Jing'an Temple

In Shanghai our school weeks are only Monday-Thursday, so for our first Friday in Shanghai my roommate, Charly, and I decided to visit the Jing'an Buddhist Temple. Translated in chinese Jing'an means "Peace and Tranquility" and although located in the heart of Shanghai, it was very much that. It is an active buddhist temple, so although there were some tourists exploring the temple, many of the people inside were there to worship. The temple is beautiful from the outside and even more impressive on the inside.

The temple is surrounded by skyscrapers and big bustling malls, there is even a subway line that runs directly underneath the temple! Its a surprising and beautiful addition to the fast paced streets of Shanghai. Once inside the temple the first thing you notice of the overwhelming aroma of burning incense. Burning incense is part of the Buddhist prayer ritual and people burn them by the bundle, it smelled amazing!

Above is the view of the inside of the temple. The big metal tower looking thing in the middle of the courtyard is hollow and people were throwing 1¥ coins at it trying to get them through the holes and into the tower. I think it was good luck to make it inside.

 Above are two examples of statues and offering tables that people worshipped too. The bottom one is a happy Buddha! All of the statues in the temple (and there were MANY statues) had a table with offerings of fruit on them. Most common fruits offered were apples, oranges, and watermelon.

 This was the main statue at the top of the main staircase inside the temple. Just as a reference on how tall it was, I just about even with the first base level, then there is the level that looks like a cushion, then the actual figure is sitting on top of it.... HUGE!

 The detail inside the temple was beautiful. There was at least six stories inside the temple and the towers were even more then that. The railings were detailed and there was artwork and carvings covering most of the walls inside.

The perfect ending to a perfect day at the temple was getting to witness the Buddhist monks come out playing drums and bells while chanting a closing prayer for the temple. Exploring the temple was like nothing I've ever done before and I can't wait to go visit some more!