jade buddha temple

2 min read

Located in the northwest part of Shanghai and tucked away amidst a jumble of charming turn of the century two-story cottages and small glass office buildings, the Jade Buddha Temple(yufo si) is spiritual oasis in the midst of booming city.

The heavily renovate was built with Song dynasty architecture in 1918 to house two legendary jade Buddhas. Its mustard yellow outer walls are shrouded with bamboo clusters of burning joss sticks and bow in front of the Hall of Heavenly Kings (tianwang dian), giant cavern that holds humbling statues of various golden and bearded Wander past the Grand Hall towards the back of the compound and follow the signs to the Abbott Room, where the jade Buddhas resides.he two Buddhas in the Abbot room were once part a magnificent five-piece jade collection brought to China from Myan.

The larger of the two Buddhas is encrusted in iewels. It was handchiseled and polished from white jade and stands 6.feet (1.9 m) tall. On each side of this statue is a famous collection of Buddhists texts printed from woodblocks in 1890. At 35 inches (90 cm), the other Buddha is smaller, but is just as impres A gnarled san Chinese characters and displays of late-Qing handicrafts add to bilding. On the first floor outside the Abbot room are several gift shops selling rything from paper prints to traditional Chinese paintings to sandalwood fans and Buddha figurines carved from pure jade. Crossing the courtyard back to the entrance to the room is a corridor that takes ticket to sample different sets of tea that can remedy everything from headaches to indigestion. There’s a polite sales pitch included, but all of the proceeds go to the temple.

Across the hall from the tearoom is a vegetarian restaurant that serves all manner of lunch dishes, many of which are fashioned into mouthwatering faux-meat entrees. Enclosed in a walled courtyard is a Buddhist research library that has some English books. The bald mon monks and jade Buddhas provide a visual and spiritual break from Shanghai’s frenetic drive to buy, eat and spend.