Buying a temple and renting a Taoist temple, young people are crazy about getting involved in the "incense business"

Wind and financial news depth

2024-06-01 05:53Published on the financial account of Shanghai Phoenix.com

Source: Fengcai News

Produced by | fengcaixun

Author | Wang Tingting

Between going to work and going up, I chose Shangxiang.

In recent years, more and more young people have been visiting temples, which has also pushed temple fever to new heights. According to data from the Ctrip platform, since 2023, the number of ticket orders for temple-related scenic spots has increased by 310% year-on-year, and the post-90s and post-00s generations account for nearly 50%.

With the increasing popularity of the temple, it is not only a variety of peripherals and the same check-in posture that have become popular, but also the "temple transaction".

Wangji transfer, rent a temple

The "empty door" attracts buyers and sellers

Recently, Phoenix Net Wind Financial News found a message in the real estate industry group showing that "Wangmiao transfer, complete documents, fixed price of 2.6 million".

The temple is located in Hui County, Henan Province, covering an area of more than 3,000 square meters. The land certificate, real estate certificate, and registration certificate of the place of worship (for a permanent period) are complete.

Buying a temple and renting a Taoist temple, young people are crazy about getting involved in the "incense business"

Such "temple deals" are not uncommon in recent years. Phoenix Network Wind Financial News learned from an asset trading consulting company in Guangdong that in addition to office buildings and shopping malls, the agency also undertook the transfer intermediary service of a temple this year.

It is reported that the above-mentioned temple is located in Anhui Province, in the promotion information, especially emphasizing that the temple is 150 kilometers away from Hangzhou City, five kilometers away from the highway intersection, covering an area of 39,960 square meters, there are large-scale characteristic pension buildings and underground palace buildings and other "characteristic" information.

In addition to trading the ownership and use rights of the temple as a whole, some temples lease part of the space and idle office space of the "Legal Logistics Office" to individuals or organizations to carry out cultural and creative business activities, which is a model of cooperation with the temple operator.

In fact, it is legal not only in China but also in Japan to buy temples and shrines, and it can even be sold to foreigners.

Phoenix News noticed that some social platforms and overseas real estate agency websites can find information on the transaction promotion of Japanese temples.

"In Shizuoka Prefecture, for example, the property value of a temple we represent is 260 million yuan, and the shrine is cheaper, about 120 million yuan. It is also possible to apply for a loan to buy this type of property, but it is relatively difficult. The upside is that you can save some on taxes. The intermediary said.

Buy a temple as a host? Think too much!

Temples are strictly restricted

Phoenix Network Wind Financial News learned from the agency that the approval documents and procedures obtained by the above-mentioned Anhui temples in the National Development and Reform Commission, civil affairs, land, religion, forestry, urban and rural planning and other departments are complete.

"Private individuals can build and operate temples, but they need to meet many conditions, the most basic such as following laws and regulations, abiding by religious norms and needs, legal funds, compliant layout, and official application procedures." The person said.

A person familiar with the matter said that what is more special is that the activities of the temple must adhere to the non-profit nature, and cannot be operated under the shareholding system, Sino-foreign joint ventures, leasing contracts, and dividend commissions. In addition to reporting to the construction and planning departments, the construction and planning departments must also apply to the religious department.

There are also restrictions on ownership, and organizations or individuals who donate money to build temples can only enjoy the right to use and own the site, and cannot interfere in the religious affairs within the site, nor can they do commercial propaganda in the name of a religious dojo, let alone impersonate Taoist monks to engage in commercial activities or cheat money.

It is true that temple transactions are different from ordinary real estate transactions, and there are restrictions on the rights after the transfer.

For example, the "Leshan Giant Buddha was auctioned", which was hotly discussed before, was not actually auctioned for the ownership of the Leshan Giant Buddha and the temple, but the 30-year operation right of the Leshan Giant Buddha scenic sightseeing tour bus and stalls.

The purchase and transfer of state-owned temple ownership is more strictly cautious. For example, Hejin Gugeng Tourism Investment and Construction Development Co., Ltd. has applied for the purchase of "Hejin Zhenwu Temple Management Right Assets", and the application must not only be approved by the municipal party committee and municipal government, but also need to be approved by the local and higher-level religious departments.

The commercialization of temples has been hotly discussed

Delve into the commercial territory of well-known temples

In addition to the transfer and leasing of temples, the issue of the "commercialization" of temples themselves has also been hotly discussed.

Phoenix Network Wind Financial News has released "Land Development, IPO, Venture Capital... The Commercial Landscape of Chinese Temples "Unimagined", reports on the commercial landscape of well-known temples in China.

