The oldest temple in Shanghai, founded according to tradition in 242 AD and rebuilt many times since. Five halls run on a north-south axis, with a 977 AD seven-storey pagoda visible from outside. The main Mahavira Hall holds large gilded statues of the Buddhas of past, present and future, and the rear hall has a smiling rotund Maitreya. It is an active monastery and the courtyards smell of incense.
Adjacent is the Longhua Martyrs' Cemetery, where dozens of leftist intellectuals and labour organisers were executed by the Nationalist secret police in the 1930s and 1940s. The remains were found here after 1949 and the site is now a memorial park with sculptures and a small museum.