To enter the Garden of Peace we had a walk through the Old City of Shanghai and were besieged by street vendors – something that we would get very used to over the coming days. The advice as ever was not to look them in the eye and if you reallywanted to get them to go away in polite terms then say firmly “Bu Yáo!” On this occasion the vendors were intent on selling ‘heel skates’ – not sure they really had done their market research since most of the group were well into their sixties!!
The City God Temple or Chenghuang Miao is a temple located within the old walled city of Shanghai and connects with Garden of Peace. If we thought the street vendors were an excuse to shop then they had nothing on the City of God complex that includes not only the temple but over a hundred stores and shops. Some guidebooks refer to this complex as a Bazaar but whatever it was crammed full of shops and vendors selling every conceivable form of souvenir from sweets and other delicacies to jewellery and pottery.
The City God Temple began life on the 13th Century dedicated to the spirit of Jinshan, or "Gold Mountain", an island off the coast of Shanghai. The temple gained popularity over the centuries and led to many businesses being set up in the area, turning the surrounding streets into a busy marketplace – which it remains today. In 1951, the Board of Trustees of the City God Temple was dissolved, and the temple was handed over to the Shanghai Taoist Association and made into a Taoist centre (If you want to find out more about Taoism then I suggest you visit Wikipedia). During the Cultural Revolution the temple was closed down and the main hall used as a jewellery shop. In 1994, the temple was restored to its former use as a temple, with resident Taoist priests. A complete restoration of the City God Temple took place between 2005 and 2006 and it appears that many of the buildings were renovated to turn it into the modern pedestrian shopping mecca of today!
The photo is of the ‘zigzag’ bridge that conforms to Feng Shui principles since evil spirits cannot turn through right angles. The bridge connects the temple complex with the Garden of Piece.
Having concluded our visit to the garden we returned to the Bazaar mainly to find the inevitable western style toilet before being given some time to explore the Bazaar and do some bargaining for souvenirs. Undeterred by the thousands of Chinese and tourists thronging this area including a group of elders practicing Tai Chi in the temple precincts, the many fast food outlets selling unrecognisable delicacies, traditional Chinese street puppet shows and the relentless invitations to enter emporiums – some hidden behind shrouds and curtains – I avoided those – and went in search of increasing my collection of fridge magnets. As many of you will know I try not to collect the plastic versions supplied to the rest of the world by China but to collect local artisan or handicraft versions. To my surprise the Chinese don’t offer many plastic fridge magnets but as I might have expected have a smart national set of about 30 items depicting key Chinese sites and symbols e.g. the Great Wall, Pandas and all manufactured in enamelled metal. So I bought my first souvenirs although sadly for such low priced items bargaining didn’t bring much success.
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