For example, Shaanxi Famen Temple Cultural Development Co., Ltd., which is associated with Shaanxi Famen Temple, has invested in many types of companies such as Famen Temple Cultural Scenic Area Development, Lingjing Real Estate, Famen Temple Performing Arts Company, and Famen Zen Cultural Tourism.

Shanghai Jade Buddha Temple has participated in the angel round investment of Ele.me, investing 100,000 yuan; The Baisi Fund established by Shanghai Jing'an Temple has cooperated with many enterprises such as Xiaoyu Technology to develop business; Before 2018, Pulu once applied for listing and sprint IPO, but was later stopped because it involved the assets of Putuo Temple...

Behind the development and growth of temples is inseparable from a form that exists in the Chinese temple system - "lower courtyard", that is, the branch of the monastic temple.

Phoenix Fengfeng Financial News noticed that with commercialization, the "construction of the lower courtyard" has also become an important part of the commercial development of the temple.

Taking Shaolin Temple as an example, it currently has a number of lower courtyards, in addition to the historical legacy (such as Dengfeng Sanhuangzhai Zen Temple, Dengfeng Daxiong Shanshuiyu Temple, Jiaozuo Yueshan Temple, Sanmenxia Xiong'er Mountain Kongxiang Temple), Shaolin Temple has the right to invest, plan, develop, build and manage these temples.

There are also a number of lower houses that are built with modern investment. For example, Shaolin Temple invested 300 million yuan to build the new Donglin Temple in Xingyang, Henan, Shaolin Temple invested 1.48 billion yuan to build Hubei Daye Fahua Temple, and Shaolin Temple raised funds to rebuild Henan Xinmi Chaohua Temple.

In addition, Shaolin Temple also has a form of trusteeship, such as the investment trusteeship of Kunming Miaozhan Temple, Puyang Qingfeng Puzhao Temple, Shaolin Temple export brand trademark, and management model, as if it is an asset-light business management company model.

According to public reports, in addition to the above-mentioned temples, Shi Yongxin has also discussed cooperation with relevant places on Guanyin Temple in Changbai Mountain, Puzhao Temple in Luohe City, Henan Province, Mengda Temple in Haiyang, Shandong, Aishan Iron Buddha Temple in Xuzhou City, and Daye Fahua Temple in Hubei Province.

As the popularity of well-known temple trademarks grows, their commercialization has become more diversified.

Taking Shaolin Temple as an example, Tianyancha information shows that the companies involved in Shaolin Temple have covered martial arts performing arts, tourism, real estate, film and television culture, tea industry, health care products and other businesses.

However, in 2016, the State Administration of Religious Affairs issued the "Several Opinions on Further Governing the Commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism" in conjunction with multiple departments. In China, the commercial operation of temples has been limited as a whole.

However, there are also temples that still retain a certain amount of commercial operation due to historical equity relations. For example, Famen Temple in Shaanxi. Fengcai News noticed that in the "Profit Model of Shaanxi Famen Temple Cultural Scenic Spot" announced by it, it was stated that the profits mainly came from religious areas and non-religious areas.

The profit of the religious area includes ticket revenue, mascots, spiritual experience activities, merit tablets, Buddha statue offerings, related festivals, large pujas, fundraising activities, etc.

The profits of non-religious areas include land value-added development, outdoor advertising management rights, naming rights transfer, paid use of hot spring resources, and authorized use of trademarks.

Tianyancha information shows that Shaanxi Famensi Cultural Development Company is controlled by Baoji State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Xi'an Qujiang Culture, Shaanxi Cultural Industry Investment, and Yan'an Dingyuan Investment (a company directly under the Yan'an Finance Bureau). It has invested in Shaanxi Famen Temple Cultural Scenic Area Development Co., Ltd., Cultural Industry Co., Ltd., Cultural Scenic Area Tourism Development Co., Ltd., Temple Performing Arts Co., Ltd., Lingjing Real Estate Co., Ltd., and related Famen Tourism Development and Construction Co., Ltd.

It is understood that at present, the main well-known temples will carry out more diversified development through the establishment of foundations and charity associations.

According to the Phoenix Network Financial News, for example, the Hongfa Temple Charity Merit Fund established by Shenzhen Hongfa Temple, the Juequn Cultural and Educational Foundation founded by Shanghai Jade Buddha Temple, and the Putuo Temple Charity Association established by Xiamen Putuo Temple, and the foreign investment mostly includes temple-related cultural development companies, vegetarian catering companies, and pharmaceutical companies.

However, compared with before the policy was introduced, most of China's major temples now focus more on Dharma propagation, health preservation, and health.

After all, the excessive commercialization of temples, neither policy nor public opinion, has shown support.

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