Situated in Shanghai's southwest area, the pagoda and temple were originally built between the l0th and the 13th centuries--historical records vary as to the exact dates. The temple belongs to the Chan (Zen) sect. The present seven-storeyed pagoda is just over 40 meters (130 feet) high and dates from the early Song Dynasty, but was restored at the end of the Qing (1644--1911). The Longhua Temple nearby is a complex of five halls flanked by bell and drum towers, the sound of the evening bell of Longhua was known as one of the old traditions of Shanghai. On New Year's Eve, this bell is rung 108 times at midnight. To hear this event is considered good luck. A flower terrace, overlooked from a tea-room, is also one of the attractions of the temple, for in its peony gardens there is a 100-year-old peony said to have been planted first in a Hangzhou temple during the reign of Emperor Xianfeng and later transplanted here. Engravings on a boundary stone indicate that the stone was placed at the southwest corner of this temple during the Five Dynasties period (907-960). West of the temple is Martyrs' Cemetery, once part of the temple's peach orchard, and now replanted and expanded.
