Got up Sunday and went out to Long Hua temple. It was grey and cold but at least I got out of the hotel for a little while. Long Hua temple is the Buddhist temple pretty far on the outskirts of the city. On the way there we passed a wedding procession. Either the custom regarding Chinese weddings involves taping roses to your limo or these people weren't from around here.
It was a 30 minute cab ride, my most expensive cab ride to date: $3. I especially liked what the grey skies added to the endless stream of apartment blocks. I realized that the scale model of Shanghai in the Urban Planning Museum wasn't too far off from reality.
Long Hua temple has a pagoda, and temple complex, a war memorial, and a little village around it. I was surprised at how nice it was... the guidebook certainly didn't talk it up. But the guidebook also said this is the only pagoda in China which is absurd. Maybe my reading skills are what needs work. One of my favorite parts of the temple is around the corner... it is the escalator that leads over the road and to the McDonalds.
At the foot of the pagoda rested a big gold Buddha. I was later accosted at this very spot by a fortune teller! In her defense, I let her tell my fortune and then refused to pay. It is hard to blame her for her screaming fit that drew a small crowd. Hey, she wanted almost $20 and I didn't understand a word she said, what else was I going to do?
The Buddha was covered in miniature people. Two of them had the dubious honor of being forever stuck cleaning his enormous belly button. I would rather have been the one cast on his knee forever pissing down the Buddha's leg. But I have kind of a contrarian personality.
This is an early prototype of a Dutch oven. Marco Polo brought the design back to Europe with him where the Dutch perfected the device. The Chinese invented everything. Okay, I made that up. But it was a pretty temple.
I'd guess the temple was the size of a football field, and it doesn't matter if I mean soccer or the European kind because I'm guessing anyway. It is a working temple now, but has a long history. After WWI, during the years of the rise of Chinese nationalism and the Kuomintang, it was used to stage many public executions. Later, during WWII it was used as an internment camp for Westerners. Remember Empire of the Sun, with Christian Bale? That's this place. At the time the surrounding area was rice patties, now it is apartment blocks.
First you buy your incense. The more the better. Then you light it in the fire. Next you kneel in front of one of the shrines and prayed, trying not to light anything on fire. I didn't have the courage to try this myself so I just hung out and tried not to look obvious taking pictures. For being taller and whiter than everybody else I am peculiarly invisible to the masses. People look through me and bikes run right into me.
These fellows were about 10 feet tall. I wish I knew their names, but I don't. I think the blue skin means that you are enlightened, so that is one of the bodhisattva’s on the left. But the one on the right is just one of the gods from the Buddhist cosmology.
The pictures don't come out that well, but these golden Buddha's were very impressive. The ceiling was domed and intricately carved also.
This one reminded me of the Virgin Mary. But red and Asian. Maybe she wasn't all that similar to the Virgin Mary. But I still liked her.
A working temple means there are monks. And here you are... a picture of monks.
Hey hey, Kwan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion and here one thousand arms. Finally I recognized one! It is hard to tell scale from the picture, but this was another 10 foot tall statue.
In one of the side buildings I found some sort of ancestor shrine. Or it was a capsule hotel for people six inches tall. I'm going to guess there were ashes in the capsules and not miniature people. But you never know... this place is pretty foreign.
In another side temple I found where the Germans are allowed to pray. And you thought they had all gone to Argentina!
The bridge to the McDonald's (and a KFC!) offered a good parting view of the whole complex. There were surprisingly few people outside the temple, but the inside was crowded. Most people were staying for lunch in the temple's noodle shop. The menu didn't have pictures so I decided to take a pass.
Across the street in the back alley I found a string of shops selling tea, mushrooms, junk, and just about anything you probably don't need. This is the tea shop. The tea leaves were just on plates in the open. I wondered how the goods stayed in place on a windy day, because these were open air stalls. I didn't buy anything but I did see an entire family riding on one moped: a father, a daughter, and a dog all fit onto one bike. The dog got to ride up front.
I bought a book at one of the shops before leaving. I can't read it but every page has a picture. The shop owner really loved me. I didn't even try to bargain for the book, and that might have something to do with it.
