are closer to a place of worship than to a ticketed attraction. Most of them are simple.
- Cover shoulders and kneesWear something with sleeves and trousers or a skirt that reaches the knee. Beachwear and vests are the usual mistakes in summer.
- Take hats and sunglasses off inside the hallsA small gesture that reads as respect and costs you nothing.
- Step around, not over, the incense burnersPeople queue to make offerings. Walking between someone and the burner interrupts them.
- Do not photograph people while they prayShoot the architecture and the details. Signage governs photography inside each hall — follow the doorway sign, not the guide in front of you.
- Skip the flashFlash is intrusive and is restricted around religious objects. Turn it off before you walk in.
- Keep your voice downGroups that treat the courtyards as a photo studio get asked to quiet down by staff. You will enjoy it more if you do not have to be told.
- Do not touch the statues or altar itemsNothing on the axis is there to be handled, and some of the objects are centuries old.
Fitting it into a Beijing temple day
Yonghe Temple works best as the first or second stop of a themed day, not as a standalone outing. Its position north of the old city, right on an interchange station, makes chaining easy.
| Stop | Why it pairs | Time to add |
|---|---|---|
| Confucius Temple and Imperial College | A short walk away; a completely different tradition and far quieter | 1 hour |
| Nanluoguxiang and the hutongs | A short metro hop south into the lanes toward Shichahai | 2–3 hours |
| Drum and Bell Towers | On the same southward line; good late-afternoon finish | 45 minutes |
| Temple of Heaven | A different day entirely, but the natural pairing if you want two temple visits | Half a day |
The day that works: book a 09:00 slot at Yonghe Temple, walk to the Confucius Temple straight after, eat lunch nearby, then take the metro south into the hutongs and finish at the lakes. Everything is inside the same few kilometres, and you never have to cross the city.
What does not work is squeezing Yonghe Temple in between the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. It deserves an unhurried hour, and an unhurried hour is exactly what a packed day does not have. If you want more Beijing days to build around, see the destinations index.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to book Yonghe Temple tickets in advance?
Yes in practice. The temple has used real-name online booking since 2022, with a daily visitor cap and separate morning and afternoon allocations. Tickets go on sale a fixed number of days ahead and the online window opens in the morning and closes in the evening. Bring the passport the booking was made under.
What are the opening hours of Yonghe Temple?
The temple keeps shorter hours than Beijing's parks and closes well before dark in every season: roughly 09:00 to 17:00 from April to October and roughly 09:00 to 16:30 from November to March, with last entry around half an hour before closing. It is also closed on some religious dates. Check the official channel for the date you plan to visit.
Is Yonghe Temple the same as the Lama Temple?
Yes. Yonghe Temple, Yonghegong and the Lama Temple are three names for the same site. The metro station is called Yonghegong Lama Temple, which is why both names circulate in English guides.
How do I get to Yonghe Temple by metro?
Take Line 2 or Line 5 to Yonghegong Lama Temple station, which is an interchange between the two. Follow the signs to the temple exits and walk a few hundred metres to the entrance. The station is named after the temple, so the exit signage is unambiguous in English.
How long do I need at Yonghe Temple?
Sixty to ninety minutes covers the main courtyards at a normal pace. Allow two hours if you want to read the plaques, watch the incense and see the pavilion at the rear properly. The site is one straight north-south axis, so you cannot really get lost or overrun.
What should I wear to Yonghe Temple?
Cover shoulders and knees. This is an active place of worship, not a museum, so avoid beachwear, very short shorts, vests and anything with offensive imagery. Hats come off inside the halls, and keeping your voice low near people praying is the norm.
Can I take photographs inside Yonghe Temple?
Photography is generally allowed in the open courtyards but is restricted or prohibited inside several halls, and signage at each doorway is the rule that applies. Avoid flash entirely near religious objects and do not photograph people while they are praying or making offerings.
What is there to see near Yonghe Temple?
The Confucius Temple and the Imperial College are a short walk away and are usually visited on the same outing, which is what makes a temple day in this part of Beijing work. The Drum and Bell Towers and the Shichahai lakes are a longer walk or a short taxi ride south.
Related reading
Yonghe Temple sits in the same northern-Beijing cluster as the Confucius Temple and the hutong lanes toward Shichahai, and the wider city is covered in the Beijing guide. If you are extending the trip, Xi'an is the natural next stop for temple and imperial history.
Compiled from Beijing municipal notices on the temple's real-name booking system, published ticket and opening-hour listings, and visitor reports from foreign travellers, cross-checked 30 September 2026. Booking caps, release windows, prices and hours are administrative settings that change, and religious dates alter access — the official booking channel and the notices at the gate are the authoritative version. Nothing on this page is financial or legal advice.