Independent travel guide
Grand Bao'en Temple Heritage and Scenic Area
大报恩寺遗址景区Dabaoen Si Yizhi
An archaeological park and museum built over the remains of the Ming porcelain-tower temple. Give the site 2–3 hours if you do not want to rush. Check the gate before setting off, especially when the map pin covers a broad area.
Free exterior / paid elements · Checked 2026-08-02
Verified ticket prices
Official pricesThe official source identifies the venue, but the current adult ticket price is not confirmed in the checked official material.
Adult admissionUse the current official ticket desk or venue page; do not infer a number from a third-party listing.
Current official adult price not confirmed on the cited official page- Checked on 2026-08-02. Official price conclusion is limited to the cited venue or government source.
- Verification remains unconfirmed or partial because a current official adult price was not published in the checked material.
No reservation
How to book
At the venue, use the official multilingual ticket machine or staffed entrance service described by the city government.
The cited government notice describes on-arrival ticketing and does not state an advance booking deadline.
Booking steps
- 1
Check the official scenic-area notice for the selected date and whether a special event changes admission.
- 2
At the official entrance, choose the multilingual ticket-machine or staffed service route and read the product scope.
- 3
Keep the ticket code and original passport for the entrance verification.
The notice is for overseas visitors, but it does not enumerate every passport or phone input rule; keep the original passport.
If the official page shows no current product, contact the venue or use its staffed service point; do not substitute an OTA as evidence.
2–3 hours
How to visit
Scenic main gate (first-floor ticket checkpoint), No.1 Yuhua Road, Qinhuai District, Nanjing (outside Zhonghua Gate); about 10 minutes' walk from Exit 2 of Zhonghuamen Station (Line 1) or Exit 4 of Yuhuamen Station (Line 3). By car, navigate to 'Dabaoen Temple Ruins Scenic Area — underground car park' (Saozhou Lane).
After Grand Bao'en Temple Heritage and Scenic Area's blue-hour or night view, leave toward the signed transport side before the last wave; recheck the transport note: Navigate with the exact Chinese venue and entrance; similarly named branches may be far apart.
- 1Stop 1Visitor centre / main entrance
Buy tickets, pass security and arrange tours.
- 2Stop 2Changgan Buddhist Heritage
Display area over the ancient Changgan Temple site—see the underground-palace archaeological work.
- 3Stop 3A Millennial Gaze
Light-art exhibition with an immersive 'face-to-face with the Buddha' experience.
- 4Stop 4The Millennium Crypt / crypt relics
The underground palace remains and unearthed sacred objects, including Ashoka-pagoda-related displays.
- 5Stop 5Relic Buddha-light
The Buddha's parietal-bone relic enshrinement area—stay quiet and follow the photo guidance.
- 6Stop 6Grand Bao'en Pagoda
Climb the pagoda to overlook the ruins and Nanjing city; the tower is clad in glass curtain walls.
- 7Stop 7Bao'en Culture and Art Gallery / exit
Temporary shows and culture-creative wares—end the visit.
Best time
Enter as early as possible after the weekday opening; the night window (lights) suits evening slots—plan by counting back from that day's ticket-check cut-off.
Foreigner notes
Supported (multilingual on-site ticket machines).
Unknown (the on-site ticket-machine path needs no phone verification; online purchase unverified).
A 2024-08 Nanjing Culture & Tourism Bureau notice says multilingual (Chinese/English/Japanese/Korean) inbound convenience machines solve 'payment inconvenience', letting overseas visitors self-serve tickets; the cards/payment methods the machines support aren't itemized in the notice.
The site has five-language self-service ticket machines (Chinese/English/Japanese/Korean/Thai, first batch deployed 2024-08); English talks/tours are unverified.
Search 大报恩寺遗址景区 with its address rather than relying on a city-level result; the entrance is the useful destination.
Avoid these mistakes
Hours vary (ticket-check cut-offs of 19:00/19:30/20:00 all appear in sources), so the wrong time gets you refused. Call 025-52009999 or check the official WeChat account's same-day notice before travelling, and plan to enter at least 1.5 hours before the cut-off.
Confusing the full-day ticket with the night-tour discount ticket (entry after 17:00) wastes money. Buy according to your planned arrival window; in the afternoon consider the night ticket and confirm the entry window.
The metro stations are about a 10-minute walk away, and neither Zhonghuamen nor Yuhuamen stations go directly to the gate—awkward with luggage or in rain. Transfer to buses 2/16/38/202/701/706 to the main gate, or take a taxi/drive to the underground car park.
Treating the 'Dabaoen Temple Ruins Park' as a traditional temple and planning around temple etiquette/hours—it's actually a ruins museum. Plan museum-style: mostly indoor displays, watch the ticket-check cut-off, stay quiet and follow photo rules in the underground palace and relic-enshrinement areas.
Third-party platforms (¥120 'original') conflict with the official ¥90 price, risking overpaying. Go by the official ¥90 via official channels or on-site machines; for platform tickets, verify whether they include special windows like the night tour.
Navigating to the wrong entrance with tight parking nearby. Navigate directly to 'Dabaoen Temple Ruins Park — underground car park' (Saozhou Lane); the site has a paid underground lot.
Continue nearby
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Sources and evidence
Published by China Trip Primer · Read the editorial and verification methodology
Items to reconfirm
- Hours conflict: the official info-service platform (May 2026) says 8:30–20:15 (ticket check stops 19:30), vs Bendibao (Apr 2025) 08:30–19:30 (cut-off 19:00); no independent official page found for the current Aug 2026 period. — Call 025-52009999 before travelling or check the official account's same-day notice.
- Bendibao's 'original ¥120, now ¥90' relationship to the official ¥90 platform price is unclear; the full free policy for 70+, children, military, etc. is unverified; whether climbing Dabaoen Pagoda costs extra is unconfirmed. — Check the official WeChat ticket page or ask at the ticket window before visiting.
- The on-site multilingual machine's phone-number requirement is unknown; whether online (account/mini-program) purchase accepts foreign passports is unverified. — Use the on-site multilingual machine (Chinese/English/Japanese/Korean) on arrival, or call 025-52009999 about online passport purchase.
- English audio guides, English signage and English tours are unverified. — Ask the service desk after arrival.
Official
OfficialNanjing inbound-tourism ticket-machine noticePublisher · Nanjing Municipal People's Government
Used forNames Grand Bao'en Temple Heritage and Scenic Area among venues with multilingual ticket machines for overseas visitors at the entrance.
Verified 2026-08-02Official大报恩寺遗址景区(南京文旅信息服务平台)Publisher · Official or venue publisherUsed forOfficial visitor context or venue information; confirm that the page names this venue before relying on it for booking
Verified 2026-08-02OfficialOfficial or venue referencePublisher · Official or venue publisherUsed forOfficial visitor context or venue information; confirm that the page names this venue before relying on it for booking
Verified 2026-08-02OfficialDabaoen Temple Ruins Scenic Area (Nanjing culture-tourism info-service platform)Publisher · Nanjing Cultural and Tourism Information Service CentreUsed forUsed to verify the imported ticketing, booking, opening-hours or visitor-guidance fields.
Verified 2026-08-12OfficialNanjing's first batch of inbound-travel convenience ticketing machines lands at four scenic areasPublisher · Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism (Nanjing government portal)Used forUsed to verify the imported ticketing, booking, opening-hours or visitor-guidance fields.
Verified 2026-08-12Professional guide
Venue-specific official pages are used where available. City-level official references provide context and are not booking confirmation; editorial and community sources are used only for route choices, pacing and first-hand experience.
大报恩寺遗址景区中华门外雨花路1号