A Visit to Jian An Temple Shanghai
I decided it was time to see the Jian An Temple right down from the American Center. The wall was close and I had my Ooh long tea, as I was getting a bit sick.
Inside the temple was so neat. Just the contrast of an ancient traditional temple against a stunning hazy modern backdrop of silver glass concrete sky scrapers, is so weird to see. Totally two, but one cultures merging in a symphony of tradition and futurism. People were burning large clumps of incense on huge bronze burners and sending smoke into the air with their wishes. They were also buying large red bags filled with wishes and prayers which they burned in large clay or metal drums, sending hopes to the gods too.
Inside away from the burning were large golden Buddha statues and elaborate displays of fresh fruit, green leaves, red paper lanterns hung all around, candles and incense. There were red satin pillows on the ground for people to kneel on in front of various temple shrines. There were old women sitting all around filling prayer bags and doing some type of handicraft, or cooking.
Children were running about and hiding between the many tables, the garden area and pavillion playing. It was a lively, alive atmosphere and very colorful, even in the haze, or perhaps especially in the grey, hazy and modern environment, surrounding the temple.
Construction Abounds in Shanghai
That’s another amazing thing about Shanghai, is the constant construction going on at every hour of every day, and the sheer number of people working in every imaginable capacity. Every step you take on Nanjiang Road is under construction or over construction or next to construction. Workers abound on high rises which are everywhere in every stage of development or completion.
A Study in Contrasts
There are buildings in all phases from initial ground cleaning and foundation with giant billboards proclaiming the sponsoring banks, financial institution, and coming international company, to the just finished in April, 88-story Hyatt building – the highest in China, and all imaginable building phases in between. It’s really unbelievable amazing! And especially how they build with bamboo rod supported structures against the wind in the initial phases of construction. Some of the buildings are not completed and stand unoccupied, not being worked on, apparently as a result of the Asian financial crisis, that too is weird to see such giant construction projects being abandoned like that, now without capital. It’s weird too. It’s such an international and yet distant far from home developing mega investment, at the same time poverty level poor underdeveloped city. A real study in contrasts.
Saturday, 4 September, 1999
