This paper reviews the rise of a famous temple fair, that of the Hu Guo Temple, in Beijing. Several temple fairs, including the Hu Guo, arose in Beijing from the end of the Ming to the middle Qing dynasty. These temple fairs, different from those organized in commemoration of the spirits, were much more like bazaars which opened every month around the temples. They constituted the most important market network in Beijing in the Qing dynasty. The prosperity of these temple fairs signalled a new stage in the city's commerce history and showed how some of the temples were transformed from sacred space to secular space. Both the Qing rulers' attitude to religion and the city's isolation policy enforced by the Manchus after they occupied Beijing had affected the temple fairs' location and their development in the imperial capital.