Shanghai is a wonderful city for travellers to visit; it is the gateway to the Yangzi River and the ideal trading port. The city was built on the trade of silk, tea and opium and by 1853, Shanghai (which means ‘by the sea’) had overshadowed all other Chinese port cities.
Shanghai municipality covers a gigantic distance and within it lays a vast range of beautiful and ancient temples, all dedicated to various different gods. You will need a good few days to explore these lovely places of worship, but all are worth going to see.
Start at the Confucian Temple (Wen Miao) in the Old Town. This is a lovely, pretty little temple is dedicated to the sage in a beautiful setting – an acre of beautiful acres, magnolias and pines. This temple dates back to 1294 but was moved to this present location in 1855 when the Taiping rebels were causing mass destruction throughout China. The main hall is used for worshippers paying their respects to the great sage, called the Dacheng Hall (Dacheng Dian) and there is a wonderful statue of the philosopher outside. The door outside is covered in garlands by worshippers and when the birds are out singing, you can really feel yourself being transported back in time.
The Jade Buddha Temple (Yufo Si) is one of Shanghai’s few active temples and was constructed between 1911 and 1918. You can see a magnificent statue of the Laughing Buddha and a wonderful effigy of Weituo (the guardian of the Buddhist faith) in the Hall of Heavenly Kings (Tianwang Dian).
From here, the first courtyard will lead you to the Great Treasure Hall (Daxiongbao Dian). This is the hall where worshippers come to pray to the past, present and future Buddhas, the three of them seated on fantastic intricately carved thrones.
The showpiece of the temple is the 1.9 meter tall pale green Jade Buddha (Yufo). It is placed in its own hall upstairs. According to the legend, a monk from Putuoshan named Hui Gen (Wei Ken) travelled to Burma by way of Tibet and brought back five beautiful jade Buddhas to China. After he returned, he then raised money to house these Buddhas.
During the Lunar New Year, the Jade Buddha Temple is packed with worshippers to pray for wealth and happiness.
Jing’an Temple is another great temple in Shanghai. It was originally founded in 247 CE. Unfortunately, it was nearly completely destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion and then suffered more destruction in the Cultural Revolution. Today, the temple still needs further work to it but the drum and bell towers have been restored wonderfully.
Although not a Buddhist or Taoist temple, the Ohel Moishe Synagogue is still an interesting place of worship to visit. It was constructed in 1927 by the Russian Ashkenazi Jewish community. The Jewish ghetto was built up during the 1940s around the synagogue when the Japanese forced them into the area after fleeing Nazi Germany.
