Beijing Temple Fair

Conventional Beijing temple fair is a type of folk activity along with Beijing leisure culture. In addition to the general customs, the temple fair was the main New Year's custom of old Beijing. It contains richest folk characteristics of this ancient city. The reason why Beijing temple fair has been passed on is that it is adapted to the needs of society. The initial formation and development of the temple fair are related to the religious activities inside the temples. The temple fair is held in a regular date to the temple festivals with a number of commercial activities. Over time, the temple fair has become the main market for people. It is mainly to meet the needs of the general public, instead of religious activities actually.

What to see in the Beijing temple fair
Temple fairs culture stems from temple fairs. Temple fairs in Beijing are initially held around the temple, then held in specified places, as time goes on, and finally evolves into a type of culture.The features of Beijing temple fairs are definitely the folk performances and a variety of folk handicrafts, as well as the local snacks. Performances like yangko dance and lion dance are visible almost everywhere. Within this kind of carnival, folks put on the traditional Chinese clothes as well as play joyfully.

When is the Beijing temple fair
In Beijing, temple fairs were held in turn every 10 days at the White Pagoda Temple, the Flower Market,the Huguo (Protect the Nation) Temple, the Longfu (Intense Happiness) Temple and the Earth Temple. There would be also the yearly Changdian (Factory Grounds) Fair put on in the first 15 days of the first lunar month and the yearly Pantaogong (Peach of Immortality Palace) Fair put on the third day of the third lunar month inside the Dongbianmen (Eastern Informal) Gate. Those fairs mentioned previously occurred repeatedly over 300 years. The majority of Beijing temple fairs are generally held in the Spring Festival period.

Where is Beijing temple fair held
During the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival, a number of them with distinguishing features are held in Beijing, attracting thousands of tourists from home and abroad. There are a couple of temple fairs in Bejing, such as Altar of the Earth Temple Fair, Dragon Pool Park Cultural Temple Fair, Beihai Park Temple Fair, Shijingshan Park Temple Fair, Chaoyang Park Temple Fair, Old Summer Palace Temple Fair, Grand View Garden Temple Fair, Taoranting Park Temple Fair, Dongyue Temple Fair, Lotus Pool Park Temple Fair, Summer Palace Temple Fair, Happy Valley Temple Fair, etc. If you have a chance to come to Beijing during the Spring Festival, you should pay a visit to the fair, it would be very fun. You may also buy clay, bristled figurines, dough figurines and paper-cuts, which are characteristic of local culture and Beijing charm. If you are lucky you may also find genuine Chinese antiques of fine quality at reasonable prices.