Longhua Temple

Longhua, a tourist resort, is famous for the ancient Longhua Temple, Longhua Pagoda, the Evening Bell-Striking Ceremony and the peach blossoms. First built in 242 AD (in the period of the Three Kingdoms), Longhua Temple is the oldest temple in Shanghai with a long history of over 1700 years. Destroyed by the wars for several times, most of the buildings in the temple were reconstructed in the Qing Dynasty. Besides, the temple is the largest temple in Shanghai. The Sutras Keeping Hall (Cangjinglou) keeps the three treasures of the temple including the Dazang sutras, the gold seals and the Buddhist statues.

The elegant and exquisite Longhua Pagoda, a relic remaining from the Song Dynasty, stands in front of the Longhua Temple. The pagoda has been rebuilt several times as well, with the classic style unchanged.

Nowadays, Shanghai residents greeted the new year with their traditional mix of old and new: bell-ringing at a Buddhist temple and revelry at the city's entertainment venues. Welcoming the New Year in the melodious, heavenly sound of the bell is an interesting and memorable experience. At the city's main Buddhist temples, people line up to strike their huge bronze bells around midnight, hoping to lure good luck in the new year. The Evening Bell-Striking Ceremony at Longhua Temple on 31st December is regarded as one of the eight great attractions of Shanghai.

The bell rings 108 times before midnight. People pray for good health and happiness for themselves and their families, and also pray for peace in the world following terrible disasters like the recent tsunami.

The third day of the third lunar month is the day of the temple fair, the largest folk gathering in eastern China, and the fifteenth of the third lunar month sees a pilgrimage to the temple staged. Visitors to the temple fair and tourists have the chance to admire the peach blossoms encasing the area and when Longhua, with these highlights, becomes a place of great hustle and bustle. While keeping traditional attractions like stalls, folk arts and games, new and fashionable activities such as carnivals and DIY workshop are also included. More than 1 million visitors come to the fair yearly.

Though the Longhua Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery serves as nothing more than a political symbol, the market-oriented economy is ubiquitous. "Advance with the times", is a good excuse for changes. The temple fair adds more commercial elements under the cloak of "traditional culture". Even the temple itself turns out to be a new engine for profiteering. For the Evening Bell-Striking Ceremony, five thousand tourists are allowed to enter the temple and watch the event for 200 yuan (US$24). Those who want to ring the bell after midnight must pay another 318 yuan!

On a Chinese New Year's Day, a visitor is charged 20 yuan for an admission ticket with a bundle of incenses. Surprisingly, you would encounter ticket scalpers here and there, who promise to take you into the temple at a price of 10 yuan, if you ignore the risk of being taken in.

This Chinese New Year's Day, the biting wind and heavy rain did not stop a huge crowd of sincere prayers from huddling together in the incense-filled courtyards to show their devoutness.

Jing'an Temple

Jing'an Temple is the most famous landmark in Jing'an District, from which the district obtained its name. It is known as the oldest shrine in the city, dating back even further than the city itself. It was constructed in 247 at the time of the Kingdom of Wu, during the Three Kingdoms period, more than 1,000 years before the official beginning of the city of Shanghai in 1292. Originally located beside the Suzhou Creek, it was relocated to its current site in 1216 during the Song Dynasty, rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty and renovated in 1953,1984 and 2000. In 1912, the country's first Buddhism organization was established at the site. Before 1949, this was Shanghai's richest Buddhist monastery, presided over by the Abbott of Bubbling Well Road (known in Colonial times because of a well located in front of the temple), an imposing figure who kept seven mistresses and a White Russian bodyguard. The temple was converted into a plastics factory during the Cultural Revolution, but back to a temple following reconstruction in 1983.

The two-story pagoda structure stands opposite Jing'an Park and adjacent to a luxurious shopping center. The Precious Hall of the Great Hero, or main hall, is four to five stories tall. Opposite to the hall is the Jade Buddha Hall, where a 3.8-meter jade Buddha sits in the center. It is the largest sitting jade Buddha statue in the country. To the east of the main hall is the Guanyin Hall, a place for people to pay tribute to the Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin). The rare female Buddha is one of the most universally beloved deities in Buddhism. In the center of the hall is a statue of the goddess made out of camphor wood. Standing on a lotus-shaped base, it is 6.2 meters tall and weights 5 tons. Notable buildings also include the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Hall of the Three Saints, the Hall of Virtuous Works and the Abbot's Chambers, with rooms for the chanting of scriptures. The three Southern-style main halls, each with its own courtyard, date from the most recent reconstruction in 1880. Other best antiquities in the temple are a Ming Dynasty copper bell (Hongwu Bell), which weighs about 3.5 tons, housed on the second-floor base of the main hall and Stone Buddhas from the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420-589).

Unlike its name, which means "peace and tranquility" in Chinese, the small, garishly decorated temple is always crowded and lively, hardly a place for quiet meditation. Located on bustling Nanjing Road West, once known as Jing'an Temple Road, the place is surrounded by towering office buildings and luxurious shopping centers. The metro line station is within a stone's throw. And it is only a 15 minutes' walk from our office building to the temple. Thanks to the unique location, visitors can expect to find curious foreign tourists and fashion icons carrying shopping bags along with pious Buddhists, mostly local old women, at the holy site. The temple is particularly lively on the first and the fifth days of the lunar month. Many parents go to the temple to pray for their son or daughter before they take the college entrance exam in hopes of bringing them luck.