Temple fair is a kind of social activity in China. Legend has it that it originated in ancient times when people offered sacrifices to village god, which later gradually evolved into a marketplace for people to exchange products and a place for cultural performances.

Temple fair, usually on the open ground or near a temple, is held on festival or specified days. Some are held only during Spring Festival. Although defferent places hold their temple fairs on various dates, the contents are similar. Farmers and merchants sell their farm produce, local specialties, and antiques, jade articles, flowers, birds and fish; craftsmen set up their stalls to show and sell their handicrafts and specialty snacks; folk artists establish a stage for singing, dancing, and quyi - Chinese folk art forms, including balled singing, story telling, comic dialogues, clapper talk, cross talk, etc. performance. Ordinary people come to temple fair to buy and sell goods, watch performances, and sample snacks, giving the temple fair a busting atmosphere.

Now, Beijing holds many temple fairs on Spring Festival. Relatively famous temple fairs are those of White Cloud Temple, Altar of Earth, Dragon Pool and Temple of Intense Happiness. Temple fairs in Beijing have preserved many traditional customs, such as riding a donkey to stroll around the temple fair and throwing coins through the hole in the center of a copper in White Cloud Temple. Many goods sold in temple fair have typical northern features, such as toys like diabolo, pinwheel, knife, spear, sword and halberd; big sugarcoated haws on a stick and gruel of millet flour and candy are widely popular among common people.