# Shanhua Temple (善化寺)

Datong, Shanxi Province · North China, China · Guidebook rating: 3/5
Canonical: https://cnatrip.com/en/places/shanhua-temple
Language: en

## Key facts

- **Admission:** Free
- **Opening hours:** 8：00—18：00
- **Time needed:** 40–60 minutes
- **Address:** Shanhua Ancient Temple, Nanjie Subdistrict, Pingcheng District, Datong
- **Getting there:** Near Hualin Department Store (bus stop). Take Bus 3 from central Datong.
- **Good for:** Architecture, Temples

## About Shanhua Temple

Shanhua Temple, popularly known as the South Temple, is a vast temple complex. Its buildings rise and fall in varying heights, with clear hierarchy, left-right symmetry, and a layout that is China’s most complete and largest surviving temple architecture from the Liao and Jin periods, nearly a thousand years old. The Four Heavenly Kings and the Eighteen Arhats inside the temple are relics of the Liao dynasty. The Five-Dragon Screen Wall here is not on the scale of Datong’s Nine-Dragon Screen Wall, but it is exquisitely crafted and still worth seeing.

### One-line recommendation

Guanyin Hall: In front of the hall stands a three-dragon glazed screen wall, the only double-sided screen wall in Datong and a Ming-dynasty relic.

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Source: China Self-Guided Travel 2025 (《中国自助游》, Tianjin Science & Technology Press, Aug 2024), p. 1846. Prices, hours and transport details are as printed in the August 2024 edition and may have changed. Always confirm with the venue before you travel.
Site: China Trip (https://cnatrip.com) — independent China travel guide in 13 languages.