DONGYUE TEMPLE (BEIJING FOLK CUSTOMS MUSEUM) · DONGYUE MIAO
☾ ✦
VERIFIED2026.09.11798, Sanlitun & the Embassy Quarter · 39.923°N 116.438°E
TicketedClosure day
The Daoist temple of the God of Mount Tai, founded 1319 by the Yuan court's Orthodox Unity masters and enlarged by the Ming and Qing into 300-odd halls on 47,400 m² just outside the Chaoyangmen gate. It is the largest Zhengyi Daoist temple in northern China and the most unnerving: its courtyards are lined with the 76 'departments' of the underworld, each a chamber of painted clay officials and demons judging a different sin. Since 1997 it has housed the city's Folk Customs Museum, which runs the temple fair at New Year.
EntranceLine 2 / Line 6 Chaoyangmen station, Exit A, then 500 m east along the north side of Chaoyangmen Outer St; the glazed archway on the south pavement marks the temple, the gate is across the road
Last verified 2026-09-11
How to book
No booking required (city heritage bureau listing: 是否需要预约：否); tickets at the window — two windows, guided and plain (tourism-bureau page); the museum's WeChat official account and platforms also sellVerified · 2026-09Source ↗
ID details
ID rules: see details. No booking needed — tickets on site or via the museum's WeChat official account (May Day 2026 notice); no ID rule published
Beat the crowds
Empty on weekdays; the Spring Festival temple fair (first week of the lunar year) is the one crowd, and the 'hundred sons' and 'fortune' days draw local worshippers. The 76 departments are best without a crowd — go on a weekday morning.
Language
Bilingual name plaques on the 76 departments (the point of the visit) and the main halls; the folk-customs exhibitions are Chinese. Enquiries 010-65510151 (bureau page).